As reported on in the New York Times, brand name drugs are often more costly than their generic counterparts, and this finding could signal a significant increase in the medical bills of many seniors.

The AARP report found that the cost of the 217 most common brand-name prescription drug products used by older Americans increased an average of 8.3 percent in 2009. This was the largest increase in the last five years.

The findings by the AARP are not uncontested, however.

Several officials in the prescription drug industry challenge the finding, saying select brand-name prices do not accurately reflect the fact that the use of lower priced generic drugs are on the rise. According to IMS Health, a research firm, approximately 75 percent of all prescriptions dispensed in the United States are generics.

In a broader survey of prescription drug prices, the industry claims that the price of prescriptions drugs increased by 3.4 percent in 2009. This survey was conducted by government for the official Consumer Price Index and includes both generic and brand-name drug prices.

Assistant professor of health policy at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, saw improvement in the AARP’s recent data, but still claims their report is flawed.

“It can easily be shown that branded prices are higher here than they are in other countries, but we have the lowest and the most competitively priced generic drugs in the world, and the generic share is going up rapidly … Just focusing on brands I think is unfair.”

Executive vice president for policy and strategy for the AARP, John C. Rother, stated that, “Brand-name retail prices have been accelerating year-to-year even when inflation has been nonexistent in the rest of the economy.”

Not all prescription drugs rose evenly this past year. The incontinence drug Flomax had the largest increase with a 24.8 percent rise in retail price last year. This puts a single Flomax pill at $4.09.

Over the past several years, the price of prescription drugs has been rising across the board. According to the AARP: drugs rose by:

• 8.3 percent increase in 2009
• 7.9 percent increase in 2008
• 7 percent increase in 2007
• 6.1 percent increase in 2006
• 6 percent increase in 2005

When we look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics over the same years, which include the price of generics, the increases are much smaller:

• 3.4 in 2009
• 2.5 in 2008
• 1.4 in 2007
• 4.3 in 2006
• 3.5 in 2005

The AARP says that it is important to focus on brand-name drugs because many older Americans rely on brand-name drugs for chronic illnesses.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry trade group, claims that the growth for prescription medicines is historically low.

The study looked at by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America also reports that Medicare drug spending is much less than initially projected, in part due to generics.

Still, increased drug costs can become a financial issue for anyone facing chronic disease or needs regular medication. While generics offer cheaper alternatives, they aren’t always available. And regular costs like these can lead to someone filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

The numbers paint a tough picture for a segment of the population still early in their working lives:

• 17 percent lost their primary jobs during the recession
• 56 percent were looking for new jobs
• 37 percent were looking for a second job to supplement their income
• 8 percent declared chapter bankruptcy.

Looking at the numbers, UPI declares this generation the one hit hardest by the recession.

Generation Y encompasses anyone born between 1979 and 1999. Many in this generation are just now entering college and others are just starting careers and their adult lives. Saddled with college bills and small savings accounts, many haven’t built up a security net like older individuals might have.

MSN Money suggests that while Generation Y’ers are the most educated, they are also the least financially literate.

“The median credit-card debt of low- and middle-income people aged 18 to 34 is $8,200,” they report.

On top of that, this age group may make up only 14 percent of the population, but they account for 22.7 percent of all chapter bankruptcy filings. It doesn’t help that they’re carrying an average of $20,000 in education loans.

The financial illiteracy isn’t entirely their fault, though. Gen Y-ers grew up in an “environment in which parents coddle their children” and “bank deregulation has made the financial landscape confusingly complicated.”

Growing up during the ‘90s, when consumerism was at an all-time high probably hasn’t helped their cultural views toward “must have items” either.

The Today Show notes that their education hasn’t always been much help either. The advanced degrees held by Gen Y makes it hard for them to get entry level jobs while they search for a job in their field. When one graduate applied to Whole Foods, the e-mail he received stated he was “far too overqualified for any of their hourly positions and as such would not be considered.”

If you’re a member of Generation Y and this article has you quaking in your boots, fear not, because there is one thing Gen Y does better than anyone else: Technology.

Gen Y-ers were raised with advanced technology, starting typing classes in elementary school. US News notes that although Generation Y may be impulsive in their shopping, they do know how to use the internet to shop for the best possible deal.

They also know how to apply for jobs online, and when they sign up for credit cards and other forms of debt they use electronic alerts.

