Advocacy group files IRS complaint against ALEC

Advocacy group Common Cause said Monday it had filed an IRS complaint accusing ALEC of masquerading to be a public charity. ALEC is formed being a nonprofit which brings together lawmakers and personal sector organizations to produce legislation and policy.

ALEC says its work is not lobbying.

Common Cause disagrees. “It tells the internal revenue service in their taxation assessments that it does no lobbying, yet it exists to give profit-driven legislation in statehouses from coast to coast that benefits its corporate members,” said Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, inside a statement. “ALEC just isn’t qualified for abuse its charitable tax status to lobby web hosting corporate interests, and stick the bill towards the American taxpayer.”

Common Cause wants an IRS audit of ALEC’s work, penalties and the payment of back taxes.

Alan P. Dye, a lawyer for ALEC, said the claim from Common Cause ignores the law and distorts the reality.

“After 3 decades of counseling clients on nonprofit and federal disclosure requirements, it’s clear in my opinion until this is really a tired campaign to abuse the legislation, distort information and tarnish the trustworthiness of ideological foes,” Dye said.

ALEC is active ever since the 1970s and has long drawn the ire of open government groups who question the secretive growth and development of legislation and close relationship between private sector officials and lawmakers who meet at conferences to jointly develop model legislation. Liberal activists have seized on ALEC’s support of so-called “Stand Your Ground” laws, coordinating a campaign against the group from the wake with the shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.

George Zimmerman, that has been charged in Martin’s death, maintains he shot in self-defense. His attorney intentions to cite the “Stand Your Ground” law, which gives people wide latitude to utilize deadly force in lieu of retreat during a fight.

Amid the backlash, several companies who’ve previously supported ALEC financially, including Coca-Cola Co. and McDonald’s Corp., said they are not members. And ALEC said it was disbanding its public safety task force that helped export the Florida law along with other states.

Those task forces consume most of ALEC’s spending, and Common Cause believes they are simply forums for lobbying. Common Cause said its complaint took it’s origin from a lot more than 4,000 pages of ALEC records, including talking points that ALEC workers presented to lawmakers in order to better argue on behalf of the legislation the group develops.

How to Trim your Health-Care Costs

For many people Americans, the health-care news this year is more of the same: rising insurance premiums-and for a lot of, reduced coverage-at a time of continued economic malaise.

Healthcare remains one of the largest line pieces of any family’s budget, and finding strategies to save is more important previously. But people unemployed are learning that coverage obsessed about the so-called individual companies are typically not as robust because their work-based insurance was. And those still covered through employers are seeing more high-deductible plans, in line with a November survey from human-resource consultant Mercer.

Whatever your circumstances, here are seven good ideas , save on medications, health care insurance, doctors’ bills and even more.

1. Understand New Legislation

Some people think that the Affordable Care Act doesn’t take effect until 2014, but that is not entirely true. For example, the law already allows adults to stay on the parents’ policies until age 26. Even though this might mean more in premiums to get a family, it could actually cut down on costs but if your recent college graduate need care.

Insurer rebates are a possibility for most as well. What the law states requires that 80% in the premiums insurers collect from individuals be allocated to health-care costs. In the event it threshold isn’t met, the insurer must send its customers rebates.

Rebate checks are expected to start coming over to customers come early july, according to the Department of Health insurance and Human Services. The department says consumers can see if insurers owe rebates at www.healthcare.gov, a government website concerning the health-care law and insurance.

2. Use Preventive Services

Under the new law, many plans are required to cover preventive care without cost sharing such as co-pay or deductible requirement. Mammograms, well-baby visits, breast-feeding support and immunizations are covered, amongst other things.

“Use it which means you save money in the end,” advises Cheryl Fish-Parcham, deputy director of health policy at Families USA, a health-care consumer group based in Washington, D.C.

Plans designed before 2010 aren’t instructed to comply with each of the new rules. But telephone your provider if you think maybe a bill just isn’t right.

“Mistakes happen at all times, and if you recently say ‘Oh well,’ you can owe a lot of money,” says Karen Pollitz, senior fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation.
3. Get Consumer Assistance

This law funds new programs which help consumers resolve disputes in order to find information about insurance.

Healthcare.gov lists programs and resources available state by state. “These undoubtedly are a big help for those who have hassles,” says Ms. Pollitz, who says you can even call your state’s insurance department or attorney general’s office.

