Tom Price failed to get the Affordable Care Act repealed and replaced during his brief tenure as Health and Human Services Secretary, but the surgeon-turned-congressman did manage to do some real damage to the annual ACA enrollment process before he left — making sure people have less time to sign up, less help getting through the process, and fewer reminders that the process has gotten more difficult this year. [More]
Health & Human Services Secretary Tom Price Resigns Amid Private Jet Scandal
By 9.29.17
Tom Price, the physician-turned-congressman who recently became Donald Trump’s first Health and Human Services Secretary, has officially resigned in the middle of a scandal involving Price’s apparent overuse of private jets for government — and possibly personal — travel. [More]
Chamber Of Commerce Files Lawsuit To Stop American Consumers From Being Able To File Lawsuits
By 9.29.17
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce may sound like a government agency or a quaint organization of helpful business leaders, but it is, in fact, the single largest lobbying organization in the country, spending nearly $104 million last year alone on lobbying, about $40 million more than any other group. The Chamber also thinks the U.S. Constitution is mistaken, that the Sixth and Seventh Amendments don’t apply to consumers; that the mere fact you are a customer should strip you of your constitutional right to sue banks like Wells Fargo or credit bureaus like Equifax when they open millions of bogus accounts in customers’ names or fail to protect sensitive information for more than 100 million people.
And how does the Chamber of Commerce plan to stop the American people from being able to bring lawsuits? By doing the one thing it doesn’t want you to be able to do. [More]
Lawmakers Say Mattel’s Always-On ‘Aristotle’ Kid Monitor Raises “Serious Privacy Concerns” For Families
By 9.29.17
Despite announcing the product in January, toy giant Mattel has still not released the always-on, always-listening Aristotle kid monitor that has already raised red flags among privacy advocates. Now, a bipartisan pair of U.S. legislators are asking Mattel to address what they see as serious concerns about this connected-home device that is intended to track info about your kid from birth through adolescence. [More]
Volkswagen Trying To Lure Customers Back With 6-Year/72,000-Mile Warranties On Most 2018 Models
By 9.29.17
In the wake of the still-lingering Dieselgate scandal, which has cost Volkswagen billions of dollars and left a smog-colored stain on its reputation, the carmarker is hoping to turn schadenfreude into fahrvergnügen* by having a warranty on many of its new vehicles that lasts twice as long as the standard warranty you’d find on most cars in the U.S. [More]
American Airlines CEO Predicts Industry Is Never “Going To Lose Money Again”
By 9.29.17
In words that will most surely never come back to haunt him, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker boldly declared this week that the U.S. airline industry is in such a solid place right now that he doesn’t see how it could ever end up in the red. [More]
DirecTV Won’t Confirm Or Deny Reports It’s Letting Upset Customers Cancel NFL Sunday Ticket
By 9.28.17
DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket is such a massive money-maker for the satellite company that its exclusive arrangement with the NFL for this package was a make-or-break aspect of AT&T’s decision to acquire DirecTV. Yet some reports claim that DirecTV is willing to let subscribers part with this pricey package, which costs around $300 per year, if they simply say they are upset over some NFL players kneeling or locking arms during the “Star-Spangled Banner.” [More]
State Says OxyContin Maker “Conducted Uncontrolled Experiment On American Public”
By 9.28.17
The state of Washington and the City of Seattle filed separate lawsuits today against Purdue Pharma, maker of controversial opioid pain medication OxyContin, alleging that the drug company lied to doctors, regulators, and the public about the efficacy and safety of a drug that many place at the center of the ongoing opioid epidemic. [More]
Bob’s Discount Furniture Accused Of Falsely Claiming Its Mattress Is Same As Serta But Cheaper
By 9.28.17
If you live in any of the 15 states where Bob’s Discount Furniture operates, you’re probably familiar with the retailer’s “Dare to Compare” ads that pit expensive brand-name furniture against Bob’s more affordable versions. But one major mattress maker claims some of these comparisons are misleading and illegal. [More]
Equifax CEO Apologizes For Company’s Incompetence, Promises Vague (Possibly Pointless) Credit ‘Lock’ Service In 2018
By 9.28.17
The interim CEO for credit bureau Equifax is finally issuing a full-throated mea culpa for the massive data breach that compromised sensitive personal and financial information for about half of the adult U.S. population. In addition to extending the deadline for hack victims to freeze their credit free of charge or sign up for the company’s not terribly enticing anti-ID theft program, Equifax is also promising to offer something new: A way to “lock” your credit file (sort of, maybe, and only partially) for free (possibly). [More]
Which Chain Restaurants Are Still Failing At Reducing The Use Of Antibiotics?
By 9.27.17
Feeling pressure from customers, scientists, doctors, and public health advocates, a growing number of fast food and fast-casual restaurant chains are now taking steps to eliminate at least some medically unnecessary antibiotics from the animals they source for their meat. At the same time, nearly all of these positive changes have only focused thus far on curbing antibiotic overuse in chickens, and nearly half of the industry’s biggest players still have no plan in place to deal with this issue at all. [More]
Millions Of Credit Card Numbers May Have Been Stolen In Sonic Drive-In Breach
By 9.26.17
It’s a day of the week ending in “y,” which can only mean one thing: Another national company’s payment system has been compromised. This time, it’s the Sonic Drive-In fast food chain, where potentially millions of credit card numbers may have been stolen. [More]
GOP Leadership Says There Will Be No Senate Vote On Latest Obamacare Repeal Bill
By 9.26.17
Facing implacable opposition and a Sept. 30 deadline to pass a bill to repeal and replace large chunks of the Affordable Care Act, the Republican leadership in the Senate has decided not to vote on a measure that seemed destined to come up short of passage. [More]
Feds Accuse Adidas Execs Of Bribing NCAA Basketball Players & Coaches
By 9.26.17
Basketball coaches at some of the country’s biggest names in college athletics, and executives at one of the biggest names in athletic apparel, now face federal charges involving allegations that schools and student athletes were getting paid to lock players into deals with financial advisers, endorsers, and even tailors. [More]
Equifax CEO Resigns Following Massive Data Breach
By 9.26.17
Among the items on that list of “Things a CEO Doesn’t Want on Their Resumé” is “Being the one in charge at the time of one of the biggest data breaches in U.S. history.” So perhaps it’s not a shock that Equifax CEO Richard Smith is stepping down only weeks after admitting that his credit bureau failed to secure the personal information of about half the U.S. adult population. [More]
Budget Office: Obamacare Repeal Bill Will Leave Millions Without Quality Health Insurance
By 9.25.17
As expected, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has released a preliminary analysis of the Senate Republicans’ latest bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and while the CBO did not have the time to provide the in-depth projections about how the legislation would affect insurance coverage, it does indicate that millions of additional Americans will be without quality health insurance if the bill passes. [More]
Here Is The List Of Aerosoles Stores Closing Because Of Bankruptcy
By 9.25.17
Comfy shoes seller Aerosoles recently followed in the footsteps of many other familiar mall retailers, declaring bankruptcy and announcing plans to shutter many of its retail locations. Now, thanks to a court filing, we have the list of the Aerosoles stores actually heading for eternal rest. [More]
Verizon Says Some Cut-Off Rural Customers Can Stay, But They Must Ditch Unlimited Data Plans
By 9.22.17
Verizon recently notified around 8,500 rural wireless customers — accounting for nearly 20,000 phone numbers — that their service was going to be cut off for good on Oct. 17 because they spent too much time roaming off the Verizon network. Following the negative public reaction to this news, Verizon has decided to give these customers more time to find another wireless carrier or switch over to a Verizon plan with data caps. [More]
