The National Consumers League applauds Eli Lilly Decision to cap prices on insulin

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March 6, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Katie Brown, katie@nclnet.org, 202-823-8442

Washington, D.C. – The National Consumers League commends the decision by drug company Eli Lilly to cut prices for insulin and cap costs insured patients pay to fill prescriptions.

“We applaud the Eli Lilly company for  taking steps to cap prices for insulin.  This action will provide much needed relief to patients suffering from diabetes who are currently facing steep annual costs for insulin, medicine that is life saving for those coping with their illness,” said NCL CEO Sally Greenberg.

The company said it will cut the list price for its most commonly prescribed insulin, Humalog, and for another insulin, Humulin, by 70% starting in October..

Lilly also said Wednesday that it will cut the price of its authorized generic version of Humalog to $25 a vial starting in May.

Lilly also is launching in April a biosimilar insulin to compete with Sanofi’s Lantus. NCL strongly supports the use of biosimilars as they introduce much needed competition and lower prices into the drug marketplace.

Lilly said people without insurance can find savings cards to receive insulin for the same amount at its InsulinAffordability.com website.

The federal government in January started applying that cap to patients with coverage through its Medicare program for people age 65 and older or those who have certain disabilities or illnesses.

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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 nclnet.org.

The National Consumers League announces support for the pro labor “PRO Act”

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March 2, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Katie Brown, katie@nclnet.org, 202-823-8442

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Consumers League, the nation’s oldest consumer and labor advocacy group, announced support today for legislation known as the Pro Act. The bill is comprehensive labor legislation to protect workers’ right to stand together and bargain for fairer wages, better benefits, and safer workplaces.

The Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, was recently re-introduced in Congress, will address those very critical issues.

“We applaud Senator Murray for leading the charge on passage of the PRO Act. Labor laws badly need  strengthening in the US. The PRO Act will protect workers trying to organize a union, and strengthen their ability to earn higher wages, quality health care, gain safe working conditions and a more secure retirement. It’s long past time that we pass the PRO Act, which will help build a stronger and fairer economy—and ensure workers get their fair share of the wealth they help create,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL’s CEO.

Congressional supporters and union leaders announced the introduction of the PRO Act at a press conference on February 28, 2023. Members of Congress supporting the legislation include Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA), and Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA).

The PRO Act would protect the right to organize and collectively bargain by:

  • Bolstering remedies and punishing violations of workers’ rights through authorizing meaningful penalties for employers that violate workers’ rights, strengthening support for workers who suffer retaliation for exercising their rights, and authorizing a private right of action for violation of workers’ rights.
  • Strengthening workers’ right to join together and negotiate for better working conditions by enhancing workers’ right to support secondary boycotts, ensuring unions can collect “fair share” fees, modernizing the union election process, and facilitating initial collective bargaining agreements.
  • Restoring fairness to an economy rigged against workers by closing loopholes that allow employers to misclassify their employees as supervisors and independent contractors and increasing transparency in labor-management relations.

Senator Murray—former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee—first introduced the PRO Act in the 116th Congress and held a hearing urging action to protect workers’ right to organize. Senators also held a roundtable in Seattle with U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) to discuss the importance of protecting workers’ right to form a union and pass the PRO Act. In the spending bill passed into law last December, Congress secured a long overdue $25 million increase in funding for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to help ensure the agency can protect the rights of workers everywhere.

For the bill text of the PRO Act, click here.

For a fact sheet on the PRO Act, click here.

For a section-by-section summary of the PRO Act, click here.

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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 nclnet.org.

National Consumers League applauds nomination of Julie Su for Secretary of the Department of Labor

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March 1, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Katie Brown, katie@nclnet.org, 202-823-8442

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Consumers League welcomes President Biden’s announcement that he intends to nominate Julie Su to serve as Secretary of the Department of Labor. Su is an experienced labor expert who can continue the Administration’s commitment to a stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive economy for all Americans. She has been serving as Deputy Secretary of Labor since July 2021. As Deputy Secretary, Su has worked with Secretary Walsh to advance President Biden’s vision of a strong, resilient, inclusive economy with worker well-being at its center.

Under Walsh and Su’s leadership, the Department of Labor has witnessed an increase of more than 12 million jobs and the unemployment rate has inched down to 3.4 percent, the lowest rate since May of 1969.

Su previously led California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency — the nation’s largest state Department of Labor – where she launched the “Wage Theft is a Crime” campaign with the support of both labor and management. During her tenure as Labor Commissioner, she cracked down on wage theft, fought to protect trafficked workers, increased the minimum wage, helped to create good-paying, high-quality jobs, and established and enforced workplace safety standards.

