CALPIRG

Citizen Agenda: An Update For Members Of CALPIRG

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House Passes Law for Safe Medicine
CALPIRG is working to ensure doctors, patients, and researchers will gain access to information on the side effects and effectiveness of medicine on the market. In July the House of Representatives passed CALPIRG-backed legislation establishing a national requirement for the disclosure of drug studies.

“Asking doctors to write prescriptions without access to all the studies is like asking legislators to pass a bill without letting them read the text,” said CALPIRG’s Steve Blackledge. “Without disclosure, we’ll end up with future tragedies like the ones triggered by Vioxx.” In the Vioxx case, Merck uncovered information in a clinical study showing an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes for Vioxx users, but it was not required to make that information public. Meanwhile, the company continued to aggressively tout its drug.

Congress must put a prescription drugs bill on the President’s desk this fall. CALPIRG is urging the Senate to agree with the House bill and support a national requirement for the disclosure of drug studies.

Insurance Companies Kill Health Care Bill
Unfortunately this summer the Legislature failed to rein in the skyrocketing costs of health insurance. Health insurance rates are increasing at levels that far outpace inflation, making it harder for businesses and government agencies to continue to provide health care for employees and for individuals without coverage to buy it.

CALPIRG-backed legislation, authored by Asm. Dave Jones, would have required state agencies to review health insurance rate increases.

The bill passed out of the Assembly, thanks to the support of CALPIRG, other consumer groups, seniors organizations, and labor unions, but failed to pass in the Senate Health Committee. Undeterred, CALPIRG and other supporters plan to reintroduce the measure next year.

As this newsletter goes to print, CALPIRG continues to lobbying for other health care reforms still under consideration. We are working to limit insurance companies’ ability to deny Californians health care coverage based on our personal health histories. We are also working to require insurance companies to spend at least 85 percent of their income on health care, rather than administrative overhead or profits.

CALPIRG Takes On Credit Card Companies

Ed Mierzwinski testifying

PROTECTING CONSUMERS — CALPIRG’s Federal Consumer Program Director Ed Mierswinski testified before Congress in support of stronger consumer protections against unfair credit card practices. Photo: Washington Post

This summer, CALPIRG’s Ed Mierzwinski testified before Congress on unfair credit card practices. Later this year, he will be appearing in a new documentary, “U-R Pre-Approved.”

There are lots of ways that credit card companies take advantage of their customers. You miss a payment and are charged a late fee. Not only can the credit card company charge you for the interest on that fee—they can also charge you again and again if the fee pushes you over your credit limit. One way to avoid late fees is to pay online or over the phone. But some credit card companies charge up to $15—just to pay your own bill!

The “Stop Unfair Practices In Credit Cards Act,” sponsored by Sen. Sander Levin (Mich.) and Sen. Claire McCaskill (Mo.), would prohibit banks from charging repeated over-limit fees for a single instance of exceeding the limit. The bill would also prohibit charging interest on penalty fees. CALPIRG is backing the bill.

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