NCL encourages HHS nominee Becerra to continue efforts to help lower consumer out-of-pocket costs at the pharmacy counter

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March 1, 2021
Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—The National Consumers League is encouraging the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) nominee Xavier Becerra to continue critical efforts to help drive down consumer out-of-pocket costs of medicines at the pharmacy counter.

Last week, Becerra testified before the Senate HELP Committee as his confirmation hearings were underway. If confirmed, Becerra would play a critical role in helping consumers pay no more than necessary for the medications they need by addressing the role pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) play in determining what consumers pay and why.

NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg weighed in with the following statement:

“PBMs have repeatedly promised to lower costs for patients, but unfortunately we’ve not seen this in action. When it comes to prescription drug access and affordability, we should all be on the side of consumers, rather than middlemen corporations. The challenges posed by COVID-19 serve as a daily reminder of the importance of standing up for individuals and families that don’t have the knowledge or patience to understand why they’re subjected to PBM schemes. If confirmed, Attorney General Becerra will have the opportunity to continue working on this issue and helping to ensure PBMs uphold their promise to consumers. Everyone in the health care system needs to work to reduce costs for consumers, who are burdened by high costs across the board. We look forward to joining with him to get to the heart of why out-of-pocket costs are rising and, most importantly, what can be done about it.”

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.
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Jeanette Contreras portrait

Vaccine recommendations for those who recovered from COVID-19

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By NCL Director of Health Policy Jeanette Contreras

As the United States prepares for the release of a third COVID-19 vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) meets to discuss further implementation considerations that will inform guidance for the vaccine rollout. At its March 1 meeting, ACIP dedicated a portion of the discussion to whether those who’ve recovered from the virus should still be vaccinated.

To date, there are more than 28 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, and experts estimate that the true number of individuals infected, yet not clinically confirmed, to be triple that amount, pushing the total prevalence to approximately 100 million. A recent study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) indicates that those who’ve recovered will have a certain amount of natural immunity to the virus for up to eight months after infection, which is in line with the findings of a major British study published in early February, in which 88 percent of participants who previously tested positive for COVID-19 still had antibodies after six months.

Considering that the demand is greater than the supply, it is a difficult task to make recommendations for the equitable distribution of vaccines. For example, Spain issued recommendations that patients wait six months after diagnosis to get vaccinated if an individual is under age 55 with no major health complications. People over 55, or those with health risks that make them vulnerable to reinfection, are exempt from this delay and encouraged to be vaccinated.

Additionally, early studies are showing that immunity in individuals who had recovered and received one shot may be equal to or even exceed those not infected who had received two doses. According to the University of Maryland School of Medicine, a single dose of the Moderna or Pfizer mRNA vaccines would elicit an immune system response sufficient to provide comparable immunity to two doses in a non-infected person. On February 12, France became the first country to issue guidance recommending that people who have already recovered from COVID-19 only need to receive one dose of a vaccine, between 3 and 6 months after their infection.

Early research like this is informing public health policies in other countries. But the United States is known all over the world for its scientific rigor and reliance on randomized clinical trial data as a gold standard. In a recent blog, NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins reassures us that, should other studies support these early results, the experts at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and CDC will certainly consider whether one dose is enough.

The implementation of a one-dose vaccine would help to increase supply, however, the emergence of COVID-19 variants presents new challenges for curbing this pandemic. Current CDC guidance states that even if you’ve recovered from COVID-19, you should get vaccinated. Arming yourself with a vaccine will keep you and your family safe, and ultimately help to stave off new COVID-19 variants.

National Consumers League statement in support of HR 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act

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For immediate release: February 18, 2021

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—The National Consumers League (NCL) is proud to join hundreds of like-minded groups in supporting HR 40, which would create a commission to study and develop reparations proposals for African Americans. The House Judiciary Committee hearing on HR 40 on February 17, 2021 gave witnesses the opportunity to talk about the reason for and impact of reparations. The hearing also included several witnesses who oppose the concept of reparations.

Introduced by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), HR 40 would create a commission to identify: (1) the role of the federal and state governments in supporting the institution of slavery, (2) forms of discrimination in the public and private sectors against freed slaves and their descendants, and (3) lingering negative effects of slavery on living African-Americans and society.