Older generations may want to take a page from Gen Y in this regard, since paying credit card bills online is often easier and safer than paying through snail mail. Not to mention that alerts and updates from banks can even be sent to your cell phone, letting you know when your bank account gets low.

So if you are a Millennial, or you have one that’s boomeranged back to your basement, be patient. It could be a while before employment picks up, and your education gets the job it deserves. Gen Y-ers have the skills they need to get by once the Baby Boomers get out of the way.

An Oregon man will face a possible five years in jail and a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty to two counts of bankruptcy fraud, according to the Columbian.

Donovan Lindhorst of Gresham, Oregon, was forced to file involuntary bankruptcy in 2007 after he didn’t make the necessary payments to the roofers union of which he was a member.

As a part of filing for the involuntary bankruptcy, Lindhorst hid numerous of assets, including cash, a vintage truck, gold, silver and other coins.

Officials found almost $200,000 in cash, as well as gold bullion and other valuables in a safe in Lindhorst’s house when they undertook during an inspection. The inspection – which turned up the 1928 Ford Roadster pickup – was mandated as a part of his bankruptcy agreement.

Lindhorst also failed to notify the court that he had transferred $190,000 to his son.

U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton said in a news release that “bankruptcy fraud is an assault on our judicial system. Debtors may not gain the protections of the bankruptcy courts on the one hand and then misrepresent and conceal assets from court, trustees and creditors of the bankruptcy estate on the other.”

Tennessee Payroll Company Sommet Will File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

A federal bankruptcy judge took the side of creditors recently, and will force the Tennessee payroll company Sommet into Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

A group of creditors filed an involuntary petition last month, and recently the judge in the case granted that petition. This means that Sommet will now have to liquidate its assets in order to pay off debts.

Federal authorities raided the offices of the company in July. An affidavit would later accuse Sommet managing partner of misusing clients’ money. This misuse stemmed from unpaid health insurance claims that Sommet had on the books. According to the affidavit, there were 778 such unpaid claims from 2009 and 2010, totaling around $2.1 million.

According to court papers, a Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee has been assigned to the company to liquidate assets and repay creditors in an orderly fashion.

Maryland Bankruptcy Filings Increase by 36 Percent

In Maryland last year, bankruptcy filings rose by almost 36 percent, according to the Baltimore Sun. The increase continues the trend in rising bankruptcy filings that began with the bursting of the housing bubble and the economic recession.

The total count of bankruptcies includes both private and business bankruptcy filings.

The Maryland numbers are higher than national bankruptcy filing rates. The rate of increase across the nation for the same time period was about 20 percent.

Between June 30 of 2009 and the same date in 2010 there have been over 29,000 bankruptcy filings in Maryland. The information comes from a report filed by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

In 2007, there were 11,200 bankruptcy filings in Maryland. That number rose by 46 percent in 2008, and by over 30 percent in 2009.

However, what is more expensive than her treatments is her alleged penchant for unauthorized use of her celebrity clients’ credit cards.

CNN reports that the California spa owner has charged at least $280,000 to her clients’ credit cards. Liv Tyler is the major victim to the tune of $214,000 charged to her American Express Card.

Jewelry designer Loree Rodkin was the first to report the possible crime to federal investigators, alleging “Perez fraudulently charged numerous times on her Visa credit card from the studio.”

“Numerous times” added up to about $86,000 in charges, which Perez’s lawyer tried to settle by offering Rodkin $25,000 in skin care services.

KTLA provides the names of other high-end clients who were scammed by the high-end salon owner, including Jennifer Aniston, Melanie Griffith, Anne Hathaway, and Scott Speedman. After paying for services at the studio, extra charges would appear on the celebrity’s credit card statements.

According to CBS, the cards were not swiped, but rather the numbers on the cards were entered manually, which means that Perez was saving the numbers and then reentering them into her payment system after her clients left the office, hoping they would not notice the charges.

Perez has been arrested on two counts of fraud, and if convicted, could face up to 25 years in prison. Fortunately, none of her victims are facing chapter bankruptcy.

This isn’t her first run in with the law, though. Perez has previously been arrested for shoplifting and writing checks with insufficient funds. Perez’s attorney says that she will be cleared of all charges.

Two major credit card lessons you can learn from your favorite celebrities here?

