Mark Reback

The governor's race is getting more attention, but the campaign for state insurance commissioner might have higher stakes, as federal health care reform barrels toward California.

"From a pocketbook perspective, the insurance commissioner's race has more of an impact on the daily lives of Californians than any other race," said Doug Heller, director of Consumer Watchdog, a nonpartisan advocacy group in Santa Monica. "The insurance commissioner is often consumers' first and only line of defense against the insurance industry."

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The races for governor and senator have been getting most of the attention this election cycle. But there's a controversy in the state insurance commissioner's race. It has to do with money, and who's funding the campaigns.

California's insurance commissioner is responsible for regulating the insurance industry and protecting consumers. Two state assemblymen are battling for the job. But what's making headlines is not their credentials, but how much money is being spent and who's spending it.

Critics are calling for Congressional hearings into why the Federal Trade Commission yesterday dropped its inquiry into the search giant's global Wi-Fi eavesdropping campaign, even as lawsuits and government probes pick up steam in the U.S.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — The Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday that it had ended its investigation of Google’s collection of Internet users’ personal communications by the company’s Street View cars.

Seven of the state’s leading insurance companies have contributed more than $3.6 million over the past month to a political action committee that in turn has spent nearly $3 million on advertising promoting Republican Mike Villines and attacking Democrat Dave Jones in the race for insurance commissioner.

Consumer advocates said the evidence points to a coordinated effort on the part of insurance companies to influence the decision over who will be their regulator for the next four years.

The following op-ed commentary by Jamie Court was published in the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday, October 27, 2010:
 

Days after a $545 million settlement was announced that would resolve a long-standing nationwide class action against Farmers Group Inc. for alleged overcharges, the plaintiffs may have hit a snag: a lack of consensus as to whether the arrangement is a good deal for class members.

Class action had accused the L.A.-based insurance management firm of charging excessive fees to customers. Farmers says plaintiffs' claims are without basis but it agreed to settle to end the case.

Reporting from Los Angeles and Sacramento — Farmers Group Inc., a Los Angeles-based insurance management firm, and its Swiss corporate parent Thursday agreed to pay $455 million to 13 million current and former policyholders to settle a 2003 lawsuit that accused them of charging excessive fees to customers.