Consumer Watchdog

Healthcare

Sicko Reprise, Please

Remember Michael Moore's movie, Sicko? Moore and his editors decided to not use the footage they'd shot in Norway - it can…

Sep 5, 2009

Insurance

Billboard Blasting Mercury Insurance Is Removed

LOS ANGELES, CA -- California-based Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, said Mercury Insurance has threatened to sue the owners of…

Sep 4, 2009

Insurance

CA Attorney General To Investigate The Nation’s Two Biggest Health Insurance Companies

KEITH OLBERMANN, HOST (voice-over): Good evening from New York. In health news today, the group Consumer Watchdog has asked California Attorney General…

Sep 4, 2009

Healthcare

L.A. Negotiates Lower Drug Prices For Residents

The city of Los Angeles this week announced a major new prescription drug bulk purchasing plan to lower costs for residents. A…

Sep 4, 2009

Insurance

Head-scratching in Europe over U.S. health reform mess

I just got off the phone with a well-informed Dutch reporter based in Washington, D.C. His monumental assignment was, in part, to…

Sep 4, 2009

Healthcare

HMO Claims-Rejection Rates Trigger State Investigation

California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown is joining state regulators in scrutinizing the payment practices of seven major health plans in response to…

Sep 4, 2009

Insurance

Answers On IOUs And Quake Insurance

Doug Heller, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, says he is not worried about the CEA's ability to pay claims or its independence…

Sep 4, 2009

“You Can’t Trust Mercury Insurance” – Mercury Insurance Blocks Billboard Warning Consumers About the Company

Consumer Group Releases Smoking Gun Documents, In Wake of Fires Warns Homeowners Insured By Mercury to Take Special Care Santa Monica, CA…

Sep 3, 2009

Healthcare

Bad day for health insurers, great day for consumers!

The health insurance industry took it on the chin today. A new study exposed their denials of up to 40% of doctor-requested…

Sep 3, 2009

Healthcare

WellPoint, United Healthcare Accused Of Illegal Actions

The insurers pressured employees to lobby against healthcare reform, Consumer Watchdog alleges. The nation's two largest health insurers have been pressuring employees…

Sep 3, 2009

Privacy

Privacy Groups Put Proposals To Congress

As Congress considers new privacy legislation, consumer and privacy groups have put forward their proposals for limiting online data collection. A coalition…

Sep 3, 2009

Healthcare

Consumer Group Says UnitedHealthcare, Wellpoint Violated Calif. Law

A Santa Monica group has urged California Attorney General Jerry Brown to probe whether the nation’s two largest health insurers have asked…

Sep 3, 2009

Privacy

Group: Insurers Urged Workers To Fight Reform

NEW YORK, NY -- A consumer group says health insurers UnitedHealth and WellPoint pressured their employees to contact members of Congress and…

Sep 2, 2009

Healthcare

PacifiCare kill rate 40%, CIGNA’s 33%, according to gov’t data

New data from California unearthed by the California Nurses Association reveals top health insurers deny claims with rates that make Vegas gambling…

Sep 2, 2009

Healthcare

Did Health Insurers Lean On Their Employees To Lobby Congress — On Work Time?

It's one thing to see a rowdy health care town hall meeting on TV. It's another to have your boss tell you…

Sep 2, 2009

Privacy

Consumer Groups Slam Behavioral Tracking

A group of ten consumer groups on Tuesday called on Congress to enact meaningful privacy legislation, and slammed industry efforts as totally…

Sep 2, 2009

Energy

Oil Speculators On The Run

Government may clamp down on banks, funds and others that don't actually use crude. But will new rules bring down prices? …

Sep 2, 2009