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| HOSPITAL SAFETY—Rep. Mitch Greenlick, his aid Tom Powers, Dee Dee Vallier and OSPIRG Advocate Laura Etherton celebrate the signing into law of the health facility infection rate reporting bill. The law will help drive improvements in safety and keep consumers informed. |
Legislature Passes Infection Reporting Law
Oregon health care consumers will gain access to critical information regarding infection rates at hospitals and other health care facilities in Oregon, thanks to passage of House Bill 2524, sponsored by Reps. Mitch Greenlick, Carolyn Tomei and others.
“This law gives consumers information they need when deciding what health care facility to choose,” said OSPIRG’s Laura Etherton. “What’s more, this public reporting should spur improvements in reducing, and ultimately eliminating, these preventable infections.”
Hospital-acquired infections are a rising concern among health and consumer organizations. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these infections account for 90,000 deaths across the country each year. A report by the Office for Oregon Health Policy and Research estimated infections acquired at health care facilities drove up Oregon costs by at least $15 million in 2005.
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Consumers Win Right To Block Identity Thieves
Passage of The Oregon Consumer Identity Theft Prevention Act is expected to improve the safeguarding of personal information and give consumers increased protections.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, Oregon ranks 13th in the nation for identity theft. Identity theft is the nation’s fastest-growing crime partly because of the lax security practices at banks, credit card companies, credit reporting agencies and other institutions.
Effective October 2007, Oregon consumers have the right to control access to their own credit reports through a security freeze, to stop identity thieves from opening fraudulent accounts. The bill also limits the display of Social Security numbers, and requires consumers be notified if they are at risk due to a security breach of their information.
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Bill Makes Textbooks More Affordable
Students and parents will pay less for textbooks, thanks to an OSPIRG-backed bill that passed in June.
“This bill will help address the skyrocketing costs of textbooks,” said Laura Etherton, OSPIRG advocate. “We applaud the Oregon Legislature for doing their homework and passing it.”
Under the bill, publishers will need to be clearer about prices and options. And they’ll have to give faculty the option of only ordering the books they want students to buy, as opposed to “bundling” textbooks together with pricey CDs and workbooks they don’t need for the class.
Textbook costs increased four times the rate of inflation between 1994 and 2003. Research conducted by the OSPIRG student chapters, and confirmed by a survey by the Oregon Student Association, found that the average Oregon student spends $900 each year on textbooks.
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OSPIRG-backed Bills Crack Down On Payday Lenders
On June 19, Gov. Kulongoski signed four OSPIRG-backed bills into law to protect consumers from predatory financial services, and put an end to payday and title loans’ triple-digit percent interest rates.
OSPIRG worked as part of broad-based coalition of consumer advocates, hunger-relief organizations, churches and others to support the bill. The coalition of groups pointed to passage of House Bill 2871 as a particular success. That bill reinstates caps on consumer loan interest rates that were repealed in the 1980s, a move that contributed to the spread of high-interest payday loan and title loan outfits across the state.
“This is a great day for Oregon consumers,” said Laura Etherton of OSPIRG. “Trapping borrowers in debt and gouging them with 500 percent interest rates are now unacceptable practices in Oregon.” |
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