This article by Max Ehrenfreund and Sandhya Somashekhar explains that, according to a new Congressional Budget Office report, the Affordable Care Act is costing taxpayers less than expected because of lower medical spending costs, which in turn will reduce the expected cost of insurance premiums, which in turn will lower the amount the government spends […]
The following consumer advocates will be live-tweeting today's CFPB field hearing on arbitration, which gets underway at 11am. Ellen Taverna, NACA – @NACAdvocate Christine Hines, Public Citizen – @chrhines Michelle Schwartz, Alliance for Justice – @SchwartzAFJ NCLC – @NCLC4consumers AFR – @realbankreform You should also be able to watch a web livestream of the hearing here.
Here's the text of CFPB Director Richard Cordray's remarks on the arbitration report, to be delivered at today's field hearing in Newark. He summarizes the legal backdrop to the Bureau's report, its empirical approach, and its key findings (which I've highlighted in bold). Well worth reading in full. Prepared Remarks of Richard Cordray Director […]
Read the agency's fact sheet and the full report. Here's what the CFPB had to say about its study: Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a study indicating that arbitration agreements restrict consumers’ relief for disputes with financial service providers by limiting class actions. The report found that, in the consumer finance markets studied, […]
by Jeff Sovern New York's Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, announced a settlement with the big three credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and Transunion, which is intended to improve credit report accuracy. According to Scheiderman's release: The agreement requires that the CRAs employ specially trained employees to review all supporting documentation submitted by consumers for all disputes […]
The online publication Kansas City infoZine reports: Attorney General Chris Koster has obtained an agreement with eight online payday loan operations to shut down payday loan operations in Missouri, provide $270,000 in consumer restitution, and erase all loan balances for Missouri consumers. … The Attorney General’s Office received 57 complaints from consumers who were collectively […]
by Jeff Sovern The American Banker had an article this week, Could the Fight Over Cost-Benefit Analysis Kill Reg Relief? that made some interesting points. After noting that Senate Banking Committee Chair Richard Shelby advocates more cost-benefit analysis, the author, Victoria Finkle, wrote: "The idea of rigorous cost-benefit analysis is like motherhood and apple pie […]
The Hill reports: The chairs of the congressional progressive, Hispanic and Black caucuses are urging financial regulators to crack down on payday loans. In a joint letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray, Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chairs Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Hispanic Caucus Chair Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.) and Black Caucus […]
As we reported last week, the Administration recently released a proposed "Privacy Bill of Rights." Since then, both consumer groups and industry groups have noted their dissatisfaction with the Administration's draft. An article today in the Christian Science Monitor reviews the complaints of both sides.