Retailers Tracking Your Every Move

When it comes to your privacy, there is one industry that make it their business to know your secrets. Data-mining companies don’t dig for gold, but for consumer information, a powerful and lucrative commodity. One company that has proven itself sophisticated at harvesting its customers’ data is Target.

One Minneapolis area dad found this out the hard way when he discovered Target ads for baby furniture and maternity clothing in his mailbox. Turns out, his teenage daughter was pregnant. Shockingly, the retail chain knew before he did. Target marketers have developed a detailed list of purchases typically made by pregnant women because they know that big transitions like starting a family means a consumer is changing what they buy and possibly where they buy it.

Charles Duhigg, author of “The Power of Habit,” found that the company kept track of both the usual and the unusual when it comes to their customers, including, age, marital status and address, but also surprising things like the amount of time it takes the client to drive to Target, reading materials, job history, political affliation, estimated salary and favorite websites.

Retailers like Target actively track their customers but there are some companies that do nothing but collect information on consumers. Two companies, Milliman and Ingenix, compile prescription drug histories on consumers from databases maintained by pharmacy chains and prescription benefit managers. Your medical conditions, test results from insurance underwriting exams and even potentially hazardous hobbies you have and driving records are compiled by a consortium of insurers called MIB Group.

To protect yourself, it used to be enough to put your name on the Federal Trade Commission’s Do Not Call registry, but these days, you’ll need to do more. Don’t ignore privacy rights notices from banks, brokers and other financial companies. You can use these notices to prevent companies from “sharing” or in truth, selling, your information with others. Another protection: When filling out a warranty card don’t put any more information on the card other than your name, address and the necessary product information Privacy Rights at offers opt-out policies for data brokers at www.privacyrights.org/ar/infobrokers.htm.    

Make sure to catch tonight’s Willis Report at 6pm ET as Medical Privacy Week continues with Charles Duhigg, author of "The Power of Habit." He'll show us how companies are tracking your every move to monitor your health!

Protect Yourself Against Medical Identity Theft

I’m a big fan of keeping my personal information personal. But when it comes to your medical information, maintaining privacy is difficult, if not impossible. That’s because your information isn’t just held by your doctor, hospital and insurer, it’s also a commodity bought and sold by marketers, data base companies and even retailers.

In fact, on the black market, your medical records are more valuable than your social security number.  According to Dr. Deborah Peel of Patient Privacy Rights, it costs just 50 cents to a dollar to buy a social security number, but $14 to $24 to buy someone’s private medical details. Smart identify thieves are leaving the dumpster diving behind and focusing on medical identity theft because they prefer the deeper pockets of insurers to consumers.

A typical identity theft involves the looting of your insurance information by a thief who then makes false claims for drugs or medical services. The mess that creates can plague a victim for years to come. It’s no surprise then that when the state of California suggested having ex-felons sign up people for healthcare exchanges under Obamacare , privacy advocates fought against the proposal. 

And, don’t think it can’t happen to you. Medical identity theft is a big and growing problem– as much as half of the $80 billion a year in health care fraud, as estimated by the FBI. The World Privacy Forum’s Pam Dixon says the FBI concedes that drug dealers have switched careers to medical fraudsters because the risk of being caught is so low.

Victims may never find out their medical identity has been stolen until they get an explanation of benefits letter from their insurer describing services they’ve never received. If that happens to you, get a complete copy of your health records, which are essential to figuring out your case.

By law, one must be provided access to your records. Contact all health care providers, hospitals, pharmacies, and even labs and insurers to get the details. Typically, your personal information may be mixed up with the fraudster’s. Covered entities have 30 days to respond.

Getting the information may be the easiest part of fixing the problem. Your next goal will be to remove information that could impact future treatment. Most of the companies you deal with will NOT be required to work with you. Ask to amend the record, if you can’t get rid of information that doesn’t belong to you. Setting the record straight is important because the wrong information on your health record can harm you. An incorrect blood type or wrong personal case history could impact your care in the future.

For more on how your medical records are being used and abused - tune in tonight to the Willis Report for a special investigation at 6pm ET on the Fox Business Network.

Your Medical Privacy at Risk

Your health care information including your medical data, history, treatment, even your shopping habits at the pharmacy is the next big frontier in the battle for consumer privacy.

Everything from your prescription data to hospital records and insurance details is being collected not by just your doctor, hospital and insurer, but also by data clearing houses, retail pharmacies, marketing companies and employers.

Even pharmacy loyalty cards-the ones that provide consumers with discounts and coupons- play a role in helping marketers figure out what kinds of health care products to sell to you.

