Joe Kimble, professor of law at Thomas M. Cooley Law School, has just finished his long awaited new book, Writing for Dollars, Writing to Please: The Case for Plain Language in Business, Government, and Law. Carolina Academic Press, which also published his earlier book Lifting the Fog of Legalese, is the publisher. The book sets out the elements of […]
Government
The Plain Regulations Act, HR 3786: Making Federal Regulations Accessible
On January 18, Congressman Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) introduced the Plain Regulations Act. Braley also introduced the Plain Writing Act, which became law on October 13, 2010, with strong bipartisan support. The original draft of that Act had covered regulations, but the provision was deleted during the legislative process because of opposition from several sources.
“Summary of Benefits and Coverage” brings clarity to health plan
At last, consumers will have a “Summary of Benefits and Coverage” as a standardized, plain language tool to understand their health plans. Under a rule announced last week by HHS, health insurers are now required to provide consumers with clear, consistent, and comparable summary information. Here’s the link: http://cciio.cms.gov/resources/files/Files2/02102012/blank-sbc-template-finalpdf.pdf Testing by Consumers’ Union showed that […]