• Know what you’ve spent on your credit card and actually check your statement every month. Too many people just check to see what the balance is and send in a check. Being sure that your statement is correct is the first step to fixing anything that’s wrong. Online banking can help you check the charges on your card more often, since you won’t have to wait for your monthly statement.
• If a charge does seem off, or if you suspect someone is using your credit card without your permission report it immediately and cancel the card! You will not be charged for the purchases the thief makes, so alert your credit card company immediately, and let them begin investigating the possible fraud.

The bottom line: Know where your money is going, no matter how much you pay for skin care.

Before the end of the year, millions of small businesses will be eligible for a tax credit of up to 35 percent of the cost of health care plans for their employees. This tax credit, according to the Chicago Tribune, should help mitigate the impact of premiums on millions of small business owners.

This is becoming increasingly necessary as most employers have seen their premiums raise nearly 20 percent of the past 20 years.

The increase in health care costs over the past several decades has been so extreme,that in some instances it has even prevented employers from hiring as many employees as the company would ideally have.

The new tax credits are designed to give more employees better health care coverage – and thus fewer medical bills – as well as allowing more employers to hire as many employees as they desire.

According to a report by the Illinois Main Street Alliance, which polled nearly 500 small businesses in a dozen states, about 12 percent of employers dropped coverage for their workers in either 2008 or 2009. Also, “35 percent reported switching within the past two years to insurance that covers fewer services.”

One of the benefits of this reform is that the workers and employers that need help the most will receive the most benefits. Businesses with 25 workers with wages of less than $50,000 a year tend to have the highest premium costs, and this reform will kick in with the 2010 tax year.

There is a major disparity among the availability of employer provided health care. The smaller the business, the less likely the employer is to offer health care. Employers with three to nine workers only offered health insurance 46 percent of the time, while 95 percent of employers with 50 or more employees offered health care to their employees.

Part of the reason for this disparity is that these small businesses pay around 18 percent more than large firms for the same health insurance policy.

Kathleen Stoll, deputy executive director for Families USA, an advocacy group which has encouraged expanding coverage to uninsured, says that “This tax credit is really for companies on the cusp of dropping coverage for their workers… I’ve never yet met a small business owner that doesn’t want to offer coverage for their workers.”

Not all employers will qualify. If an employer wishes to be eligible for the credit, HealthCare.gov states that employers must provide “at least 50 percent of the cost of health care coverage for some of its workers based on the single rate.”

The savings can be significant, with the average cost being nearly $9,000 per employee. For a small business, this could be the incentive necessary to shift over to providing health care. And if the employer doesn’t, then he or she might have a hard time retaining employees.

But if that number seems high, brace yourself, because student loan debt has passed credit card debt.

Americans owe $829.785 billion in student loans.

At a time when both tuition and unemployment are at an all time high, it looks like you’ll be paying for your college education much longer than you’ll be paying off your credit card.

The growth of student loan debt is due to several factors:

Typically, loans can’t be cleared through Chapter 7 bankruptcy. While filing bankruptcy, debt settlement and credit counseling may help with most types of debt, they rarely will help you with student loans. In fact, an open letter from Student Loan Justice reports that because of the inability to default on these loans, the government is making money on student loans at a rate of 123 percent.

Student debt isn’t as widely broadcast as credit card debt.In an unscientific study by SLJ, “media coverage of credit cards exceeds coverage of student loans by a factor of approximately 15 to 1.” People are more aware of their credit card debt, and are therefore more apt to pay it down.

College costs are on the rise. At state and private institutions the cost of college continues to go up. The average bachelor degree graduate owes about $23, 186 in loans, reports MSN Money Central

So what can you do to keep the lid on your student loan debt? Here a few suggestions:

• Think in terms of value, not prestige. Big name schools aren’t always worth the extra price tag, particularly if you’re going into a field that isn’t a guaranteed earner.  You can get a great education without going to Harvard or Yale. The name of the school isn’t important, it’s all about what you learn there. You may be able to get some general education requirements cleared cheaply at a community college. Explore scholarships and in-state tuition offers, as well as the Princeton Review’s Guide of Best Value Colleges.
• Get a job.  On average, most students with a part-time job in college have higher grades than those who don’t. Most colleges have a student employment programs that works with your school schedule and your talents. A little antisocial? Plug in your headphones and wash some dishes. Need an audience to be truly happy? Become a campus tour guide.
• Look for scholarships: Scholarships go to stand out students, but that can mean different things on different campuses. Look for schools where your special talents and background are in demand, and look at their scholarship and merit aid offerings.

