Energy Reports

Southern California Record – Insurance commissioner sued over policyholder surcharges resulting from January’s wildfire damage

By Michael Carroll, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RECORD https://socalrecord.com/stories/671084738-insurance-commissioner-sued-over-policyholder-surcharges-resulting-from-january-s-wildfire-damage A Los Angeles consumer group is suing Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara over his decision to allow California insurers to raise charges to policyholders to cover...

Newsweek – California Home Insurance Market ‘Collapse’ Warning Issued After Lawsuit

By Suzanne Blake, NEWSWEEK https://www.newsweek.com/california-home-insurance-market-collapse-warning-issued-after-lawsuit-filed-2061074 lawsuit filed by Consumer Watchdog against California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara has triggered new concerns over the stability of the state's homeowner insurance market, and critics warn the legal...

ABC 7 – 100 days since LA wildfires: Victims vow to rebuild as more lawsuits are filed

https://abc7.com/post/100-days-la-wildfires-victims-vow-rebuild-more-lawsuits-are-filed/16191800 ALTADENA, Calif. (KABC) -- Thursday marked 100 days since the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, and people are still fighting to preserve their beloved communities. Dozens of people impacted by the Eaton...

The Sacramento Bee – CA FAIR PLAN POLICY CHANGE SPURS LAWSUIT

By Stephen Hobbs, THE SACRAMENTO BEE https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article304362711.html Consumer Watchdog, the advocacy organization that has long gone toe-to-toe with the Department of Insurance, is again facing off with the state agency in a...

The San Francisco Chronicle – Consumer group sues to stop California insurers from charging customers for FAIR Plan losses

By Megan Fan Munce, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/home-insurance-fair-plan-20279165.php A consumer group sued California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and his department this week in a bid to stop consumers from paying part...

Los Angeles Daily News – Consumer group sues California insurance commission to stop $500M overcharge

By Pat Maio, Los Angeles DAILY NEWS https://www.dailynews.com/2025/04/15/consumer-group-sues-california-insurance-commission-to-stop-500m-overcharge-2/ The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog filed a lawsuit against the California Department of Insurance and its commissioner to stop potentially hundreds of millions of...

Los Angeles Times – Consumer group sues insurance commissioner over Fair Plan assessments on state homeowners

By Laurence Darmiento, LOS ANGELES TIMES https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2025-04-15/consumer-group-sues-insurance-commissioner-over-fair-plan-assessments-on-state-homeowners A Los Angeles consumer group has sued Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara to block potential surcharges on home insurance policies statewide as a result of...

Associated Press – California consumer group sues to block insurers from adding surcharge following LA fires

By Tran Nguyen, ASSOCIATED PRESS https://apnews.com/article/california-wildfires-insurance-fair-plan-8a70b82467f76c16b5c9496fa67ee96c SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A consumer advocacy group filed a lawsuit this week to block insurers from charging California customers for $500 million in costs...

Mercury News – Lawsuit seeks to halt California’s homeowner-funded FAIR Plan insurance bailout

By Ethan Varian, MERCURY NEWS https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/04/15/fair-plan-california-insurance-bailout/ Consumer advocates are suing to halt a massive homeowner-funded bailout of California's last-resort insurance program after it reported it would run out of money to pay claims arising from the devastating Los Angeles wildfires. In...

Politico – Consumer advocates challenge Lara’s decision letting insurers pass on costs of LA wildfires

By Blanca Begert, POLITICO A consumer advocacy group on Monday sued the California Department of Insurance over its decision to let insurance companies charge customers for catastrophic losses that overwhelm...

Court News Service – California insurance regulator and State Farm squabble over proposed emergency rate hikes

By Alan Riquelmy, COURT NEWS SERVICE https://www.courthousenews.com/california-insurance-regulator-and-state-farm-squabble-over-proposed-emergency-rate-hikes/ OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) — Attorneys on Thursday made final arguments increase before a California administrative law judge over whether State Farm’s need for an...

CNBC – State Farm pleads for emergency rate hikes on California homeowners

By Dawn Giel, CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/10/state-farm-emergency-rate-hikes-california-homeowners.html State Farm is making its case this week for a major rate hike for California homeowners in a hearing that could prove crucial to the insurer’s...

