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Health Insurance Alert

WE CAN HELP — Our health care policy experts are working to provide you with the resources you need to make the most of new health care consumer protections and tools.

How To Get The Best Deal

Newly uninsured and looking for coverage?  Deciding if your current plan still gives you the best value? Consumers have new options and protections. Know the facts.

1. Check out your options at the Health Insurance Marketplace. The plans include coverage for doctor visits, hospitalizations, maternity care, emergency room care, prescriptions and more.
You can sign up right away, and don’t have to wait until the next open enrollment period if you’ve recently lost coverage, or in other special cases.

Online: HealthCare.gov

Toll free: (800) 318-2596  TTY: (855) 889-4325

2. Find out about financial help. You may qualify for financial help to reduce monthly costs, and could be eligible for free or low-cost coverage. Check your eligibility online at HealthCare.gov or by calling one of the numbers above.

3. Get help comparing options and signing up. Take advantage of expert in-person help at no cost to you. Find a list of people who can help you and make an appointment online.

4. Compare plans. Key considerations include the monthly premium, potential out-of-pocket costs, provider network and independent quality ratings.

5. Don’t take no for an answer. Insurance companies can no longer deny you coverage due to a pre-existing condition.

6. Switch plans if you want to. In the health insurance marketplace, every year at open enrollment you can stick with your current plan, or switch to a new one.

7. Learn more. Check out our detailed Health Insurance 101 guide, So You Need Health Insurance. Now What?

8. Keep in touch. Check for updates on our website, and tell us about your experience. We want to hear what you think so we can spot trends and advocate for ongoing improvements. Contact us.

 

Health Care Consumer Protections

If you have coverage, you should know about your rights under the health care law, including:

  • Children and young adults can stay on their parents’ plan until age 26
  • Free preventive care, including check-ups and vaccinations
  • Insurance companies can’t set a lifetime cap on what they’ll pay if you get sick
  • Rebates if your insurance company spends less than 80% of premiums on care
  • No more annual caps on what your insurer will pay if you get
  • Insurance companies can’t charge women more than men for coverage

See more information about the health care law, the Affordable Care Act

Issue updates

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Public Health

New car seats made without toxic flame-retardant chemicals

Car seats are supposed to keep our youngest children safe. But though they may protect infants and toddlers during accidents, car seats have a history of containing toxic flame-retardant chemicals.

That’s finally changing.

Today, a coalition of groups including U.S. PIRG Education Fund and the Ecology Center’s “Healthy Stuff” program released test results on car seats in a new report, Hidden Hazards:Flame Retardants and PFAS in Children’s Car Seats. The authors collaborated with researchers from Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Health Care

Open Enrollment for 2019: What You Need to Know | Mark Griffith

Health care has been a hot topic in Washington again this year, and there has been a lot of confusion and uncertainty about the future. With all of this background noise, it’s more important than ever to get the facts about how you and your family can get coverage that works for you.

> Keep Reading
News Release | OSPIRG Foundation | Health Care

OSPIRG Seeks Consumer Stories about Health Care in Oregon

 

OSPIRG Foundation is conducting a statewide survey of consumers about experiences and challenges with the health care system in Oregon.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Health Care

OSPIRG Seeks Consumer Stories about Health Care in Oregon | Charlie Fisher

OSPIRG Foundation is conducting a statewide survey of consumers about experiences and challenges with the health care system in Oregon.

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG | Public Health, Consumer Protection, Health Care

Second recall of King Bio’s homeopathic drugs in the past month

King Bio Inc. issued the second significant voluntary recall since late July of their homeopathic drugs on Wednesday. Safety concerns over homeopathic drugs extend beyond King Bio as over the past several years, the FDA has issued recalls to several companies for a variety of health products from zinc-containing intranasal medicine to asthma drugs with toxic ingredients. 

> Keep Reading

Pages

News Release | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Public Health

New car seats made without toxic flame-retardant chemicals

Car seats are supposed to keep our youngest children safe. But though they may protect infants and toddlers during accidents, car seats have a history of containing toxic flame-retardant chemicals.

That’s finally changing.

Today, a coalition of groups including U.S. PIRG Education Fund and the Ecology Center’s “Healthy Stuff” program released test results on car seats in a new report, Hidden Hazards:Flame Retardants and PFAS in Children’s Car Seats. The authors collaborated with researchers from Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame.

> Keep Reading
News Release | OSPIRG Foundation | Health Care

OSPIRG Seeks Consumer Stories about Health Care in Oregon

 

OSPIRG Foundation is conducting a statewide survey of consumers about experiences and challenges with the health care system in Oregon.

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG | Public Health, Consumer Protection, Health Care

Second recall of King Bio’s homeopathic drugs in the past month

King Bio Inc. issued the second significant voluntary recall since late July of their homeopathic drugs on Wednesday. Safety concerns over homeopathic drugs extend beyond King Bio as over the past several years, the FDA has issued recalls to several companies for a variety of health products from zinc-containing intranasal medicine to asthma drugs with toxic ingredients. 

