January 19, 2011

Contact: NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org

Washington, DC—The National Consumers League, the nation’s oldest consumer group, announced today that it has joined with other consumer, health, and worker groups, to take a stand against efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. For decades, NCL has advocated for substantive reform to America’s health care system and was a staunch supporter of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which passed last year. Advocates argue the Act finally “allows us to move forward toward a higher quality system that is more patient-centered and cost-effective.”

“We recognize that reforming our health care system was no easy task, and we’re certainly not finished making improvements to Americans’ health care in terms of both quality and access,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director. “But the Affordable Care Act is a large step forward towards the goal of insurance for all, and to repeal it would be a terrible disservice to individual consumers and workers and to our nation as a whole. We support the lawmakers who continue to put ensuring quality health care for all Americans ahead of politics today.”

Throughout NCL’s history, providing a safety net for Americans also means providing basic health needs of our citizens. The ACA – a long overdue measure – finally accomplishes that goal. No family should have to face financial ruin because of a medical condition or accident. If every other industrialized country in the world can give their citizens access to basic health care needs, surely the United States – the wealthiest country on earth – can find a way to do so. NCL opposes any and all efforts to undue or undermine the provisions of the ACA. We are proud to join with groups that share our passion for this cause.

American consumers need the Affordable Care Act, which is estimated to reduce the federal deficit by $100 billion over the next decade.  Repealing the law would add $230 billion to the deficit, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and would leave 32 million people without insurance they would otherwise get under the Act. Without subsidies to the state insurance exchanges, consumers would likely see their health insurance premiums rise.

By repealing the law, consumers will once again face lifetime limits on health insurance coverage, may be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions, and plans could provide fewer benefits and cover fewer costs.

“As consumers and workers, we need the protections afforded by the Affordable Care Act, as we continue to shift our health care system to one that emphasizes quality care and promotes health and wellness, said Greenberg.

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About the National Consumers League

Founded in 1899, the National Consumers League is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Its mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. NCL is a private, nonprofit membership organization. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

January 10, 2011

Contact: (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org

Washington, DC–The National Consumers League, the nation’s oldest consumer advocacy group, applauded the recent announcement of the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s plan to publish consumer complaints about dangerous or defective products.

“Consumer advocates have worked for more than a decade – I did so myself when I served as Product Safety Counsel at Consumers Union – to make vital facts the CPSC receives about dangerous products available to other consumers,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director. “This is particularly compelling for products used by children: cribs, car seats, strollers, and swings. Parents wanting to check on the safety of a product before they buy it should absolutely have access to this database.”

While some members of the retail industry claim this database will be confusing to consumers, or unfair to manufacturers, NCL advocates argue that the CPSC’s database is simply moving the commission forward to the current era, in which consumers rate products and share information about a wide variety of industries, from travel services to product reviews. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has provided consumers with access to similar information and has done so for years.

“There is no justification for keeping this information from the public. It will enhance safety and empower consumers. We applaud Chairman Tenenbaum and Commissioners Adler and Moore for their support for this long-waited database,” said Greenberg.

The compilation of consumer complaints is set to be launched online in March by the CPSC. According to news reports, under the new system, when a consumer files a complaint, the CPSC has five days to notify the manufacturer, which in turn has 10 days to respond. A company can challenge the complaint as false, argue that posting it would result in revealing a trade secret, or submit a written response, which would be published alongside the complaint in the database.

If a company argues that a consumer complaint is false or discloses confidential business information, the CPSC will make a decision as to whether to withhold or publish the complaint. Anyone filing a complaint must identify themselves, but that information will not be published and would be disclosed to the manufacturer only with the consumer’s permission.

The database is restricted to the 15,000 types of consumer goods overseen by the CPSC, which do not include food, drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, tobacco, automobiles, or tires.

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About the National Consumers League

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.

December 21, 2010

Contact: (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org

Washington, DC— Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, H.R. 2751, clearing the final hurdle and sending the bill to the President’s desk, where Mr. Obama has pledged to sign it. The legislation will enable consumers to ring in the New Year knowing that the U.S. food supply of the future will be safer.

With today’s vote, the House finished a circuitous process that started nearly a year and a half ago, when the body passed the first version of the food safety bill. In the interim, there have been numerous twists and turns that called into question whether landmark food safety legislation would pass. But indeed, the Senate took up a bill Sunday evening with a new bill number,and it passed by unanimous consent.

“Consumers have waited far too long for an overhaul of outdated food safety laws that do not adequately protect Americans from the threat of foodborne illness. We applaud the members of the House and Senate for overcoming the partisan gridlock and adopting this important measure. This holiday season, there are families in America feeling the absence of those they have lost due to foodborne illness; the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act will protect countless Americans – and their loved ones – from the perils of unsafe food,” stated Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director.