“We are excited by President Biden’s nomination of Julie Su as Labor Secretary and urge a quick confirmation,” said Reid Maki, Director of Child Labor Advocacy for the National Consumers League. “Her record of cracking down on illegal labor trafficking and her long career as a civil rights attorney gives her a unique understanding of the plight of the most vulnerable workers.”

“Given heightened attention to the scourge of hazardous child labor, as highlighted by a recent New York Times expose, we hope Su will make this issue a top priority,” added Maki. NCL chairs the Child Labor Coalition which has long raised concerns about the safety and health of young workers in meat processing plants and in agriculture. “Unaccompanied minors are working in dangerous conditions for long hours—in the fields and in meat processing plants and other factories. Many live in the US alone without family looking after their welfare, and thus they are easily exploited. They are  our most vulnerable workers,” observed Maki. “We hope that if Su is confirmed, she will make underage teens illegal employment a top priority; we also will press DOL and Su to address badly needed safety protections for children who work in agriculture, an issue before Congress that is urgently in need of a solution.”

NCL was founded by progressive era leaders at the turn of the 20th century with the goal of ending child labor in the United States and enacting minimum wage and maximum hours laws.

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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 nclnet.org.

NCL Health Policy Director testifies at FDA Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC)

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February 28, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Katie Brown, katie@nclnet.org, 202-823-8442

Washington, D.C. – Today, NCL Health Policy Director Robin Strongin testified at the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC). Robin’s full testimony can be found below.

Good afternoon, my name is Robin Strongin and I direct Health Policy for the National Consumers League (NCL).

Founded in 1899 by the renowned social reformer, Florence Kelley, the National Consumers League has long championed vaccines as lifesaving medical interventions.

In fact, Kelley’s support of vaccinations played a key part in mitigating a critical smallpox outbreak towards the end of the 19th century, and her tireless advocacy for immunizations has informed NCL’s bedrock principles for increased access and vaccine confidence.

124 years later, we are honored to persist in our efforts to protect consumers from vaccine preventable illnesses and we extend our gratitude to this committee for the opportunity to present our public comments.

We know that despite decades of effort, no vaccine to protect against RSV disease, in any population, has been authorized, resulting in a very serious unmet need.  The dramaticrise in cases this past Fall was a wake-up call for us as a nation.

As Americans faced the threat of contracting RSV–the flu, pneumonia, and COVID were circulating simultaneously. The difference, of course, is that vaccines for COVID influenza and pneumonia are widely available and many in the most vulnerable communities have embraced these tools to reduce their risk of serious illness and death.

However, the lack of any such tool to protect against RSV made for a frightening reality for Americans already facing serious threats to their respiratory health, especially among the very young and the elderly.

NCL is also concerned with the serious strain these viruses put on our health care system, and its ability to provide quality and timely care for patients. From hospitals running at capacity, to over taxed health care providers and family caregivers, the prolonged burden such an uptick in cases can inflict is not sustainable.

We are encouraged by the continued progress in the development of vaccines to help strengthen our ability to fight back against devastating diseases like RSV.

Ensuring broad and equitable access to these vaccines is an important next step to improving the health of all communities while reducing the high burden these viruses place on our health care system.

NCL cares deeply about the health and well-being of our nation.  We will continue to do our part to educate people about the importance of vaccines and the value they offer consumers–and society as a whole.

Thank You.

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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 nclnet.org.

Supreme Court should affirm legality of student debt cancellation

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February 28, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Katie Brown, katie@nclnet.org, 202-823-8442

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Supreme Court is hearing challenges to President Biden’s student debt relief program. With the potential to narrow the racial and gender wealth gaps, affirming the legality of debt cancellation would be transformative for over 40 million Americans.

The following statement is attributable to NCL Chief Executive Officer Sally Greenberg:

“We believe the Administration’s effort to cancel student debt is legal and long overdue. College tuition has grown substantially over the past few decades, and disproportionately burdens students of color and women. We hope that the Supreme Court will uphold the validity of the President Biden’s student debt cancellation and allow the Administration to ease the burdens associated with achieving an advanced degree.”

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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 nclnet.org.

The National Consumers League mourns death of Bob Krughoff, founder of Consumer Checkbook

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February 27, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Katie Brown, katie@nclnet.org, 202-823-8442

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Consumers League is deeply saddened by the death of consumer icon and pioneer, Robert M. Krughoff.  Bob devoted 45 years of service to consumer protection as the founding president of Consumer Checkbook. Bob started Consumer Checkbook, an invaluable tool published in the six metropolitan areas – DC, Boston, Chicago, Delaware Valley, Puget Sound and the Twin Cities – after his car repairs failed for a third time. He wondered why there wasn’t a Consumer Reports for local service providers. He then launched Consumer Checkbook and the publication has been in continuous print since then. The nonprofit takes no advertising, referral fees or other money from businesses it evaluates.