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG | Public Health

U.S. PIRG statement on $289 million verdict against RoundUp

Today, a jury ruled against the chemical company Monsanto, awarding $289 million in damages to Dewayne Johnson, a former school groundskeeper who said he got terminal cancer from Monsanto’s best-selling weedkiller Roundup.

> Keep Reading
News Release | U.S. PIRG | Public Health

U.S. judge allows Monsanto’s Roundup cancer lawsuit to go to trial, victims will be heard in court

Federal judge found sufficient evidence to move to trial hundreds of lawsuits alleging that Monsanto Co.’s glyphosate-containing weed-killer Roundup causes cancer.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Result | Health Care

Kitzhaber Administration takes action on health care costs

At the direction of Gov. Kitzhaber, the Oregon Health Policy Board has adopted an OSPIRG-backed proposal to take steps toward cutting the waste out of our health care system, estimated to make up as much as 1/3 of every dollar we spend on care.

> Keep Reading
Result | Health Care

Governor Kitzhaber To Pursue Strengthened Scrutiny for Health Insurance Rates

Following an OSPIRG Foundation report recommending changes to Oregon's health insurance rate review process to make it more effective, Governor Kitzhaber has announced that his administration will take the next steps.

> Keep Reading
Report | OSPIRG Foundation | Health Care

OSPIRG FOUNDATION COMMENTS ON THE PROVIDENCE HEALTH PLAN PROPOSAL FOR INDIVIDUAL HEALTH RATES EFFECTIVE JANUARY 2019

Providence Health Plan’s 91,425 members with individual health insurance plans will see rate hikes of 13.6% on average, and as high as 24.1%, if the premium increase proposed by Providence goes forward. 

> Keep Reading
Report | OSPIRG Foundation and Frontier Group | Health Care

Improving Price Transparency

Opaque and unavailable prices for health care services violate the basic consumer right to know in advance about the price of goods or services. When consumers are asked to make decisions about care without access to meaningful price information, they are unable to make informed decisions in high-stakes situations that can profoundly affect their future health and financial security. Improving the price transparency of health care services isn’t just about fulfilling a basic consumer right – it is also a critical step in diagnosing and addressing the high cost of health care. 

> Keep Reading
Report | OSPIRG Foundation | Public Health

In Your Face

The negative health effects of asbestos are well-known. Most people may associate asbestos contamination with the workplace or decades-old construction material, but alarmingly, recent media reports have found asbestos contamination in kids' makeup from popular stores. PIRG decided to do its own asbestos testing at an accredited laboratory.

> Keep Reading
Report | U.S. PIRG Education Fund | Public Health

Chain Reaction III

The third annual Chain Reaction report, which grades companies on their antibiotics policies and practices, found that 14 out of the top 25 restaurants in the U.S. have taken steps to restrict the routine use of antibiotics in the production of the chicken they serve, up from nine just one year ago. While restaurant chains made great progress on chicken, the groups who authored the report found that there were no new commitments to limit antibiotic use in beef and pork.

> Keep Reading
Report | OSPIRG Foundation | Health Care

OSPIRG Foundation Comments on the Providence Health Plan Proposal for Individual Health Rates Effective January 2018

Providence Health Plan’s 104,747 members with individual health insurance plans will see rate hikes of 22.7% on average, and as high as 68.3%, if the premium rate hike proposed by Providence goes forward.

> Keep Reading

Pages

Blog Post | Health Care

Open Enrollment for 2019: What You Need to Know | Mark Griffith

Health care has been a hot topic in Washington again this year, and there has been a lot of confusion and uncertainty about the future. With all of this background noise, it’s more important than ever to get the facts about how you and your family can get coverage that works for you.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Health Care

OSPIRG Seeks Consumer Stories about Health Care in Oregon | Charlie Fisher

OSPIRG Foundation is conducting a statewide survey of consumers about experiences and challenges with the health care system in Oregon.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Public Health

Toxic triclosan in toothpaste? | Dev Gowda

A recent article in the LA Times revealed that a new study found that the toxic compound triclosan, which is commonly found in toothpaste as well as other consumer products such as cosmetics, children’s toys, and yoga mats, “could cause adverse effects on colonic inflammation and colon cancer.”

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Public Health

Home remodeling shouldn’t be a deadly project: Toxic paint removers being sold by Lowe’s and other stores | Dev Gowda

No one should lose a loved one to deadly chemicals. But right now you can walk into Lowe’s and other stores and buy paint removers containing highly toxic chemicals.

> Keep Reading
Blog Post | Health Care

OPEN ENROLLMENT FOR 2018: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW | Jesse O'Brien

It’s that time again: Time to enroll in health insurance for next year. Health care has been a political football in Washington throughout the year, and there has been a lot of confusion and uncertainty about the future. With all of this background noise, it’s more important than ever to get the facts about how you and your family can get coverage that works for you. 

> Keep Reading

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