Top 10 Consumer, Health and Family Headlines from All Regions As part of its financial regulatory reform program, the Obama Administration, through the Treasury, submitted to Congress proposed legislation that would establish a new consumer regulatory agency, the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (the “CFPA”), which would consolidate and expand the existing regulatory regime for consumer financial products. As many of you know, the federal estate tax exemption (or credit equivalent) increased on January 1, 2009 from $2 million per person to $3.5 million. Last week, the interagency task force on Chinese drywall released the initial results of several studies it is overseeing. On October 9, 2009, CMS issued a proposed rule, Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs (Proposed Rule), which establishes new and revised rules for Medicare managed care (Part C), Medicare Advantage (MA), and Medicare prescription drug plans (Part D). CMS will accept comments on the Proposed Rule until December 8, 2009. Do you have a Loan with a lender which was signed before 6th April 2007 and which was for £25,000 or less (and which was a private loan ie not for business purposes)? If so it may be wholly unenforceable against you !! Hospitals that look to health reform initiatives for a reduction in their burden of uncompensated care may find that declining compensation for related costs offsets any expected gains. To sell a medicine in the European Union (EU), a marketing authorisation (MA) is required. The next chapter in the ongoing effort by the federal government to narrow the permissible uses of personal health information by entities engaged in the health care industry has arrived. The FSA accepts that PPI has an important role in protecting consumers’ repayments, particularly in the current economic climate. On Friday, October 9, 2009, CMS circulated a proposed rule (Proposed Rule) that would significantly ease the compliance burden associated with fraud, waste, and abuse (FWA) education required for hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, and other providers and suppliers doing business with Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. | 