If you want coverage, healthcare.gov features a plan finder to browse available choices. The site also reports on health plans which may have requested premium increases and why. Starting in September, it offers to offer a review of plan benefits and coverage for several scenarios.

4. Seek out Cheaper Drugs

Many big-name branded drugs lost patent protection this season, including Lipitor, Pfizer Inc.’s bestselling cholesterol drug. Until the end of May, Lipitor which you can buy by Pfizer as well as generics makers. And then, other generics companies will flood the marketplace, driving the purchase price down further, based on Pfizer.

For people who would like to continue taking branded Lipitor, Pfizer is utilizing some health plans and pharmacy benefits managers to give the drug on the generic price, sometimes resulting in an average co-pay of $10, down from around $25 prior to a patent expired, says an organization spokesman.

Whether you decide on a generic or brand medicine, it seems sensible to find out how your pharmacy benefits work and to choose drugs at the smallest price possible. Tracy Watts, someone in the health-benefits practice at Mercer, says if your doctor prescribes a medication that your plan does not have at a preferred price, ask a doctor if there is an equivalent medicine for less.

If you are a senior on Medicare, it is possible to count on a 50% discount on brand-name drugs as well as a 14% price cut on generics if you find yourself in the so-called doughnut hole-when the price of a medicine exceeds your initial coverage limit but isn’t sufficient to be eligible for a catastrophic coverage.

5. Be Smart About High-Deductible Plans

Plans offering you a reduced premium in substitution for higher initial out-of- pocket expenses are saved to the rise. Often these are typically paired with a tax-preferred savings or linked with preventive-care programs.

“I’m increasingly convinced that until 2014 a high-deductible plan’s the only way to safely save money on premiums,” says Nancy Metcalf, senior program editor at Consumer Reports. Ms. Metcalf adds these make sense financially given that they still typically cover 100% of costs should something catastrophic occur, and cost as often in premiums. The negative effects: You’re responsible for your initial health spending soon you hit the deductible, at which point the plan accumulates the rest.

[More from WSJ.com: Consume Funds in Your FSA]

The Mercer survey found that 32% of large employers not too long ago offered a consumer-directed high-deductible health plan, up from 23% the entire year before- the biggest such improve the firm had ever recorded.

Benefit from wellness programs and incentives your employer offers that encourage preventive care. If you get a rest on premiums for engaged in a health-risk assessment, undertake it, says Ms. Watts. “That provides free money, and reliable information on your health,” she says.

A couple of caveats: Make sure you can actually afford an increased deductible. And before switching plans, ensure that your doctor participates.

6. Be in Network

“Stay in network whenever feasible,” says Ms. Pollitz.

In-network doctors and hospitals contract with the insurance company for the reasonable agreed-upon amount; out-of-network providers don’t need to put a set limit on what is “reasonable,” she says.

One exception: Insurers must cover emergency services regardless of if the hospital that you are taken to is at network or not. That’s a health-law provision, but, as with all these new rules, it sometimes takes following through if you get a bill that you just think is wrong.

One more thing to check out is all the health-care providers you will be seeing within a hospital stay are addressed by your plan’s network. Often hospitalizations include nurses, anesthesiologists and also doctors you may never see directly. It pays to think about in advance when they are in network, as well as challenge itemizes their service get from their website if they are not.

7. Challenge Doctors and Insurers

Ask your personal doctor why an exam is necessary, whether you’ll be able to wait to offer the procedure, in case treatment will alter depending on the results, says Consumer Reports’ Ms. Metcalf.

[Related: Popular Vitamins That could Hurt You]

She points to EKGs, bone-density scans for osteoporosis and MRIs for lumbar pain as a few big-ticket tests not everyone needs.

In case you talk to your doctor ahead of time about costs and explain a procedure might be more than you really can afford, the physician might modify treatment, says Ms. Fish-Parcham of homes USA, the health-care consumer group.

Avoid being docile about billing, either. If perhaps a doctor sends you a bill which you think your plan must have paid, call people to the insurer and your doctor. Produce an upfront conversation while using doctor’s office.

“If you have a bill, contact immediately and say ‘I’ve got a problem with my health plan and i am working on it,’” says Ms. Pollitz. “That’s important because medical bills who are not paid promptly go right to collections.”