During the pandemic, more people are going to emergency rooms for injuries from some consumer products such as batteries, fireworks, all-terrain vehicles, and skateboards, although emergency room treatments for all product-related injuries decreased by 24 percent.
American Medical Collection Agency or AMCA has agreed to resolve a multistate investigation into a 2019 data breach that exposed the personal information of more than 7 million people, and possibly exposing the personal information of up to 21 million throughout the United States.
Fraudsters were busy in 2020. The Federal Trade Commission received more than 2.2 million complaints about fraud, with people reporting they lost nearly $3.3 billion. The top fraud of 2020 was imposter scams.
The year-end congressional spending bill includes a provision to end surprise medical billing. Americans will now be protected from most surprise bills. The changes take effect on Jan. 1, 2022.
Our governor, Jay Inslee, shut down many of Washington state’s activities again Monday to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. One of the recommendations? Cancel Thanksgiving plans.
The national uninsured rate rose in 2019 to 9.2 percent from 8.9 percent from 2018. This is the second year that there was an increase, which is concerning because the U.S. is facing one of its biggest public health crises with the covid-19 pandemic. Uninsured Americans who are hospitalized for the virus pay an average of $73,000.
Thirty-three million Medicare beneficiaries will receive a discount card in the mail for $200 that can be used to help pay for prescription drugs, President Trump said Sept. 24. However, a consumer group said Trump’s bizarre announcement is a transparent and pathetic attempt to bribe seniors for their votes.
Anthem has agreed to a $39.5 million settlement with 43 attorneys general over its massive 2014 data breach that involved the personal information of 78.8 million Americans. Anthem also agreed to data security and management provisions.
Consumer coronavirus complaints to the FTC have grown to more than 200,000, with more than $140 million in fraud losses. Since the covid-19 outbreak began, the top complaint categories are online shopping, travel, credit cards, banks and lenders, and credit bureaus.