In the end, you’re responsible for your student debt, so start deciding how you want to pay it off now so that you can avoid being a slave to loan institutions forever.

The report looks at a common situation: A 24-year-old graduate student becomes financially independent of her parents, as a result, she lost the ability to be covered by her father’s health care plan.

The good news is that the new health care reform will allow her to rejoin his policy. The bad news: She cannot do it until January.

In the interim, she will be forced to use the notorious student policy. Her student policy is going to cost her nearly $1,800, significantly more than it would cost to add her to her father’s, and will have significantly reduced coverage, and potentially higher medical bills.

The new plan attempts to allow these adult children to remain on their parent’s plan, as long as it is through an employer, until they are 26. Also, there is no ability for the insurance companies to exclude a child due to the child’s status as a student or financial dependency.

The problem comes in the coverage gap created by this reform. This portion of the bill takes effect on September 23, or whenever the health plan renews. For many, this means in January 2011, but there are a significant number of people out there who will have a gap that lasts all the way until March or July.

If you or one of your children fall into this gap, it is important to carefully weigh and asses the options you have to find the best coverage fit.

One of the most obvious solutions, assuming the child is in college, is a student health care plan.

While student policies may be better than not having any coverage, health care management consultant Stephen Beckley says, “Most student plans are really bad.”

If it turns out that the parents plan isn’t an option any more, and a student plan is either non-existent or unworkably poor, then the other option is an individual plan.

According to a consumer specialist with eHealthInsruance.com, the average rate for an 18-24 year old is a $106 a month plan with $2,300 deductible.

The plus of the individual plans are that as of September 23, the individual plans must meet the new health care standards. These include no lifetime limits on coverage and free preventive care.

It is easy to get frustrated with the cost of limited coverage often available to adult’s that fall into this class. And with a short gap in coverage, it might be tempting to just wait until you can get covered by your parents.

But you should always do your best to make sure that you are covered and prepared for the worst. Otherwise, you may need to explore your Chapter 7 bankruptcy options.

The company announced that it may lack the liquidity that it’ll take to sustain itself over the next year, according to the Associated Press. The statement from the company included wording that has been known to come before a bankruptcy filing.

After the news broke, the company’s stock shares fell by 21 percent, to their lowest price in a year.

American Apparel went public in 2007, and has since rapidly expanded, occupying 260 stores in 19 countries. Popular among young hipsters, they specialize in clothing basics in bright colors, slim cuts and 1980s-inspired styles like leggings and leotards.

American Apparel said that their losses in the second quarter could make its ability to continue a growing concern. The Associated Press noted that the terminology used by the company is “standard language foreshadowing a possible bankruptcy.”

American Apparel is also in danger of falling out of compliance with a credit agreement, with a deadline of September 30. If the company does not receive a reprieve, it said, they might be forced to pay off two lines of credit at the same time. The company is currently working to amend the credit agreements that it has in place.

According to American Apparel, the stress of the current agreement could set in motion a chain reaction of financial problems that would lead to the simultaneous payment of both credit lines.

The clothing company expects a loss between $5 and $7 million for the quarter that ended on June 30. In the second quarter, they experienced losses of $7.3 million. Revenue came in at $136.1 million in 2009, but that number is expected to fall to between $132 and $134 million this year.

The revenue brought in by stores that have been open for more than a year has fallen by 16 percent during the quarter, according to the Associated Press.

Based in California, American Apparel is also known for their racy ads and polarizing CEO Dob Charney, who has made headlines during sexual harassment trials and a legal dispute with Woody Allen. Charney is often portrayed as a foul-mouthed leader who has conducted meetings in his underwear and posted pornographic pictures in American Apparel stores.

American Apparel filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying that they company expects losses to continue at least through the year’s third quarter.

According to the New York Times, American Apparel also faced an SEC subpoena for its switch from accountants Deloitte and Touche to Marcum to serve as independent auditors.

The loan agreement that American Apparel will like fall out of compliance under is with Lion Capital. Going out of compliance could trigger, according to the New York Times, “cross-defaults across other bank loans.”

