News

2022

July

27

• How to appeal health insurance claim denials (Summer 2022). Consumers almost never appeal when their health insurance claims are denied. Yet, about 40% of ACA Marketplace claims were overturned on appeal. Consumer Action looks at the key reasons for denial and how to fight for the coverage you deserve.

• How to appeal health insurance claim denials (Summer 2022). Consumers almost never appeal when their health insurance claims are denied. Yet, about 40% of ACA Marketplace claims were overturned on appeal. Consumer Action looks at the key reasons for denial and how to fight for the coverage you deserve.

07

• Medicare could save $3 billion buying drugs the Mark Cuban way. The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Company promises lower drug prices and complete transparency about how those prices are set.  Cuban’s new company purchases hundreds of generic drugs from manufacturers and sells

• To get banned abortion pills, patients turn to legally risky tactics. The nonprofit abortion advocacy website Plan C, tested whether commercial mail-forwarding services could serve as a link in a surreptitious supply chain from abortion-friendly states to states where abortion pills are banned. Tthe Plan C

05

• Insurers and employers have to reveal health care prices. Insurers and some employers are now required to publicly disclose what they pay hospitals, doctors and other medical providers — an unprecedented look at data that has long been kept secret. While experts create tools

04

• Google: To protect women, collect less data about everyone. Following the Supreme Court decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, anything Google knows about you could be acquired by police in states where abortion is now illegal. There is something Google could

June

14

• Doctor check-in software harvests your health data. There’s a burgeoning business in harvesting our patient data to target us with ultra-personalized ads. Patients who think medical information should come from a doctor — rather than a pharmaceutical marketing department —

April

28

• Medicare Advantage plans often deny needed care. Every year, tens of thousands of people enrolled in private Medicare Advantage plans are denied necessary care that should be covered under the program, federal investigators concluded in a report. Advantage plans also refused to

18

• Find out and fix what big data says about you. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau maintains a list of consumer reporting agencies that’s currently 38 pages long. In addition to the big three credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian and TransUnion — the list includes 22

12

• Aging in place easier with smart home technology. Technology helps all homeowners, but especially seniors, by automating “things that are a pain or difficult to do,” says Michael Miller, author of “My Smart Home for Seniors.” Tech advances also

March

31

• New government site to help Americans find Covid antiviral pills. During his State of the Union address, President Biden promised to establish a “test-to-treat” program “so people can get tested at a pharmacy, and if they’re positive, receive antiviral pills

01

• Estudio: Vacuna de Pfizer contra COVID da protección a niños. La vacuna contra el COVID-19 desarrollada por Pfizer brindó una fuerte protección a niños de 5 años en adelante contra la hospitalización y la muerte incluso durante

February

08

• Equifax breach settlement: Money for some, free monitoring for all. Equifax will pay up to $425 million in restitution to those directly impacted by the massive data breach of the credit bureau in 2017. A federal court gave final approval to the class-action lawsuit settlement in mid-January.

January

27

• Experian, Equifax, TransUnion rarely act on credit file complaints, report says. If you spot a mistake on your credit report and contact the credit bureau, there’s a good chance nothing will happen. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion together provided relief when alerted to errors less

10

• Legisladores de California debaten plan de salud universal. Los legisladores en California comienzan el martes a debatir si crearán el primer sistema de salud universal en Estados Unidos, en una medida clave para saber si la propuesta reunirá el apoyo

03

• Consumer Action INSIDER - January 2022. Start 2022 right with Consumer Action's INSIDER newsletter. Learn about what we are up to with the goal of improving consumer protections and consumer rights.

2021

December

30

• Ban on surprise medical bills starts this week. If you are having a medical emergency and go to an urgent care center or emergency room, you can’t be charged more than the cost sharing you are accustomed to for in-network services.

27

• Many home insurance premiums are rising. Across the country, homeowners renewing their policies are discovering that rising material costs, supply chain disruptions and climate change are combining to drive premiums up by an average 4 percent to an average annual premium of $1,398,

November

20

• Ventajas y desventajas de Medicare Advantage. Estos planes populares pueden tener riesgos ocultos. Esto es lo hay que saber.

15

• How Congress plans to lower drug prices and out-of-pocket costs. Americans are sick and tired of paying the highest prices in the world for their medications. Fortunately, the House of Representatives recently unveiled the text of the Build Back Better Act, which represents a huge