What if regulations prevented your doctor from prescribing you the correct course of treatment for your illness? That is exactly what will be happening, as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) moves ahead to implement a seriously flawed medical device auction program. That program, if not fixed, would reduce patient access to prescribed medical [...]

Here are two useful posts to help in preparation for an oncoming storm.  The first is from MSNBC and it lists things to do before the hurricane.  The second is from ACI and provides a list of tips on communicating during an emergency.  

In what has become a routine occurrence, Google’s reckless business practices have been reined in by law enforcement officials with news of a $500 million settlement over Google allowing illegal ads for online pharmacies, despite knowing that those ads violate the law. This latest incident is part of a pattern for Google of breaking the [...]

Creating Jobs is the Real Challenge We are mired in a slow growth economy and hobbled by political inflexibility while 22 million American consumers look for a job.  Demand is slack and the Administration sprinkles regulatory “agent-orange” across markets where the private sector would normally invest in equipment and jobs.  Large and small firms are [...]

The following a statement by Steve Pociask, President of the ACI:   “The CMS bidding process is so fatally flawed that it will fail to find sustainable market prices for medical equipment. This will create market shortages that will push efficient suppliers to bankruptcy and mean that many patients will not have access to medical [...]

In the past, we’ve detailed the many problems and issues with the Universal Service Fund.  For those unaware, the Universal Service Fund (USF) applies a tax to the phone bill of every customer in the US who utilizes interstate telephone services. This means just about everyone pays into it.  This tax, generating roughly $8 billion [...]

Europe is relevant to consumers tending a retirement account.  After wild 500-point Dow swings in early August, US Stock prices stabilized somewhat. We can attribute that to many reports of good earnings and a few large mergers.  Price levels are suppressed partly by the dismal US outlook and partly by fears of European Union troubles.  [...]

In an unprecedented bid to acquire Motorola Mobility, Google is expected to pay upwards of $12.5 billion in cash and could own more than 17,000 patents on phone technology. I n response, Steve Pociask, the president of the American Consumer Institute, issued the following statement:   “Already under an antitrust investigation from the Federal Trade [...]

A new report on the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile was recently released by the Yankee Group, a research company that advises the mobile marketplace. Using their own data, as well as data from the Department of Justice, Yankee’s report makes a number of claims, including that AT&T’s market share will grow immensely and [...]

Senator Durbin’s recent “Main Street Fairness Act” (S. 1452) could begin nationwide sales tax collections on Internet sales.  “Fairness” speaks to the competitive disadvantage bricks and mortar retailers shoulder compared with competing Internet retailers who are beyond the reach of sales tax collection obligations – except when selling to a consumer in the Internet retailer’s [...]