The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act shifts the focus of the Food and Drug Administration from responding to foodborne illness outbreaks to preventing those outbreaks in the first place. Among other measures, the bill gives the agency the authority to recall contaminated products, develops new requirements for product traceability, and establishes a minimum inspection frequency for domestic food processing facilities. The legislation also increases oversight of imported foods, holding items produced abroad to the same safety standards as those that originate in the United States, and requires farmers and food processors to institute measures to prevent contamination.

The National Consumers League would like to thank Senators Durbin (D-IL), Harkin (D-IA), Dodd (D-CT), Gregg (R-NH), Burr (R-NC), and Enzi (R-WY), as well as Representatives Waxman (D-CA), Dingell (D-MI), DeLauro (D-CT), and Pallone (D-NJ) for their leadership in getting this legislation over the finish line. The League also extends its appreciation to Senators Reid (D-NV) and McConnell (R-KY) and Speaker Pelosi for enabling H.R. 2751 to come to the floor for votes in their respective chambers this week.

As a member of the Make Our Food Safe coalition, the National Consumers League joined other consumer organizations, public health organizations, and groups representing the families of victims of foodborne illness in supporting passage of the bill.

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About the National Consumers League

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.

December 20, 2010

Contact: (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org

Washington, DC–The National Consumers League (NCL) has once again called on the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) to issue a final rule to improve alcohol beverage labeling.

“The drinking public needs certain basic information on beer, wine, and spirits labels,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. “With a severe nationwide obesity epidemic, there is no excuse for not having calories listed on all alcohol beverage labels. Consumers also need clear information about alcohol content in order to drink responsibly.”

Seven years ago, the National Consumers League petitioned TTB to require an “Alcohol Facts” panel on labels of beer, wine, and distilled spirits. More than 3 years ago, TTB proposed a watered-down version of “Alcohol Facts,” which it called “Serving Facts,” but has still not issued a final rule.

“The Alcohol Facts panel was intended to provide all the information consumers need in one location, clearly and concisely,” said Greenberg. “It would be like the Nutrition Facts panel on food labels, except that it would provide the information relevant to alcoholic beverages.” NCL asked that the “Alcohol Facts” panel include serving size, the number of calories per serving, alcohol content information (including the amount of alcohol per serving, the definition of a “standard drink,” and the number of standard drinks per container), and ingredient information.

“The nine college students who went to an emergency room for alcohol poisoning after drinking too much of a caffeinated alcoholic beverage earlier this year may not have realized just how much alcohol they were consuming,” added Greenberg. “Maybe if the standard drinks per container had been required to appear on the labels, they wouldn’t have made that mistake.”

TTB’s inaction on Alcohol Facts labeling is also interfering with other important public health objectives. A new law requires nutrition labeling of foods and beverages served in chain restaurants and bars, including alcoholic beverages, but there is no approved method for measuring certain nutrients in alcohol and TTB has provided the industry with no guidance. If the Alcohol Facts panel were required, restaurants and bars could simply use the information on the product label.

The lack of calorie and alcohol information on beer, wine, and spirits labels is also an obstacle to application of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services will soon issue the 2010 Dietary Guidelines, but, without calorie and alcohol information on product labels, consumers still will not be able to follow its recommendations on weight control and alcohol consumption.

“Label reform for alcoholic beverages is a no brainer,” according to Greenberg. “What is TTB waiting for?”

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About the National Consumers League

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.

December 15, 2010

Contact: 202-835-3323, media@nclnet.org

Washington, DC—With just 10 shopping days left until Christmas, holiday shoppers who are lucky enough to have completed the purchases can relax momentarily before gearing up for the day after Christmas — when stores are flooded with consumers lining up for post-holiday sales and returns. To help ease the burden of returns, the National Consumers League, the nation’s oldest consumer group, offers advice for increasing the chances of successful — and painless — holiday gift returns.

“As surely as people buy holiday gifts, they also return holiday gifts,” said Sally Greenberg, Executive Director of NCL. “Returning merchandise successfully — and getting a refund you’re satisfied with — can pose a few challenges any time of year, but there are a number of things consumers can do before the return, or even before the purchase, to reduce stress, ease the process, and increase the odds of a successful transaction.”

Tips for easy holiday gift returns:

• Know a store’s return policy before you buy. When you buy, 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. Go to the trouble of saving receipts from the beginning and keeping them handy in case there’s a need for a return. Having a receipt dramatically increases the chances of an outcome that’s to your liking.

• As a gift-giver, give items in their full packaging. And as a recipient, 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 post-holidays are stressful enough. Don’t contribute with a less-likely-to-be-helped attitude.

Check out the return policy of an online purchase. You may be able to bring it in-person to the brick-and-mortar store. You may have to pay to send it back, or the vendor may have provided you with a pre-paid postage slip. Or you may not be able to return it at all. Read the delivery information and return instructions for anything you purchase online, particularly if it’s meant to be a gift.

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About the National Consumers League

Founded in 1899, the National Consumers League is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Its mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. NCL is a private, nonprofit membership organization. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.