Think again. Many of us will be back there tomorrow, bright and early, to take advantage of after-Christmas sales or – gulp – try to return well-intentioned gifts that didn’t go over so great. Are you ready for your returns? Tips from the experts:

• Know a store’s return policy before you go back. Know what you’re getting into — whether the return will be in the form of cash or store credit, at full price, the price that was paid by the purchaser, or some more recent marked-down price. Know whether having the receipt factors into this so you can decide whether politely going back to the gift giver to ask for the receipt is warranted.
• Keep a paper trail. Find your receipts and keep them handy. Having a receipt dramatically increases the chances of an outcome that’s to your liking.
• Don’t open the packaging of anything you know you don’t want to keep, particularly electronics. Policies that don’t allow returns for opened electronics items are common. If they do take it back, they may withhold a certain percentage of the return price and call it a “restocking fee.”
• Spend your gift cards. They may lose value over time, so look at the fine print and spend them before they expire.
• Prepare yourself for the worst. Stores have been tracking customers’ return habits for years. Some retailers subscribe to services that keep track of what consumers are purchasing and bringing back in an attempt to curb consumer return fraud — the returning of stolen goods. For honest consumers, this can cause problems, as some stores limit the amount of return activity to a certain number or value of annual merchandise returns. There’s a possibility if you’ve returned a lot of merchandise, you’ll be denied.
• Be smart. Don’t wear it. Don’t damage it. Increase the chance of having a successful return by taking care of the item on its way back to the store and being a pleasant, polite customer. The holidays are stressful enough. Don’t contribute with a less-likely-to-be-helped attitude.

In many parts of the country, late fall has resembled some of the worst winters on record. For those of us who live in colder climates — or even for those of us with more moderate winters and the occasional cold snap — winter weather can mean significant and sudden drops in temperatures and very serious winter storms. It is important to be prepared so that you can stay safe and healthy during the winter months. Infants and elderly are among the most vulnerable to life-threatening health problems when the temperatures drop.

Dangers range from power failures to icy sidewalks and snowy roads. Indoors, space heaters and fireplaces also add new dangers, as they increase the risk of household fires and carbon monoxide poisoning.

Everyone should be prepared for winter. Even if you live in a warmer climate, sudden drops in temperature that are near freezing are considered extreme cold and can be harmful to your health. 

On Monday, a federal judge in Virginia ruled that a central provision of the new *Affordable Care Act that mandates that most Americans obtain health insurance is unconstitutional. Since the law passed earlier this year, there have been more than 14 challenges to the law; this is the first instance where the case was not dismissed or the law was not upheld.

History tells us that major new laws often face legal challenges. The Civil Rights Act, Social Security Act, and Voting Rights Act all withstood legal challenges. Proponents of the health reform act argue that the new law falls well within Congress’s power to regulate economic activity under the Commerce Clause, the Necessary and Proper Clause, and the General Welfare Clause.

The mandate for most Americans to obtain health insurance is one of the key provisions of the Affordable Care Act that will help extend coverage to more than 30 million people currently uninsured.  Paired with rate regulation, the addition of healthy people to the insurance rolls should make it more affordable for the system – payors, providers, and patients – to treat more expensive and chronic conditions.

The Virginia court found that the mandate that all Americans carry a minimum level insurance by 2014 – exceeds Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce since it compels individuals without health insurance to involuntary enter the stream of commerce to purchase health insurance. However, individuals who choose to go without health insurance are “voluntarily” deciding to pay for health care out-of-pocket or to seek uncompensated care. Every year millions of those who have chosen to go without health insurance actively seek medical care. Thus, people who make an economic decision to forego health insurance do not opt out of the health care market, but instead shift their costs to others when they become ill or are involved in an accident and cannot pay.

The judge in the Virginia case, Judge Hudson, agreed that the implementation of the health care reform law should continue uninterrupted. In the nine months since the health reform law was passed, there has been progress to strengthen our health care system, including implementing a new patient’s bill of rights to end some of the worst insurance company abuses, such as banning insurance companies from discriminating against people with preexisting conditions.

The Justice Department is considering whether to appeal the ruling to the 4^th Circuit. As this case and others make it through the appeals process, ultimately the Supreme Court will likely decide the constitutionality of the health reform act, and the reach of Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce.

*Links are no longer active as the original sources have removed the content, sometimes due to federal website changes or restructurings.

By John Breyault, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud

It seems that not a day goes by without headlines announcing another scientific breakthrough related to the study of genetics. The science of genetics has undoubtedly played a key role in addressing many of the diseases that afflict millions of consumers. In addition, genetic testing may help consumers understand the diseases they may be predisposed to and take appropriate action.

A natural worry for consumers, however, is how this most personal of information could be misused, particularly by employers to deny them a job or health insurance companies to deny coverage or make coverage more expensive.

Fortunately, consumers have protections. First, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) makes it illegal for health insurance companies to exclude individuals from group coverage due to genetic predisposition to disease. The law also states that genetic predisposition to a disease does not constitute a preexisting condition without a current diagnosis.

Consumers can also rely on the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, which prohibits health insurance companies from denying coverage to individuals or raising premiums because of genetic predisposition to disease. The law also prohibits employers from basing decisions on hiring, firing, job placement, or promotions on genetic information.

The Council for Responsible Genetics, one of the leading public interest groups focused on genetics and biotechnology, has developed a very informative Consumer Genetic Privacy Manual, which gives consumers an excellent overview of the issues surrounding genetics and consumers. In particular, consumers concerned about protecting their genetic information from prying eyes should refer to the “Tips for Protecting Your Genetic Privacy” section of the Manual.

Privacy is going to be one of the big issues facing consumer and public interest advocates in the coming year. Perhaps no more personal form of information is a person’s genetic information. It is for this reason that we will be monitoring this issue closely in the months to come.

NCL supports the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) proposal to allow consumers to block advertisers from tracking them online. As David Vladeck, the Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection testified on December 2, industry self-regulation has to date failed to adequately protect consumers’ privacy. The FTC has proposed a “uniform and comprehensive consumer choice mechanism” for online behavioral advertising, likely as a feature of Internet browsers. Advocates at the National Consumers League support the FTC’s proposed rule for a simple reason: consumers want to control their environment easily and persistently. These days, the average consumer is barraged online with marketing offers from companies using tracking technology who think they know what their customers want — or are trying to predict it. We agree with the FTC’s position that such technology can and should be implemented in such a way that it does not undermine the advertiser-supported business model that has helped give consumers such a treasure trove of free and low-cost content on the Internet.

The beauty of this so-called “Do Not Track” technology is that doesn’t require maintenance of lists; it just lets online advertisers know not to track you. Experts say the technology for Do Not Track is easily adapted to smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. We agree with Beth Givens at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, who said: “online tracking is inherently offensive to people. The notion that there are electronic eyeballs following you as you surf the Web frankly bothers people.”

NCL will be following closely the debate over FTC’s proposal and the Do Not Track technology in particular.