Cal Matters – State Farm moves one step closer to emergency California rate hike

By Levi Sumagaysay, CAL MATTERS https://calmatters.org/economy/2025/04/state-farm-rate-hearing/ State Farm could soon win final approval to raise premiums for California homeowners and others on an interim basis, a move meant to help prop...

Cal Matters – State Farm begins first-of-its-kind insurance rate hearing today

BY Levi Sumagaysay, CALMATTERS https://calmatters.org/newsletter/state-farm-insurance-hearing-newsletter/ State Farm will try to justify its need to raise property insurance rates — stat — at an unprecedented public rate hearing starting today. Rate hearings are...

LA ist – State Farm rate hike

By Jacob Margolis, LA IST A hearing kicked off at the California Insurance Department’s office in Oakland Monday morning as part of the process to determine whether State Farm can institute...

Politico – Insurers’ flight is over. Now for the fight.

By  CAMILLE VON KAENEL, POLITICO https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-climate/2025/04/08/insurers-flight-is-over-now-for-the-fight-00280127 BILL COME DUE: Fire-shy insurers are cautiously returning to California — but it’ll cost you. Take State Farm, the state’s largest insurer. It says it’ll avoid further...

San Francisco Chronicle – California insurance regulator likens State Farm financial situation to Titanic

By Megan Fan Munce, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/state-farm-insurance-hearing-20265652.php Should California’s largest insurance company be allowed to raise prices for consumers to preserve its financial viability?  That question is at the heart of...

Sacramento Bee – Hearing begins on State Farm’s home insurance price hike. Here’s what’s been said

By Stephen Hobbs, SACRAMENTO BEE https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article303761776.html An attorney for the California Department of Insurance issued a stark warning Tuesday during a hearing about a decision that will affect the prices of...

KCBS-AM (Radio) – San Francisco, CA: State Farm Emergency Rate Hike Hearing

By Staff Reporters, KCBS-AM – San Francisco, CA Click below to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast segment.

Insurance News Net – Everyone else about to start subsidizing mansion payouts

By Thomas Elias, INSURANCE NEWS NET https://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/everyone-else-about-to-start-subsidizing-mansion-payouts-thomas-elias Here’s the likely outcome of the April 8 hearing set to follow the California insurance commissioner’s tentative mid-March approval of a 22 percent average...

Law 360 – State Farm’s Calif. Rate Request Exemplifies Long Negotiation

By Eli Fischer, LAW360 California regulators' provisional approval of State Farm's premium increase request following the Los Angeles fires is another step forward in an insurance reform process that insurance...

San Francisco Chronicle – California ballot measure appears to target a single nonprofit — and it’s furious

By Molly Burke, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/prop-34-aids-healthcare-19789238.php If you check California’s official voter guide — or even the text of the proposed law — for information on Prop 34, they’ll tell...

Politico – Will the California Supreme Court boot the anti-AHF measure off the ballot?

By Will McCarthy, POLITICO https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2024/07/will-the-california-supreme-court-boot-the-anti-ahf-measure-off-the-ballot-00168815?source=email The California Supreme Court is giving some indications they will consider a case asking for the removal of a November ballot measure that targets the funding...

San Francisco Chronicle – California voters can decide ballot measure targeting L.A. nonprofit, state Supreme Court rules

By Bob Egelko, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/aids-healthcare-ballot-measure-19578138.php The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to remove from the November ballot an initiative backed by apartment owners that would prohibit one man, a...

Politico – On The Chopping Block?

By Will McCarthy, POLITICO https://www.politico.com/newsletters/california-playbook/2024/07/17/a-political-wunderkind-makes-a-comeback-bid-00168931 Last month, the California Supreme Court killed the Taxpayer Protection Act, a high-profile ballot initiative that would have made it more difficult to raise taxes in the...

The San Diego Union-Tribune – Lawsuit accusing USAA of favoring military officers over enlistees certified as class-action case

By Jeff McDonald, THE SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2024-01-06/lawsuit-accusing-usaa-of-favoring-military-officers-over-enlistees-certified-as-class-action-case According to its ever-running television commercials, USAA insurance caters exclusively to members and veterans of America's armed services and their families. Now a...