The company also warned the SEC that its failure to file an earnings report with the SEC in a timely fashion for the second quarter could threaten its listing on the New York Stock Exchange Amex exchange.

Merrie Harris, an ad executive in New York, took a leap of faith last week when she loaned her credit card to a homeless man who ask her for some cash.

Harris was out on the town, reports the New York Press, and just leaving a restaurant, when she was approached by a homeless man. He asked if she had any cash so that he could get a Vitamin Water, and she responded that she only had her credit card.

Then he surprised her by asking to borrow it. She returned the surprise with one of her own when she reached into her purse and handed her card over.

Get information on filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

According to the New York Post, everyone with her thought it was the “dumbest thing,” and that she had crossed the line between charity and stupidity. Harris describes herself as an eternal optimist, but even she had doubts as she watched Jay Valentine disappear down the street with her corporate card.

She went back into the restaurant to wait for the man, while fighting against a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Fifteen minutes later, someone came down the stairs, yelling, “He’s back!” And he was back with his small purchases: a Vitamin Water, a pack of cigarettes, a t-shirt and deodorant.

She told him she knew he’d come back, and he responded, “Of course. I’m an honest person.”

Harris’s faith in humanity is wonderful, but she did call American Express, reports CBS News, just to be on the safe side. And sure enough, he purchased only those four items.

But the good news doesn’t end there, reports UPI News. After the story of the generous and trusting advertising executive spread on local and national tv news stations, Jay Valentine’s lucky streak just kept going. An anonymous man from Texas offered him $5,000 and Air Wisconsin at LaGuardia airport announced that he should apply to be a flight attendant.

Harris just believes that if you have a little faith in humanity, people will prove us right.

So what would you do? Would you let someone borrow your credit to get just a few items? Or would it stay safely in your wallet.

AT&T and Verizon want you to get rid of your wallet. Bloomberg reports that AT&T and Verizon Wireless are rolling out new software that will allow you to use your smartphone to pay for purchases. They will be teaming with Discover, currently the fourth largest credit card company in the U.S. Barclay’s of London will be helping process the payments.

The new process will be based on systems already in use in parts of Europe. Using an in-store contact-free scanner, shoppers could pay for their purchases with a swipe of their phone.

It’s been a long time since the coolest thing your cell phone could do was let you play solitaire. Now you can use your phone for music, television, checking your e-mail, and even to pay bills online.

The companies involved hope their technology will become commonplace and a rival to Visa and Mastercard’s massive payment networks.

However, there are a few hurdles that must be cleared before smartphones completely replace credit cards.

First, there’s the equipment cost. Each scanner will cost about $200 for merchants and consumers will need to pay $10-15 to have a special chip installed in their phones.

The cost is a bit prohibitive unless merchants and consumers know that they will be using it – and considering free credit card payment options are widely available. And merchants will be unlikely to install the scanners if there aren’t enough people using their smartphones to make purchases.

The Indianapolis Examiner points out, though, that the technology may not be more secure than your traditional plastic card. Just like a card can be stolen, so can the RFID data that would have to be embedded in the device. If your RFID data does get stolen, someone can clean out your accounts pretty fast.

And, of course, there is a more humble question: Could this ease of access make it that much easier to get deeply into credit card debt.

After all, the technology is being built so that eventually every phone can carry multiple accounts. Seeing the number of cards you have makes the debt you’re in more realistic. This futuristic technology could give consumers a false sense of security as to the amount of money they’re actually spending. Would this cause more people to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy?

Regardless, the new smartphone technology should be rolled out soon in Atlanta and three other U.S. cities as a trial run. If all goes well, the program will be expanded nationwide.

That dream will not likely be realized now, however, as the company has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, along with its CEO.

Rocketplane filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last month, according to The Oklahoman. It had recently relocated its operations to Wisconsin from Oklahoma. In the 2009 move, Rocketplance closed its Oklahoma City headquarters and left its hangar at the Oklahoma Spaceport located in Burns Flat.

The company listed as assets the patented intellectual property dealing with the design of aircraft that would be able to take tourists into space, as well as some structural components. The patents, as well as the components, will now likely be sold in the liquidation of the company’s assets.

The CEO of Rocketplane, George French, is filing personal bankruptcy for three of his business entities: Rocketplane, Rocketplane Global and Rocketplane Kistler. The three companies together listed debts that total around $22 million.

