Vermont Sets the Standard
Montpelier — General Mills’ announcement on Friday that it will start labeling products that contain genetically modified ingredients to comply with a Vermont law shows food companies might be giving up the fight against labels, even as they hold out hope Congress will find a national solution. Tiny Vermont is the first state to require such labeling, effective July 1. Its fellow New England states of Maine and Connecticut have passed...
Consumer Confidential: Why Is a Group of Lawmakers Working to Undermine Tighter Rules for the Payday Loan Industry?
In a bizarre display of bipartisan cooperation, a handful of Democratic lawmakers have joined Republicans in trying to cripple the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The question is: Why? Most notably, Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who also serves as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, is co-sponsoring the deceptively titled Consumer Protection and Choice Act, which would undermine the watchdog agency’s...
Health Data Collection Limited
Washington — The Supreme Court says state officials can’t force certain health insurers to turn over reams of data revealing how much they pay for medical claims. The justices ruled 6-2 that efforts by Vermont and at least 17 other states to gather and analyze the data conflict with federal law covering reporting requirements for employer health plans. The case involves Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., which operates a self-insured...
Break Up the Big Banks?
Washington — Battling across Iowa ahead of the first-in-the-country vote on Monday, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are dueling on fertile populist ground: resentment against Wall Street, bailed-out big banks and a financial system seen as rigged. Their rhetoric is pungent. The contenders for the Democratic nomination are running neck-and-neck in polls before the caucuses, and the stakes are high. Sanders, the socialist independent...
Health Care Fines Press Millennials
Washington — Millions of young adults healthy enough to think they don’t need insurance face painful choices this year as the sign-up deadline approaches for President Obama’s health care law. Fines for being uninsured rise sharply in 2016 — averaging nearly $1,000 per household, according to an independent estimate. It’s forcing those in their 20s and 30s to take a hard look and see if they can squeeze in coverage to avoid penalties....
