One of the most pressing problems facing Americans and the U.S. healthcare system is the affordability of prescription drugs. An estimated 58 million Americans face medication insecurity and have “been unable to afford prescribed drugs at least once in the last 12 months.” The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development claimed that per capita, Americans pay $1,220 per year […]
Consumer Tips / Health
ACI Joins Coalition Letter Asking to Decline Requests to Hotline “Sami’s Law”
Sami’s Law requires ride-hailing companies to implement an enhanced digital system to verify passengers with their authorized ride-hailing vehicles and drivers. Unfortunately, the proposed bill threatens to upend some of the private-sector progress, especially if enacted quickly and without debate in the Senate. The Letter is available online.
Postponing Federal Digital Privacy Legislation Will Backfire
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown, Americans are turning to technology more than ever. However, federal legislation addressing digital privacy protections has stalled in Congress. Comprehensive legislation needs to be passed to ensure consumers right to digital privacy. Many functions of everyday life that have been carried out in person have recently moved online. […]
Coalition Opposes Expansion of CMS Regulations
Today, a group of 28 organizations, including ACI, sent a letter to the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in opposition to proposed regulations that would demand additional rebates from drug prices, including drugs that may have applications for patients during the current COVID crisis. The letter explains the many unintended […]
Consumers to Businesses: Be Upfront About Your COVID-19 Mitigation Policies
As the country slowly repeals the COVID-19 lockdowns, consumers and businesses are left to grapple with how they interact under the “new normal.” Consumers want to shop—but don’t want to catch the virus. Meanwhile, businesses want to sell—but fear being sued for spreading the virus among their customers. While discussions about limiting liability remain in […]
Spectator: Draconian Vaping Policies Deserve Condemnation
In this piece, published in the Spectator (Australian edition), Michael McGrady explains why increasing access to smoke-free products is necessary to successfully execute a strategy that reduces the use of combustible smoking products, which are responsible for the deaths of millions across the globe.
Coalition Letter to Congress Supporting Telehealth Expansion
Today, a broad coalition sent a letter to Congress thanking them for waiving longstanding Medicare restrictions on telehealth services. The effort by Congress resulted in an expansion in telehealth services during the COVID-19 public health emergency, and the letter calls for continued regulatory relief for the benefit of patients.
Give Businesses and Consumers the Confidence to Re-Open
In addition to the lives tragically lost, the economic ravages of the coronavirus pandemic are evident everywhere. Unemployment levels not seen since the Great Depression. More than 100,000 small businesses shuttered. A near-total collapse of tourism in major U.S. cities. The speed and strength of the economic recovery depends on whether businesses and consumers feel […]
Congress Should Make Temporary CMS Policies Permanent
Today, ACI joined thirty-five other organizations in calling on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) to make permanent a number of regulatory changes. During the COVID-19 Crisis, CMS made necessary improvements to rules that facilitated Telehealth applications, relaxed professional licensing guidelines, stemmed non-essential physician supervision, and waived HIPPA requirements that would allow provider-patient communication […]
31 Groups Call for the Rejection of a Bill That Would Deplete Current Medicare Funds
Thirty-one nonprofit organizations sent a letter to Congress calling on it to oppose legislative attempts to meddle with the current Medicare plan. A proposal called the Medicare Crisis Program Act seeks to expand eligibility and threatens the financial stability of Medicare by depleting the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund. The bill also opens the door to […]