Times of San Diego – Proposed 2024 Ballot Measure Would Close Loopholes in California Public Records Act

By JW August, TIMES OF SAN DIEGO https://timesofsandiego.com/politics/2023/11/12/proposed-2024-ballot-measure-would-close-loopholes-in-california-public-records-act/ It was a milestone moment in open government in 1968 when then California Gov. Ronald Reagan signed into law what was intended to give...

Law 360 – HIV Patients Can Amend Disability Bias Suit Against CVS

By Emmy Freedman, LAW 360 https://www.law360.com/articles/1705299/hiv-patients-can-amend-disability-bias-suit-against-cvs Law360 (July 28, 2023, 9:00 PM EDT) -- Patients can revise their claims that CVS Pharmacy Inc.violated the Affordable Care Act by forcing people with...

Despite Missteps and Open Investigation, State Insurance Chief Appears Headed To Re-Election

Ricardo Lara’s first term was marked by violations of key campaign pledge, other allegations By Jeff McDonald, SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2022-10-09/despite-political-scandals-california-insurance-commissioner-appears-headed-to-re-election Months into his first term as one of just eight people...

Law 360 – CVS Can’t Escape HIV Patients’ Disability Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff, LAW 360 https://www.law360.com/health/articles/1518877/cvs-can-t-escape-hiv-patients-disability-bias-suit CVS Pharmacy can't avoid a proposed class action alleging its prescription drug benefits program discriminates against people with HIV and AIDS, as a California federal judge said the company's separate corporate entities can't shield...

Suit Seeks Release of CDI Meeting Records In California ‘Pay To Play’ Lawsuit

By Dave LaChance, REPAIRER DRIVEN NEWS July 18, 2022 https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2022/07/18/suit-seeks-release-of-cdi-meeting-records-in-california-pay-to-play-lawsuit/ A California consumer rights organization is asking a court to order Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s office to disclose records of all meetings...

Editorial: Elect Levine To End Lara’s Insurance Commissioner Scandals

California needs consumer protection, not partying, dining and cozying up with industry lobbyists and executives By The MERCURY NEWS and EAST BAY TIMES Editorial Boards April 28, 2022 https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/04/28/editorial-elect-marc-levine-to-end-laras-insurance-commissioner-scandals/ California needs a new...

Facing Public Records Suit, CA Insurance Chief Drops Plans To Auto Delete Emails

By Jeff McDonald, SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE January 30, 2022 https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/watchdog/story/2022-01-30/facing-lawsuit-for-withholding-records-state-insurance-chief-adopts-plan-to-auto-delete-department-tyment-emails Last year, while California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara promoted his commitment to government transparency and defended a lawsuit accusing him of withholding...

Consumer Group Alleges California DOI Hid Open Records Evidence

By Timothy Darragh, BESTWIRE January 19, 2022 https://news.ambest.com/newscontent.aspx?altsrc=108&refnum=239255 A consumer group is charging new evidence shows the California Department of Insurance has improperly withheld communications with representatives of a company linked to...

CVS’s Abrupt Dismissal Of SCOTUS Case Was Surprise To Opposing Counsel

By Allison Frankel, REUTERS November 12, 2021 https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/cvss-abrupt-dismissal-scotus-case-was-surprise-opposing-counsel-2021-11-12/ (Reuters) - Public interest lawyer Gerald Flanagan of Consumer Watchdog was deep in preparations for his first-ever U.S. Supreme Court argument when he saw...

Transamerica Gets Preliminary Sign-Off on Settlement of Overcharge Claims

By Ross Todd, LAW.COM May 5, 2020 https://www.law.com/therecorder/2020/05/05/transamerica-gets-preliminary-sign-off-on-settlement-of-overcharge-claims/ A federal judge in Los Angeles has given preliminary approval to a deal that Transamerica Life Insurance Co. reached with certain policyholders who claim...

2025-4-8 State Farm briefs in support of the rate increases:

2025-04-08 State Farm General’s Opposition to Motion to Strike and For Sanctions 2025-04-08 State Farm General’s Request for Official Notice 2025-04-08 State Farm General’s Response to Motions in Limine 2025-04-08 Notice of...

Transamerica Settles Class-Action Suit Worth Up to $88 Million in Credits

By Timothy Darragh, BEST WIRE April 8, 2020 Transamerica Life Insurance Co. has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by policyholders who alleged it improperly increased monthly charges on their...

