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COVID-19 continues to pose a challenge for our country. Together we can do more to protect our health and ensure we're better prepared for any future pandemics.

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Illinois Department of Insurance requests data from car insurers on overcharges during the pandemic

Consumer alerts

Illinois Department of Insurance requests data from car insurers on overcharges during the pandemic

The Illinois Department of Insurance called on auto insurers Wednesday to provide detailed data that will allow for greater understanding on how much insurance companies overcharged Illinois drivers during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The “data call” comes in response to a letter sent by 16 state senators and nine advocacy organizations in January. Insurers will have through mid-May to respond, and the information will be made public by June.

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State Senators, consumer advocates: Illinois Department of Insurance should investigate car insurance overcharges

Consumer alerts

State Senators, consumer advocates: Illinois Department of Insurance should investigate car insurance overcharges

Sixteen state Senators and nine advocacy organizations sent a letter Thursday to the Illinois Department of Insurance, asking the department to investigate how much insurance companies overcharged Illinois drivers during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Media Releases  

New Report Shows What Illinoisans Tried to Fix in 2020, and the Barriers They Still Face

Right to repair

New Report Shows What Illinoisans Tried to Fix in 2020, and the Barriers They Still Face

Illinois PIRG released a new report Friday, “What are Illinoisans Fixing?” which compiles data from the popular repair instruction website iFixit.com about what items people in Illinois were fixing the most in 2020. The report also takes a closer look at the broader repair ecosystem, including barriers that make it harder than it should be to perform basic repairs and how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the things we were fixing. 

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New report: COVID-19 cases in nursing homes drop by 80 percent after mass vaccinations

COVID-19

New report: COVID-19 cases in nursing homes drop by 80 percent after mass vaccinations

Despite a sharp overall drop in coronavirus infections in nursing homes in recent months, hundreds of U.S. nursing homes that weathered 2020 without any COVID-19 cases have reported new cases since 2021 began. This happened even though the elderly were among the first to get COVID-19 vaccines during the initial rollout in mid-December, fueling an 83 percent drop in new cases in nursing homes nationwide by early February. In Illinois, new resident cases dropped by 89 percent. Illinois had the largest decrease in cases nationwide in the three weeks after mass vaccinations started in nursing homes nationwide, dropping by 60 percent from Dec. 20 to Jan. 10. 

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NURSING HOMES STILL DON’T HAVE ENOUGH MASKS, GOWNS, OTHER PPE

COVID-19

NURSING HOMES STILL DON’T HAVE ENOUGH MASKS, GOWNS, OTHER PPE

A new analysis by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund and Frontier Group found that 8 percent of nursing homes nationwide as of Dec. 27 had a critical shortage of surgical-grade N95 masks, which are the best protection against spreading the virus. Additionally, 4 to 6 percent of nursing homes reported shortages in at least one other category of personal protective equipment.

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