This statement is attributable to NCL Board Chair Dominique Warren:

America has never reckoned with its 400 years of enslavement of 12 million Africans, brought to our shores shackled in fetid ships where huge numbers died of disease. As Michelle Singletary, Washington Post columnist has observed, reparations are not handouts, they are redress.

Beginning in 1619, enslaved people were brought to America and sold by those who profited from the slave trade, bought by plantation owners, farmers, businesses, and households, separated from siblings, parents, spouses and children and forced to work for free. After the Civil War, many freed slaves purchased land, only to see it stolen. Prosperous Black towns were looted and burned. Blacks have been beaten and murdered, many lynched on false allegations of criminal conduct  because of their race. Throughout America’s history, Blacks have been denied the right to vote and redlined from living in certain neighborhoods. Black Americans were and still are discriminated against in the workplace and prevented from earning fair and equal pay.

A new book on reparations, “From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the Twenty-First Century,” recommends a number of possible compensation programs, including the establishment of a trust that could make grants to eligible Blacks to help start a business or buy a home.

NCL agrees with these recommendations, made by authors William A. Darity Jr. and A. Kirsten Mullen, that “the U.S. government, as the federal authority, bears responsibility for sanctioning, maintaining, and enabling slavery, legal segregation, and continued racial inequality.”

America has benefited from the institution of slavery. Segregation and voter suppression has given advantages to White Americans in the form of cheap Black labor, reduced employment competition, and the power to elect politicians who enacted laws that worked in the best interest of Whites and against equal opportunities for Black people.

Redress is part of the American justice system, indeed part of the international justice system. The federal government issued an apology and cash reparations to Japanese Americans who were interned in camps during World War II.  Germany paid reparations to Jewish survivors of the Holocaust.

Studying reparations for African Americans as one approach to redress by setting up a Commission to thoroughly study the cost of slavery, Jim Crow policies that followed it, and the ongoing discrimination against black Americans would truly begin the national discussion and the reconciliation and healing that needs to take place. The National Consumers League strongly supports HR 40 and urges its swift passage by members of Congress.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

National Consumers League supports the FAIR Act to end forced arbitration

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For immediate release: February 17, 2021

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—NCL is pleased to support the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act (FAIR Act), a bill to re-establish Americans’ 7th Amendment right to seek justice and accountability through the court system. NCL applauds Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA) for introducing this critically important consumer and worker protection legislation as well as the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law of the House Judiciary Committee for holding its February 11 hearing on the bill.

The bill previously passed the House of Representatives during the 116th Congress on Sept. 20, 2019 by a strong bipartisan vote of 225 to 186. The FAIR Act (H.R. 963) would eliminate forced arbitration clauses in employment, consumer, and civil rights cases and would allow consumers and workers to agree to arbitration after a dispute occurs. The House bill has 155 cosponsors.

This statement is attributable to NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg:

Forced arbitration is a glaring marketplace injustice that undermines key worker and consumer protections. Thanks to a series of unfortunate Supreme Court decisions, forced arbitration clauses are ubiquitous throughout the marketplace. Thus, it falls to Congress to correct this injustice. Arbitration clauses are buried in the fine print of consumer and employment contracts for everything from cell phones, credit cards, cable service, nursing homes, employment, bank loans, student loans, apartment leases, and video subscriptions. Their practical effect is to block consumers’ and workers’ right to go to court. The actual arbitration process is fraught with problems; everything can be done in secret and without public rulings. Discovery is limited, and there is no meaningful judicial review, so consumers and employees are often unable to appeal a decision even if the arbitrator gets it wrong. Corporations can also choose where the arbitration will take place, what the rules will be, and how the costs will be borne.

Simply put, arbitration lacks the safeguards of a fair, impartial, and accessible court proceeding to protect people and hold accountable corporations that have committed widespread abuses, or marketed unsafe products or services.

As the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said about the Supreme Court’s rulings on forced arbitration, they ‘have predictably resulted in the deprivation of consumers’ rights to seek redress for losses, and turning the coin, they have insulated powerful economic interests from liability for violations of consumer protection laws.’

Congress never intended this. The Federal Arbitration Act was enacted in 1925 to give businesses — with relatively equal bargaining power — options for resolving their business disputes.