According to French, the company’s years in Oklahoma were spent in “preliminary design review.”

Rocketplane’s funding came from both public and private sources. The company received $18 million in state tax credits to start its operations back in 2003. This Space Transportation Vehicle Provider Credit offered by the state of Oklahoma expired at the end of the year. Private investment was also a part of Rocketplane’s business plan.

French was straightforward about the company’s philosophy about putting the money to use. “We came there, and put all our money on the table,” he said. “We spent it all.”

The creditors that are listed in the Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing include individuals, banks and international and U.S. businesses. The local debts include almost $44,000 owed to a Tulsa accounting firm, almost $48,000 to an Oklahoma City accounting firm, and almost $63,000 to a former program manager.

French listed himself as a creditor as well, having filed that he is owed $735,500 in deferred salary.

The company went through several possible designs for its space tourism craft. Initially, according to former astronaut John Herrington, who was hired by Rocketplane in 2005, the design worked with the idea of modifying the body of a Learjet airplane.

That philosophy didn’t bear fruit, though, and the engineering team decided to instead build the aircraft from scratch itself. Contracts were made with companies to build jet engines powered by kerosene and liquid oxygen.

Salaries were also a large part of the investment. French said that 200,000 hours of design work was done, accounting for a significant portion of the $18 million in funding from the state.

In 2007, the company’s investments started to decrease, and it lost a primary funding source, causing it to struggle to stay salient.

Herrington was optimistic about the company’s chances, had things been different. “If we had successfully acquired the capital that we needed, we would have grown into a major player in the commercial space program.”

French estimated that the company would have needed several $100 million space tourism crafts to be viable.

A recent article in the New York Times covers just that topic, and the savings may help you avoid Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

The first thing that you probably know, but might not have thought about is who the emergency room has to treat. The short answer is, pretty much everyone. Most hospitals are required to treat everyone that requests treatment, regardless of if he or she has insurance.

The result is that many people who receive treatment either cannot or will not pay, which causes the hospitals to set its gross charges very high.

One of the surprises that the ER can hit you with is the fee corresponding to the complexity of the treatment that your injury required. Typically, there are five levels of care.

“Level 1 is for minor problems, like an earache. Level 5 is for more severe problems like a broken bone. (There are higher levels of care reserved for critically ill patients.)” the Times reports.

Some of the best advice about the emergency room is to avoid it whenever possible.

Obviously, you should always seek medical care if you require it, but if it isn’t an emergency, it might be a good idea to call your regular doctor first and ask for advice on how to proceed. Many insurance companies offer free over-the-phone nursing consultations, and, depending on the time of day, there may be walk-in clinics or physicians assistants on hand at local pharmacies.

Another way to avoid trips to the ER is to take care of yourself. We often mention preventive care, and regular doctor visits may help you stop a problem before it becomes so severe you need to see the ER.

Once again, and it is important to emphasize this, if you require emergency care, you should go- no amount of money is worth your life.

If you do end up in the emergency room, be sure to closely examine your bill when you receive it.

With the thousands of patients being processed at hospitals, it is fairly common for a mistake to happen on your bill. You might be charged for minor or major treatments that simply didn’t occur.

There is no risk in asking questions and even asking that a charge be removed. Even if a charge is accurate, you may ask that it be reduced or removed.

If you find that your bill is accurate, then make an offer. If you are unable to pay your bill, bargaining might be your best friend. The majority of hospitals will be willing to deal, particularly if you offer to pay right away.

Finally, act quickly. If you fail to pay your hospital bill, they are often forwarded to collection agencies, which could  – if reported to the credit agencies- wind up hurting your credit score.

Once you see a bill that you think is too high, or is just out of your means, begin a dialogue with the hospital billing department. If you ignore your bill, it will not get any better. The longer you wait to being your action, the greater you risk having your bill go into collection. Being proactive can save you time, money and frustration at a time when you should be worrying about recovering.

Blockbuster was the movie-lending giant of the 1990s, but the company’s worth has fallen seventy-five percent this year. A share is valued at just seventeen cents. The company is now trying to get relief from their massive debts, which include $100 million in interest payments alone.

If they can’t, then the chapter bankruptcy may become permanent closure.

Blockbuster still has assets though, namely DVDs and its name, which together are valued at tens of millions of dollars.