Plaintiffs Say Transamerica Settles Lawsuit Over Universal Life Policy Charges

By Staff Writers, CITY NEWS SERVICE (LA) April 7, 2020 LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Transamerica Life Insurance Co. has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit filed in Los Angeles, alleging that...

Mercury News – California’s Four Largest Health Plans Could Owe State $10 Billion In Back Taxes

By Tracy Seipel, MERCURY NEWS https://www.mercurynews.com/2016/01/21/californias-four-largest-health-plans-could-owe-state-10-billion-in-back-taxes/# California's four largest health plans may be on the hook for $10 billion in state back taxes -- and at least $1 billion every year...

SF Gate – Blue Shield of California Loses Tax-Exempt Status

By Victoria Colliver, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONILCE https://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Blue-Shield-of-California-loses-tax-exempt-status-6143739.php The state Franchise Tax Board has stripped Blue Shield of California of its tax-exempt status, a move that could make the 76-year-old San Francisco...

Covered Calif. Plans Likely To Continue Offering Narrow Networks

Health insurers offering plans through Covered California likely will continue to have narrow physician networks during the state health insurance exchange's second open enrollment period, according to an analysis...

KCAL TV-9 Los Angeles – CA Appeals Court Rules Public Insurance Must Cover Autism Treatment

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/calif-appeals-court-rules-public-insurance-must-cover-autism-treatment A therapy for children with autism must be covered by public insurance companies, a California appeals court has ruled. Applied Behavior Analysis — or ABA — "is a system in...

$455 Million Farmers Group Settlement OK’d Over Objections

Los Angeles, CA -- A $455 million settlement in a long-running insurance class action was approved Wednesday, but the judge overseeing the case tentatively cut the requested attorney fees...

Contested Insurance Settlement Gets Judge’s Preliminary Approval

Judge rejects consumer group's argument that settlement would shortchange class members.         LOS ANGELES - A judge has given his initial thumbs-up to a $545 million settlement of a long-running insurance...

Sacramento Bee – Judge rejects Blue Cross tax

Sacramento Bee The Foundation for Consumer and Taxpayer Rights has lost the first round in its legal fight to force the state to collect $500 million in alleged unpaid taxes...

Gale One file – Not everyone’s happy; Anthem closes $16.4 billion deal for WellPoint

By  Laura B. Benko, GALE ONFILE https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA126018328&sid=sitemap&v=2.1&it=r&p=HRCA&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E4daaaeb2&aty=open-web-entry It's official: There's a new world order in the health insurance industry. Modern Healthcare After 13 months of controversy and regulatory setbacks, Anthem last...

Sacramento Bee – Health giants wrap up merger

Anthem, WellPoint clear Georgia hurdle. Sacramento Bee Anthem Inc. and WellPoint Health Networks Inc. completed their $16.5 billion merger on Tuesday, after making concessions to Georgia's insurance commissioner that removed the...

Daily News – After a year, ‘We’re done’

By Evan Pondel, DAILY NEWS Anthem joins with WellPoint Anthem Inc. and WellPoint Health Networks Inc. said Tuesday that they had completed their $16.5-billion merger after Georgia's insurance commissioner approved the...

Sacramento Bee – Make Blue Cross pay, group’s suit demands

By Thuy-Doan Le, SACRAMENTO BEE The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights has filed a lawsuit to force the state to collect what the foundation says is $500 million in...

GROUP CALLS DMHC MEETING ON WELLPOINT/ANTHEM DEAL A ‘SHAM’

By Marie Suszynski SACRAMENTO, Calif. (BestWire) - Without a director present and no questions from the public, a consumer group has called the July 9 public meeting by the California...

Los Angeles Times – Tax Probe of WellPoint Is Sought

Marc Lifsher, LOS ANGELES TIMES SACRAMENTO -- The chairwoman of the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Thursday said she wanted the California Department of Justice to investigate...

Los Angeles Times – Blue Cross Tax Status Criticized

By Lisa Girion, LOS ANGELES TIMES https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-08-fi-anthem8-story.html Consumer advocates criticized the proposed sale of WellPoint Health Networks Inc. on Wednesday, saying its Blue Cross of California unit enjoyed a unique and...

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