National Consumer League Chief Executive Officer Sally Greenberg provided the following statement. “Bob turned Consumer Checkbook into the highly respected publication it is, providing consumers with unbiased expertise on pricing and services provided by healthcare plans, doctors, dentists, hospitals, and dialysis centers, along with best bargain and quality ratings for buying diamonds, solar energy systems, tree care, electricians, remodeling, right to repair, planning a funeral, estate planning, tire buying and much more. NCL was privileged to honor Bob last year with our Lifetime Achievement Award after he announced his plans to retire from Consumer Checkbook. Consumer Federation of America’s longtime leader, Jack Gillis, longtime friend of Bob Krughoff, was also honored. Bob’s legacy will live on, but this is a sad day indeed for consumers across America who have lost a friend and legendary champion for their rights.”

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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 nclnet.org.

As Ticketmaster tries to change the subject, NCL defends fans’ rights in Maryland and Colorado

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February 24, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Katie Brown, katie@nclnet.org, 202-823-8442

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week, Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, announced record quarterly results, underscoring their dominance of the live event industry. Not content with revenues of $16.7 billion (up 44% from the pre-pandemic era), Live Nation launched a glitzy nationwide public relations campaign to roll out the so-called “FAIR Ticketing Act,” a not-so-subtle attempt to create laws that would cement its monopoly power.

State and federal legislators should not be fooled by Live Nation’s new push to change the subject after months of well-earned bad publicity. Despite its fan-friendly name, the FAIR Ticketing Act is anything by fair for consumers. We agree with Live Nation that there should be curbs on speculative ticketing, better enforcement of anti-ticket bot laws, and industry-wide all-in pricing requirements. Unfortunately, the true aim of the bill appears to be to give Live Nation, not fans, the ability to set prices and terms of sale on the secondary market; the one part of the industry the company does not monopolize.

The National Consumers League (NCL) has been active in trying to push back against such efforts. On Wednesday, John Breyault, NCL’s Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud testified before the Maryland House of Delegates in support of House Bill 795, common-sense consumer protection legislation that would mandate all-in pricing of tickets, promote transparency of ticket holdbacks, and guarantee that consumers can benefit from a competitive secondary market.

“Fans in Maryland and throughout the country benefit from an open, competitive market for live event tickets,” said Breyault. “HB 795 would put Maryland at the forefront nationally of states that have made putting fans rights ahead of the interests of a monopolistic ticketing industry that is too often rigged against consumers.”

Breyault also testified before the Colorado Senate in opposition to SB 60, a bill supported by the ticketing industry that would allow multi-billion-dollar companies like Ticketmaster to dominate the secondary ticket market. The bill would allow Ticketmaster and sports teams like the Colorado Rockies or Denver Broncos to limit resale to ticket exchanges where they set the prices and terms of sale.

“Ticketmaster is already the 800-pound gorilla of the live event industry,” said Breyault. “If SB 23-060 was to become law, Ticketmaster would have free reign to cut off competitive choices for fans in Colorado”

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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 nclnet.org.

National Consumers League statement on United family seating policy change

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February 21, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Katie Brown, katie@nclnet.org, 202-823-8442

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Consumers League (NCL) today welcomed United Airlines’ announcement that it will phase out family seating fees in its Basic Economy fare class. The move positions United as a leader in an industry that has long claimed that proposals to prohibit family seating fees are unnecessary. United’s change comes after years of advocacy by NCL and other advocates as well as more recent pressure from the Department of Transportation, Congress, and the Biden White House.  

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

“While we are still awaiting all the details, United’s announcement is encouraging news. Budget-conscious families have for too long been asked to choose between saving money on their flights and the safety of their young children. While welcome, we still need common-sense consumer protection regulation that protects all passengers regardless of which airline they fly. Secretary Buttigieg, President Biden, and consumer champions in Congress should not take their eyes off the ball when it comes to putting family seating protections into laws and regulations.” 

Last week, NCL endorsed the Families Fly Together Act, sponsored by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY). The bill would prohibit airlines from imposing any monetary charges on families that want to sit together during a flight. NCL has also called for such a prohibition to be included in the Federal Aviation Administration’s upcoming reauthorization legislation. 

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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 nclnet.org.

The Child Labor Coalition expresses alarm over the results of DOL’s investigation into child labor at meatpacking plants in the U.S. and calls for current protections to be enhanced, not weakened

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February 21, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Katie Brown, katie@nclnet.org, (202) 823-8442

Washington, D.C. – The Child Labor Coalition, consisting of 39 organizational members who work to end exploitative child labor domestically and internationally, calls attention to today’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) that its just-completed investigation found 102 children working in cleaning crews in 13 meatpacking plants in eight states. DOL levied a fine of $1.5 million in civil money penalties against Packer Sanitation Services, Inc. (PSSI).