You may have heard the story of the Minneapolis area dad who found out his young daughter was pregnant after Target started sending promotions for baby clothes and furniture to their house. Astute marketers know that young women that buy certain types of vitamins and clothes are probably pregnant. Targeting them early is a competitive advantage. If Target marketers can  convince a young pregnant woman to shop at their stores, she may stay for life.

Clearly, the business of buying and selling medical data is big, and  medical privacy expert Dr. Deborah Peel told me an individual's health information is even more valuable than their social security number.

“This data is the most valuable personal information about you. More valuable than anything," she says."Many people know that personal information like your social security number is very valuable for identity thieves. It costs somewhere between 50 cents and a dollar to get a social security number, but your medical records can be bought for $14-$24 each online!”

Of course there are federal rules about how much of this information can be shared or even sold.

But much of the medical establishment is either too busy or too disinterested to pay a lot of attention to them. The results of a Health and Human Services audit of 115 health care providers and insurers released May 10, showed that the vast majority of them failed to comply with federal guidelines for privacy. They say they didn't know the rules. 

For more on how your medical records are being used and abused - tune in tonight to the Willis Report for a special investigation at 6pm ET on the Fox Business Network.

Senate Floor Statement on the IRS and 501(c)(4) Organizations

Click on the link below to see the Senate Floor statement on the IRS and 501(c)(4) Organizations

http://www.levin.senate.gov/newsroom/speeches/speech/senate-floor-statement-on-the-internal-revenue-service-and-501c4-organizations

Buying a Home? Here's What You Need to Know

I’d like to say that I’m over the Housing bust, but I’m not.

I am still angry. Angry at the homebuyers who overbought and then were foreclosed on, the banks that gave out loans to anyone who could fog a mirror, and the government regulators who sat idly by.

You see, it's personal for me.

My home's value is still suffering, but here is the thing, when it comes to your money, you have to set emotion aside and be clear headed.

It’s hard to do that these days with the reports coming out of the housing market. Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller housing index jumped 9.3% in February– the most in seven years. With numbers like that, it’s hard not to get excited. But here’s what you need to know, if you plan to buy a home this year.

1. All signs point to a bubble. The government isn’t warning of a housing bubble because the housing numbers they survey when it comes to inflation aren’t home prices but apartment rents, called “Owner’s Equivalent Rent.” What’s worse, the government figures this number using estimates from homeowners. Not exactly scientific. So, if you can’t rely on government numbers, take a look at what’s going on in some of the hardest hit markets during the recession. For example, Las Vegas prices were up 31% year over year in April as inventory contracted. The story is the same in many markets. Less inventory, higher prices.

2. Be prepared for stiff competition. If you’re shopping for a home, you may find yourself competing with professional investors or flippers or all cash offers. This reduces your negotiating leverage.

3. Get the money ahead of time. If you are getting a loan to buy, do the paperwork first. If you have a commitment from your lender in hand ahead of time, your negotiating position will become much stronger.

4. Don’t get caught in a bidding war. Yes, they are happening in many markets across the country. For most of us, a bidding war is a recipe for disaster. Bidders end up overpaying and regretting it for a long time.

5. It’s local. This is the oldest saw in real estate because it’s true! While Las Vegas is showing every sign of a bubble housing market, other markets are not. Survey the local metrics to find out the state of play in the market you want to buy. What are comps? Do similar homes command the same price as the one you fell in love with? What is the going price per square foot? What’s the state of the local economy? Is employment expanding or contracting?

Investors May Face Municipal Bond Meltdown

Inevitably, people are always asking me where the market is going next. Believe me, if I could answer that question, I wouldn’t be working for a living. I would be trading my own account from my private hammock on my own private island.

What I can do is tell you about the trends I see developing and how they may or may not represent opportunity or risk.  That’s why I am writing today.

One of the smartest financial advisors I know, Ric Edelman, is sounding the alarm on municipal bonds. The reasons are simple. Bankruptcies at a handful of municipalities in California are shaking the very foundations of the sleepy muni bond industry.

In the largest ever municipal bond bankruptcy in Stockton, Ca., officials are making payments on employee retirement plans to Calpers, while they default on payments to bondholders. This is unheard of – it's as astonishing as if the sun rose in the west and set in the east.  If local governments can put muni bond holders at the back of the line when it comes to payments, well, then the investment has just moved out the risk curve. Bondholders have traditionally been fully repaid their principle during major bankruptcies. Game of craps, anybody?

Edelman talked about these risks on The Willis Report last week after attending a roundtable with a Securities and Exchange Commission Official and bond money managers who discussed their worries that higher rates will hit individual bond investors hard. The muni bond market is dominated by retail investors who hold 7.4% of the $3.7 trillion market.

