WASHINGTON – The American Consumer Institute (ACI) announced today that it is placing a strong focus on statewide issues in Florida for 2010.  The organization’s announcement comes after substantial review of a variety of state issues that affect the majority of Florida’s consumers, including property insurance and telecommunications.

 
ACI’s Center for Citizen Research has established a Florida-focused [...]

Consumers oppose the current Healthcare legislation by a two-to-one margin.  In a nationwide survey conducted by the American Consumer Institute Center for Citizen Research (ACI), 48% of Americans oppose the bill, while 24% support it. 
 
The survey results also find that 90% of consumers believe that they should make their own decisions about healthcare coverage, [...]

Much of the current health care debate centers on the provision of private health insurance versus the public option. On one side of the debate are those who point to private enterprise as the fruit of entrepreneurial efforts and capitalism, which leads to greater operational efficiency and lower consumer prices. The other side sees a [...]

Dr. Joseph P. Fuhr, “Why Biosimilars Will Have a Smaller Competitive Edge Than Generics,” presented at CBI’s Second Annual Summit on Biosimilars and Follow-on biologics, Baltimore, based on an article coauthored by Dr. Erwin A. Blackstone and published in the Journal of Health Care Finance, Winter 2008, pp. 84-95. Slides available.
Steve Pociask, “Why Solvency Matters,” Property [...]

Survey Finds Consumers in Favor of Guaranteeing Health Insurance for All
The majority of Americans (70.2%) say they would support a public policy to guarantee health insurance for everyone, according to a household survey conducted by the American Consumer Institute. Most in favor of a public policy included those earning less than $25,000 per year (77.6%), [...]

Have a Plan Now
·         You should have a plan for protecting your family and real estate, and coordinating with each other in an emergency.  Emergencies are of different kinds, so plan broadly.  Food, water, shelter, first aid, batteries, flashlights, and communications are important to arrange for in advance.  You should also agree on a rendezvous point, [...]

This ConsumerGram looks at the costs and benefits of building a comprehensive nationwide electronic medical records system that would decrease deaths, reduce medical errors, improve health services, increase productivity and reduce healthcare costs.  The problem is that there is little incentive for the medical industry to invest in such a system.  This analysis investigates this [...]

According to an American Consumer Institute study, over the next 10 years, broadband applications will decrease greenhouse gas emissions by one billion tons.  That study attributed this environmental savings to several broadband applications, including telecommuting, distance learning, teleconferencing and e-materialization.  This ConsumerGram takes a second look at one of the more promising and fast growing [...]

Healthcare prices continue to increase at a rapid pace and at great cost to consumers.  With price competition virtually unheard of in the healthcare industry, there is little incentive for healthcare providers to operate in a more cost-effective manner.  However, recent efforts to rate medical professionals and hospitals could provide some level of competition that [...]