News & Headlines

• March 11, 2010 Insurers test health plans that stress patient choice
• March 11, 2010 Employers to shift more health-care costs
• March 08, 2010 How would health care overhaul help young people?
• February 24, 2010 Anthem Blue Cross plans to go ahead with rate hikes in California
• February 23, 2010 Obama offers new health-care reform proposal

Publications

CA News & Special Reports

Insurance Issue [Fall 2008] In the Fall 2008 issue, Consumer Action focuses on insurance. The results of an online poll reveal details about consumers and insurance coverage, including the downsides to filing a claim. Other topics include credit car rental car coverage, how to add "riders" to policies, the… ( Wednesday, November 12, 2008 )

On Our Radar

• October 22, 2009 No job, no insurance delivers an economic knock-out to families Families USA has released a report that details the "one-two punch" of families losing both their jobs and their health insurance. The report contends that there are far more people in 2009 lacking health coverage than the 46.3 million cited by 2008 Census Bureau data.
• January 09, 2009 Americans caught between unemployment and health care FamiliesUSA has released a report detailing how, as unemployment numbers rise, Americans are in forced to choose between costly unemployment benefits and health care insurance.
• November 19, 2008 Call to Action: Health Care Reform 2009 Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), chair of the key U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, has issued a detailed "white paper" on insurance-based health care reform. It includes public and private plan options and directives to limit "out of pocket" costs for patients.
• August 20, 2008 Health care and the 2008 presidential election Families USA has conducted an extensive analysis of plans by presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain.
• November 27, 2007 The Arbitration Trap: Credit Cards Companies Ensnare Consumers Consumers who seek justice in disputes with their credit card companies shouldn’t expect to find it in binding mandatory arbitration (BMA); in cases decided in California by a major arbitration firm over a four-year period, consumers lost 94 percent of the time, according to a new Public Citizen report .

Coalition

• January 13, 2010 Health care bill should adopt Medicaid payment parity In a letter to Congressional leaders, Consumer Action asked that legislators working on the health care reform bill to adopt a provision to bring Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care in line with comparable Medicare rates within four years.
• September 29, 2009 Health reform should provide quick and efficient coverage for Medicaid enrollees Consumer Action signed onto a letter asking Senators Reid, Baucus, Harkin, and Dodd to ensure that any improvements to Medicaid in the health reform bill are implemented on the same schedule as other health coverage improvements and that newly eligible Medicaid enrollees receive adequate health coverage.
• June 16, 2009 Health reform legislation must lower costs for working families In a letter to Congress, Consumer Action and its coalition partners ask that any laws enacted on behalf of healthcare reform include strong provisions making insurance coverage affordable.
• May 02, 2008 E-Prescribing legislation must include privacy protection In conjunction with its Patient Privacy Coalition partners, Consumer Action asked Senators Baucus and Grassley, Representatives Rangel, McCrery, Dingell and Barton to include a privacy provision in any e-prescribing legislation before them.
• March 11, 2008 Project aims to protect personal health information Consumer Action Privacy Coalition partner, the Center for Democracy & Technology, has launched a major program in collaboration with the Health Privacy Project to develop and promote privacy policy solutions for personal health information. The project hopes to deliver developments in health information technology (HIT) that have the potential to improve health care quality, reduce costs and empower consumers to play a greater role in their own care.

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