ProPublica – Reporting Highlights Tax Dodge: Most working Americans have to pay Medicare taxes, but some of the richest figures on Wall Street have found a way to opt out, a ProPublica investigation found. Accidental Loophole: Nearly 50 years ago, Congress tried to fix one financial abuse but unwittingly created an obscure loophole that these… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Health Care
How AARP Shills for UnitedHealthcare
American Propspect Robert Kuttner: ” Why does the supposed advocate for the elderly steer them to the industry’s worst insurer? We still don’t know quite why the assassin of Brian Thompson targeted the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. But it’s hardly a secret that UnitedHealthcare has the worst record among all large insurers in denying necessary medical… Continue Reading
The Origin of Delay, Deny, Defend
Kottke: “The Origin of Delay, Deny, Defend – In the wake of the murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, a book published in 2010 by Rutgers Law professor Jay Feinman has hit the bestseller charts: Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It. The book’s title is a reference to… Continue Reading
Guide to Abortion Privacy – Digital Defense Fund
Keep Your Abortion Private & Secure – This page is organized into different security-related threats. You can jump to the ones that most concern you. Along with each scenario is a list of digital security tips to neutralize the threats. These are possible concerns you might have: Seeing advertisements related to pregnancy/abortion Tech companies like… Continue Reading
Location data firm helps police find out when suspects visited their doctor
Ars Technica: “A location-tracking company that sells its services to police departments is apparently using addresses and coordinates of doctors’ and lawyers’ offices and other types of locations to help cops compile lists of places visited by suspects, according to a 404 Media report published today. Fog Data Science, which says it “harness[es] the power… Continue Reading
Food safety alerts
Data is Plural – Data journalist Adrian Nesta is building a automated pipeline to collect and standardize data on food safety recalls and alerts from two US federal agencies — the FDA and the USDA. For each alert, the standardized dataset indicates the notice’s title, ID, URL, and time posted, as well as the product… Continue Reading
Plastic Pollution and Policy Considerations: Frequently Asked Questions
CRS – Plastic Pollution and Policy Considerations: Frequently Asked Questions, December 5, 2024. “Global and domestic plastic production has increased substantially since the mid-20th century—doubling in the last two decades. The durability, moldability, and versatility of plastic have led to its ubiquitous use, benefiting many aspects of society, including the food, medical, technology, textile, and… Continue Reading
PopSci 50 greatest innovations of 2024
Now, in 2024, we continue our decades-old tradition of honoring big ideas. We even see hints of our original honorees in this year’s list: Sea-Doo and Ford made both lists, 36 years apart. We’re proud to bring you promising innovations—from things that make life at home easier to literal out-of-this-world explorations. This is the Best… Continue Reading
Find out why your health insurer denied your claim
ProPublica’s Claim File Helper lets you customize a letter requesting the notes and documents your insurer used when deciding to deny you coverage. Get your claim file before submitting an appeal. What’s a Claim File? Why Should I Request One? A claim file is a collection of the information your insurer used to decide whether… Continue Reading
Misinformation exploits outrage to spread online
Science. 28 Nov 2024. Vol 386, Issue 6725. pp. 991-996. DOI: 10.1126/science.adl2829 – “Misinformation remains a major threat to US democratic integrity, national security, and public health. However, social media platforms struggle to curtail the spread of the harmful but engaging content. Across platforms, McLoughlin et al. examined the role of emotions, specifically moral outrage (a… Continue Reading
FTC Bans Location Data Company That Powers the Surveillance Ecosystem
“The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed order bans use or sale of data associated with military installations, churches, healthcare facilities, or other sensitive locations. The Federal Trade Commission will prohibit data broker Mobilewalla, Inc. from selling sensitive location data, including data that reveals the identity of an individual’s private home, to settle allegations the data… Continue Reading
FTC – Examining the Data Practices of Social Media and Video Streaming Services
Examining the Data Practices of Social Media and Video Streaming Services, September 2024. In December 2020, the Federal Trade Commission issued 6(b) Orders to nine of the largest social media and video streaming services—Amazon, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Snap, ByteDance, Discord, Reddit, and WhatsApp (“Companies”). At the time, a bipartisan group of Commissioners issued a joint… Continue Reading