The FAIR Act would even the playing field. Contrary to industry arguments, it would not ‘ban’ arbitration; instead, it would stop forced arbitration from being imposed as a precondition for obtaining a product, or for obtaining or continuing service or employment, and closing off access to the courts for consumer law claims, employment law claims, civil rights claims, and antitrust claims by small businesses. Once a dispute actually arises and the stakes are clear, consumers, workers, or small businesses could freely choose arbitration, if they determine it to be a better option for them than the courts.

NCL encourages all members of Congress to support the FAIR Act; it is pro-worker, pro-consumer, and pro-small business legislation and helps to bring fairness to the marketplace and restore the basic American right to our day in court.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

Women’s sexual health shouldn’t be tabo‪o‬

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It’s 2021, can we speak frankly about women’s sexual health yet?

Read more

Annual Fraud.org report shows link between COVID-19, recession, and scammers preying on Americans

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Watchdog group’s annual report tracking trends out today 

For immediate release: February 1, 2021

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—An analysis of the scams most frequently reported by consumers in 2020 tells the story of economic downturn, social isolation, pandemic fears, and opportunistic criminals, according to a new report released today by the National Consumers League’s (NCL) Fraud.org campaign. Through the Fraud.org website, NCL collects complaints from consumers about suspected and confirmed fraud incidents, tracks trends, and shares the data with law enforcement. 

The report’s findings note the pandemic’s impact on fraud trends, including increases in “get rich quick” schemes and predatory scams of the heart. The number of complaints received at Fraud.org regarding bogus prizes, sweepstakes, and free gifts nearly doubled year-over-year. Another pandemic scam trend: a notable increase (30 percent) in romance scams, which experts at Fraud.org are linking to the social isolation brought on by the COVID pandemic and Americans turning to online communication for companionship. 

“The COVID recession has fueled a rise in get-rich-quick schemes and romance scams,” said John Breyault, NCL Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud and the new report’s author. “The pandemic created a perfect storm for criminals: millions out of work and struggling with new financial hardship; people forced to isolate and seek companionship online; and incredible uncertainty about the future. Last year was a good year to be a con artist.” 

With many of the conditions from 2020 still in place, the consumer watchdog is cautioning consumers against the most common scams that plagued Americans last year.  

“While the exact pitch differs from scam to scam, there are red flags that consumers should consider,” said Breyault. “A request to send money to someone you’ve never met in person is almost always a scam. Another tried-and-true tactice scammers use is to create a false sense of urgency to get victims to send money before they stop and think. The best advice we can give to consumers is to stop, think, and talk to a friend or loved one before you send money.” 

In 2020, consumers submitted more than 5,700 complaints to Fraud.org. Forty-three percent of complaints reported a monetary loss, with the median loss of $1,628.   

Top Ten Scams of 2020 

  1. Internet: Gen Merchandise 
  2. Phishing/Spoofing 
  3. Fake Check Scams 
  4. Friendship & Sweetheart Swindles 
  5. Prizes/Sweepstakes/Free Gifts 
  6. Advance Fee Loans, Credit Arrangers 
  7. Computers: Equipment/Software 
  8. Internet: Auctions 
  9. Investments: Other (note in comments) 
  10. Internet: Extortion 

Other topline findings from the report include:  

New fraud entered top ten: extortion scams. 

 “As the pandemic and the recession continue to grind on in 2021, we are paying special attention to so-called ‘Internet extortion’ scams, which entered the top ten scams for the first time last year,” said Breyault. Such scams fall in to two broad sub-categories. The first category are “sextortion” scams, where consumers receive a message where the scammer threatens to release embarrassing photos, videos, or other personal information to the victims’ friends and family. The second sub-category involves “psychic” services, where the scammer claims to had discovered that a “curse” or other tragic event is about to befall the victim. Only by paying a significant fee can the victim have the “curse” lifted.  

Younger consumers and seniors are being targeted more frequently.  

The percentage of complaints received from consumers aged 26-65 decreased by an average of 8.76% in 2020.  By comparison, complaints from consumers aged 25 and below and those 65 and older increased by an average of 30.60% and 15.82%, respectively versus 2019. For consumers aged 25 and under, the top three most reported fraud categories were Internet merchandise scams, fake check scams, and romance scams. For those 65 and older, the top complaint categories were prize/sweepstakes scams, phishing/spoofing, and Internet merchandise scams.  