The children often worked the graveyard shift and used caustic chemical agents while they cleaned meat processing equipment including backsaws, brisket saws and head splitters. DOL learned that three minors were injured while working for PSSI.

Sally Greenberg, chair of the Child Labor Coalition, publicly called for meatpacking plants to be investigated for underage worker in 2008 during a congressional hearing on child labor.

“While we applaud this seemingly robust investigation by U.S. DOL, we wonder why the meatpacking firms who benefited from illegal child labor are not being held liable,” said Reid Maki, who is the Child Labor Coalitions coordinator and the Director of Child labor Advocacy for U.S. DOL. “Firms like JBS Foods, Tyson Food, Cargill, Turkey Valley Farms and others, hired PSSI to do the cleaning but company employees witness underage workers performing hazardous work with dangerous chemicals and did nothing to stop it. Why aren’t these companies being punished?” he asked.

Maki noted that the fine amount is the legal maximum that DOL could assess in the case but $1.5 million is roughly one day’s revenue for a company like PSSI that has over $450 million in annual revenue. “We would really love to see maximum and minimum child labor fines increased, and we had discussions with Senator Schatz’s office about it this very week,” he noted.

Maki noted that the investigation results are well-timed because the state of Iowa is considering a reprehensible child labor bill that would allow children to work expanded hours and in hazardous work areas.

“Iowa bill S.F. 167 not only extends hours for teen work, it permits minors to work in highly hazardous areas like meatpacking loading docks and assembly areas,” said Maki. “It’s a cynical, dangerous bill that builds in liability waivers for employers against teen worker injuries that the legislative authors know will happen. We strongly oppose this bill.”

Other states, including Ohio and Minnesota, are considering bills to weaken hard-won child protections.

Maki also noted giant loopholes in U.S. child labor law that expose child workers on farms to great risks. “Our weak child labor laws allow kids who are only 12 to work unlimited hours on farms when school is not in session. We’ve met many 12-year-olds who work 70–80-hours a week in the summer and in stifling heat, performing back-breaking labor,” explained Maki. “A teen worker has to be 18 to perform hazardous work in the U.S. but in agriculture they only need to be 16,” he added.

“The presence of young children in farm work, makes it critical that U.S.DOL begin enhancing hazardous work rules for child workers in agriculture,” said Maki. “DOL succumbed to political pressure when it scuttled needed protections over a decade ago and since then has refused to honor its responsibility to protect kids from known work dangers.”

We have also been waiting for DOL to protect child tobacco workers who regularly become ill from nicotine absorption and poisoning, noted Maki. “You must be 21 to buy cigarettes in the U.S., why does U.S. law allow tobacco growers to hire 12-year-olds to harvest this toxic crop? DOL needs to do more to protect these vulnerable workers.”

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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 nclnet.org.

The National Consumers League sent a letter urging Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to ensure that consumers get a fair deal at the pharmacy

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February 21, 2023

Media contact: National Consumers League – Katie Brown, katie@nclnet.org, 202-823-8442

Washington, D.C. – The National Consumers League (NCL) sent a letter urging Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to ensure that consumers get a fair deal at the pharmacy. When it comes to the high out-of-pocket costs consumers face at the pharmacy counter — often for lifesaving medications — consumers today have an unfair disadvantage.

“With three PBMs controlling nearly 80 percent of all prescription drug claims, it is timely that lawmakers are looking at PBMs’ role in driving up the cost of drugs to consumers and patients,“ said Sally Greenberg NCL Chief Executive Officer. “We are encouraged to see the committee looking into the workings of PBMs and we are supportive of your efforts to hold these entities accountable.”

Beyond addressing the antitrust issues and increasing transparency of PBM revenue streams, we encouraged legislators to:

  • Remove medication barriers: PBMs should not be allowed to limit access to the medicines doctors prescribe.
  • Require PBMs to pass on savings directly to consumers: PBM rebates should be shared so that consumers can benefit from more affordable out-of-pocket costs. Additionally, patient cost-sharing should be based on the net cost of the drug, not the list price.
  • Ensure simple, single administrative PBM fees: PBMs too often tack on arbitrary fees to local pharmacies, with many independent and community pharmacies struggling to stay in business, this trickles down to the consumers, resulting in increased prices and pharmacy closures, leading to many communities facing pharmacy deserts.
  • Ensure PBM profits are not tied to the costs of medications: The system currently incentivizes PBMs to favor medicines with higher list prices so that they can negotiate larger rebates and/or steer patients to medicines with higher price tags to increase their own profits.

With the many evolving ways PBMs too often put profit over consumer interests, it is crucial that federal consumer protection agencies like the FTC have the tools needed to address the PBM problem.

To view the full letter, click here.

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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 nclnet.org.