theresa

Lonnie Ray Atkinson’s Hip Hop Song for Health Justice

By theresa / May 21, 2011 / Comments Off on Lonnie Ray Atkinson’s Hip Hop Song for Health Justice

Check out Lonnie Ray Atkinson’s Hip Hop Song for Health Justice/Single Payer and notice the lyrics about all the trips and traps of health insurance, including "no more wading through plan restrictions."  

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How Safe Are Your Savings?

By theresa / May 17, 2011 / Comments Off on How Safe Are Your Savings?

John Wasik, award-winning author of 13 books and personal finance columnist for Reuters, has issued this report with Demos, titled How Safe Are Your Savings? How Complex Derivatives Products Imperil Seniors’ Retirement Savings.  Fair Contracts Intern Dylan Hanson and Citizen Works contributed to the background research. Wasik writes: Few investors fully understand what they’ve been…

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Article Discussing Proposed Solutions to Unilateral Modification Provisions

By theresa / May 3, 2011 / Comments Off on Article Discussing Proposed Solutions to Unilateral Modification Provisions

Article with proposed solution ("Change Approval Boards") for unilateral modification terms within contracts. Oren Bar-Gill and Kevin E. Davis, "Empty Promises" 84(1) Southern California LawReview 1-44 (2010). Here is the version on SSRN:http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1554966.

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The Supreme Court Rules Against Consumers By Allowing Companies to Enforce Unconscionable Class Action Waivers in the Forced Arbitration Provisions of Fine Print Contracts

By theresa / April 27, 2011 / Comments Off on The Supreme Court Rules Against Consumers By Allowing Companies to Enforce Unconscionable Class Action Waivers in the Forced Arbitration Provisions of Fine Print Contracts

Today the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in a closely-watched case that waivers of class action rights within arbitration provisions in company contracts are enforceable, even where a state deems those provisions to be unconscionable. The case involves two consumers, Vincent and Liza Concepcion, who bought cell phones that AT& T advertised as discounted (one phone…

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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Launches Website

By theresa / February 3, 2011 / Comments Off on Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Launches Website

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Now Has a Website On February 3, 2011, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), still in formation, launched its website to begin a conversation with consumers.  The Bureau’s opening film says it will "work to cut down on the fine print."  On Friday, September 17, 2010, President Obama appointed Elizabeth…

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Will the Supreme Court Let Corporations Ban Consumer Class Actions in the Fine Print of Contracts Compelling Arbitration?

By theresa / November 9, 2010 / Comments Off on Will the Supreme Court Let Corporations Ban Consumer Class Actions in the Fine Print of Contracts Compelling Arbitration?

11.9.10 Will the Supreme Court Let Corporations Ban Consumer Class Actions in the Fine Print of Contracts Compelling Arbitration? Today the Supreme Court heard an extremely important contracts case to decide whether waivers of class actions within arbitration provisions in company contracts are enforceable. The case involves two consumers, Vincent and Liza Concepcion, who bought…

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Fighting back against forced arbitration in securities agreements.

By theresa / October 16, 2010 / Comments Off on Fighting back against forced arbitration in securities agreements.

In this piece, finance writer John Wasik, explains how "wronged investors may still be stuck in a troubled system run by the brokerage industry" but how one investor — Hollywood’s Larry “JR Ewing” Hagman — fought back, and won.  As Wasik explains: "When you sign any standard brokerage agreement, you are locked into their mandatory…

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Consumer, Labor & Civil Rights Groups Support the Arbitration Fairness Act

By theresa / July 26, 2010 / Comments Off on Consumer, Labor & Civil Rights Groups Support the Arbitration Fairness Act

Read the coalition letter to The Honorable John Conyers Jr., Chairman, and The Honorable Lamar Smith, Ranking Member, of the U.S. House of Represenatives Committee on the Judiciary, dated July 26, 2010, in support of the Aribtration Fairness Act of 2009, H.R. 1020.

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Citizen Works Letter to HHS Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight 07 2010

By theresa / July 13, 2010 / Comments Off on Citizen Works Letter to HHS Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight 07 2010
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Accessibility, Disclosure and Design of Health Insurance Contracts

By theresa / July 12, 2010 / Comments Off on Accessibility, Disclosure and Design of Health Insurance Contracts

Researchers at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute have looked at health insurance contracts in California and Massachusetts and have produced the following reports, including recommendations for a “Coverage Facts Label” akin to a food nutrition label that would help consumers understand the terms of their health insurance at a glance and be able to…

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