The Web and the telephone remain scammers’ preferred contact methods. 

With email spam filters growing increasingly successful at blocking out scam emails, fraudsters continued to turn to the Web and the telephone to find victims. Those two contact methods were mentioned in more than 81% of the complaints. “This highlights the need for consumers to be wary when responding to messages from unknown senders, particularly those encountered on social media,” said Breyault. “Consumers should also continue to be on guard for unknown callers seeking to offer them prizes or other inducements to send money.”  

Read the full 2020 Top Scams report from NCL.

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About the National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneering consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

National Consumers League welcomes appointment of Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel as Acting Chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission

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For immediate release: January 29, 2021

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—The National Consumers League (NCL), America’s pioneering consumer and worker advocacy organization, welcomes the appointment of Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel to serve as acting chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Rosenworcel is the second woman to lead the agency in its 86-year history.

The following statement is attributable to NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg:

We welcome Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel’s appointment as Acting Chairwoman of the FCC. Her years of service at the Commission and on Capitol Hill make her an ideal choice for this position. She brings an in-depth understanding of the Commission, its committed and talented staff, and the agency’s relationship with Congress.

Acting Chairwoman Rosenworcel is a strong proponent of consumer protections, net neutrality, and universal access to high speed broadband. Her appointment couldn’t  come at a better time; the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the chasm of access to high quality broadband in so many communities across America. Most critically, millions of students without affordable broadband access have suffered as schools have moved online during the past year. NCL is committed to working with Acting Chairwoman Rosenworcel and her team to address this critical problem.

We are honored that Acting Chairwoman Rosenworcel accepted NCL’s Trumpeter Award for consumer leadership in 2020. We welcome this strong consumer advocate who has always kept an open door for consumers from all backgrounds to discuss their concerns with the commission. We look forward to continuing to work with her and the talented FCC staff.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

The National Consumers League welcomes the appointment of consumer advocate and FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

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For immediate release: January 29, 2021

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC—The National Consumers League welcomes President Biden’s nomination of Rohit Chopra, a current commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), to chair the  Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

This following statement is attributable to Executive Director Sally Greenberg:

We are very pleased by President Biden’s nomination of Rohit Chopra to serve as director of the CFPB. At the FTC, Commissioner Chopra has proven to be a fair, thoughtful, and even-handed regulator with a strong record of defending the interests of consumers and pressing the agency to uphold its mandate by doing more to fight fraud and combat unfair and deceptive practices.

Chopra was on the ground floor as the CFPB was built. He was one of the first hires by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) when she took on the role as director of the—then—brand new agency. He brings a wealth of experience in the work of federal agencies, having also acted as special advisor at the U.S. Department of Education.

Despite his busy schedule, Commissioner Chopra always had an open door to hear from advocates and everyday consumers. When it comes to fighting abusive debt collection practices, crushing student loan debt, predatory payday loan companies, and auto lenders that discriminate against black, brown, and immigrant communities, consumers will have no greater champion than Rohit Chopra.

We urge the Senate to promptly confirm Commissioner Chopra so that he and his team can get started on the critically important mission of protecting the interests of the nation’s consumers.”

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)
The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

Welcoming FDA’s call for better science, more research on CBD

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In 2019, in response to the growing retail market of untested, unapproved cannabidiol (CBD) products, NCL identified the need for greater consumer education and increased regulation at the federal level. NCL and its partners — Consumer Federation of America and the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America — created Consumers for Safe CBD to help raise awareness of the unregulated CBD marketplace, champion the rights of consumers, and call on government and industry to do more to protect consumers. This year, we will continue to work with key stakeholders to encourage safe CBD food and beverage products and promote a pathway for new therapeutic products through clinically-tested scientific research.

We’ve come a long way since our launch, and FDA is making progress. Newly former FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn and Principal Deputy Commissioner Amy Abernethy recently called for better science, more data, and increased testing to determine the risks and benefits associated with CBD. We are encouraged by the commitments outlined in the FDA statement and look forward to continued collaboration with the Biden Administration and the new leadership at the agency to make the CBD marketplace fair, safe, and healthy for consumers.

Read more about the FDA’s comments on the Consumers for Safe CBD here and sign up for CBD updates from our Consumers for Safe CBD campaign here.