A couple of years ago, a Wall Street analyst was vilified for saying the muni bond market would encounter headwinds. Today, numerous market players are saying there could be troubles ahead.  This time we all should listen.

Money-Saving Travel Tips

I love to travel, but I hate the ever-escalating prices. Worse yet, the fees!

Fortunately, there are ways to save money this summer if you’ve decided not to “staycation” this year. If you’re flying, schedule your time off when others are working. According to Rick Seaney of FareCompare.com, cheaper times to travel are early spring and late summer. Also, pick a weekday to fly. Most people want to fly on Saturday or Sunday and fares reflect that demand. If you fly into and out of major airports – the big cities with the most competition among carriers – you are more likely to bring down the price.

My husband and I are planning a trip to Europe in late summer. We purchased tickets six weeks ago and have watched as fares have risen since then. I feel lucky, but the reality is that the fares could just as easily come down later this summer as the airlines try to fill empty seats. It’s always a crapshoot when to book your summer vacation, but one way to game the system is to use websites like Kayak.com that will give you advice on whether they believe, based on their data, fares will go up in the next week.

If you are flying domestically, the good news is this: Travelocity reports that prices are down for Memorial Day weekend. The average price of a domestic ticket is $341, down $6 from last year.

Not everybody will fly to their summer vacation destination. Some of us will drive. One app that can help you with that is 'Waze,' which gives you free GPS navigation turn by turn – plus, it tells you where you’ll encounter traffic backups and even speeding traps! It relies on community participation, so you may find the bigger cities have the most robust reporting of traffic issues.

Getting away is essential and getting a good price on your days away is not that hard

The Real Cost of Owning Your Car: $9,000!

If you thought your home was expensive, wait until you hear how much owning a simple car is costing you.

According to a new report from AAA, the cost of owning a car is up roughly 2% from 2012.

That breaks down to an increase of more than a cent for every 15,000 miles to nearly 61 cents a mile... or more than $9,000 a year.

This covers everything from maintenance, gas, insurance and depreciation.

The report shows maintenance costs had the biggest jump, more than 11%, to five cents a mile on average.

Insurance costs are also skyrocketing. They are up nearly 3%, or $28, to more than $1,000 a year and that's only if you have a good driving record.

Gas prices are actually on the decline, and an increase in fuel efficiency is helping to keep fuel costs from rising year after year.

In fact, the price for an average gallon of gas today is $3.52, and just a year ago it was $3.91.

Depreciation costs ticked up just slightly.

Health Care Insider Trading

Another health-care story caught my eye in the Wall Street Journal: possible insider trading of health-care stocks as the result of a policy shift in Washington.

Here's what happened: On Monday, the White House announced they were no longer going to cut Medicare advantage by 2%. They're actually going to raise investments in the program by 3%.

That announcement sent health insurance stocks soaring: Aetna up 2.5%, UnitedHealth 3%, and Humana a whopping 8.5% spike.

Pretty impressive.

But now, the paper is looking into the possibility traders were tipped off by a private message alerting them the change was coming.

The paper says the message came from a Washington investment-research firm called height securities about 20 minutes before the markets closed.

Volumes for those companies skyrocketed, even though the official announcement from the White House would come about 15 minutes after the market closed.

And today a GAO report was released calling on the SEC to crack down on market-moving information being leaked from Capitol Hill.

They absolutely should. Insider trading is a contagion in this country and one that makes for an uneven playing field for small investors. Once again, the big guys get critical trading information while small investors are left in the cold.

Everyone should get the same information at the same time... is that too much to ask?!?

Louisville Says Ware Will Have No Medical Bills

As we await the Final Four action this weekend, I’m sure most of us have seen or heard of that gruesome injury suffered last weekend.

Louisville’s Kevin Ware fractured his leg so badly, a bone protruded six inches and CBS refused to replay it. There is some good news, earlier today, Ware was released from the hospital and is headed back to campus. The other silver lining to this tear-inducing tragedy?

According to reports, Kevin's family will not have to pay a dime out of pocket for his medical bills.

Every student athlete must have health insurance because the NCAA requires it. If their parents don't have coverage, most universities will buy insurance. Even if the athlete’s parents are covered, some schools will serve as co-providers.

In Ware's case: Louisville will pay for the whole thing. If the bills were too astronomical, the NCAA also has supplemental insurance for up to $90,000 dollars. If the player is totally disabled, the benefits could reach $20 million.

This story makes me think the government offers great health insurance. Heck even the NCAA steps up for its players.

What about the rest of us? Why are we being forced to settle for Obamacare?

This is an example of how to handle health care, and I'm glad the Ware family doesn't have to deal with any more pain than they've already endured.