Financial blog The Wrap, however, disagrees, pointing out that consumers will see even the name of the company as an “anachronism … a throwback to the rental era.”

And while part of Blockbuster’s new strategy is to build video rental kiosks similar to those of its competitor Redbox and to team up with cable networks and offer Video on Demand services, it may be too firmly ingrained in consumers’ minds as a rental store.

The Dallas Business Journal notes that Blockbuster has been curiously silent regarding its money troubles, leaving consumers to wonder what will happen.

It also does not seem to be forthcoming about its newer ventures such as the Video on Demand services or the kiosks. The company did verify that it may be selling off some assets as part of the restructuring process, but was not specific on what those assets might be.

Blockbuster still has at least one major supporter in its camp, and that would be movie studios. After all, the studios see much higher returns from Blockbuster rentals than they do from cheaper sources like Netflix.

Studios would love to see Blockbuster continue strongly on after filing chapter bankruptcy, but their pull alone may not help.

Monitoring your credit score is one way to keep your creditors and ensure they remove debts that have been settled from your report.

Perhaps no man has done more to get this idea to stick in the heads of consumers than commercial singer Eric Violette.

Violette was the frontman for the fictional band pitching Experian’s freecreditreport.com service. His band played advertising jingles in unusual places like Renaissance Faires and seafood restaurants.

Experian, one of the three main credit reporting agencies, has decided that since Violette has reached “iconic” status, it’s time to move in a new direction, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. Experian is also changing the name of its main service, offering a new look and a few new products as well.

However, the credit company hopes to keep memorable jingles around, and is even holding a contest to pick the next band for their commercials.

The voting is down to four finalists: Detroit’s The Victorious Secrets, Chicago’s The Poet’s Dance, New York City’s I Love Monsters, and Los Angeles’ Evolove.

Of course, if you’re worried about these bands selling out, at the very least The Victorious Secrets consider the opportunity to make more money an opportunity to “make more art, which is always a good thing,” they told Time magazine’s Detroit Blog.

This is apparently because they are too big to touch and require their own legislation. The bill did, however, include a one-page (out of 2,323 pages) acknowledgment of the Freddie and Fannie problem and a request for an investigation by the Department of the Treasury, reports Cincinnati.com.

So how does this oversight affect you?

• How it works. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are GSE’s, or Government Sponsored Enterprises. Fannie Mae was created in 1938, and Freddie Mac in 1970. They are financial institutions that are supposed to help free up private institutions. Freddie and Fannie buy mortgages from primary lending agencies, so that the primary lending agencies have more money, enabling them to give more loans. If banks can give more loans, the thinking goes, more people may own homes.
• What happened. These and other GSE’s were under pressure during the Clinton and Bush administrations to provide more loans to low-income people, so that more people could be homeowners. Unfortunately, the risky subprime loans caused the housing market to crash, contributing greatly to the recession that we’re currently in. Of course, up until 2008, the corporations were showing modest regulatory capital, but then were deemed insolvent by the Department of the Treasury. As it turns out, both companies are in the hole by trillions of dollars.
• What will happen. The two companies are in a combined debt of about $5.6 trillion of liabilities and have already drawn $145 million from the government to keep from going under. And as a government-backed enterprise, who owns that debt? You, the taxpayer. Which is why it matters. And the government can’t just let these financial institutions go. Without them, the housing market will take a dive from which we’ll be hard-pressed to recover.

So what can be done to fix this? So far, it’s unclear.

The Obama administration has called for a conference on August 17 to discuss ideas and has set itself a deadline of January 2011 to decide on a solution, according to the Washington Post.

The choices are pretty clear: Keep Fannie and Freddie and find a way to make them work, or move back to the privatization of loans and either get rid of the mortgage giants or heavily regulate them.

Interestingly, the Obama administration seems to be leaning towards the second option, giving the impression that home mortgage is not an American right, but rather just part of the American dream. This a view traditionally held by more conservative members of Congress, but has been expressed by senior officials who are leaning towards policy goals that promote renting rather than home ownership.

The bottom line? A seventy-year-old government financing strategy could be turned on its head within the next six months.

So if you’re looking to extend a line of credit to purchase a new home, your search may be impacted one way or the other. Unfortunately, if you’re struggling with your own home mortgage and considering filing bankruptcy there is no current planned government bail out.