Health Insurance Industry Claim: ‘California is a Success Story’ for Patients. LOL!
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Insurance
Insurance news, investigations, and reform — auto, home, and health insurance rates, claims denials, and industry accountability.
Watching The Health Insurers
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<strong>A bill would let state regulators block rate hikes they consider unreasonable, just as they can do for most other types of insurance.<img class=" size-full wp-image-9164" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/latimeseditorial.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 340px;" width="300" height="510" /></strong></p>
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<span class="credit">Graphic by <span class="photographer">Alex Nabaum, for The L.A. Times</span></span></p>
Maine SC Upholds Insurance Rate Reduction
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AUGUSTA, Maine - The Maine Supreme Court, in a ruling last week, upheld the state superintendent of insurance's decision to reduce a proposed health insurance rate hike.<br />
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The increase was proposed by Anthem Health Plans of Maine Inc.<br />
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In a 12-page ruling filed Thursday, the Court dismissed the company's appeal as moot.<br />
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Governor Says Ratepayers Should Not Pay for Retirement of PG&E CEO
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With outrage growing over PG&E's plan to award outgoing CEO Peter Darbee $35 million as he retires under a cloud of controversy, Gov. Jerry Brown said Friday that ratepayers should not be required to pay any of Darbee's retirement package.</p>
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<span id="mn_MyTown_Global">"At a moment when so many Californians face foreclosure, unemployment and depressed wages, it's about time for corporations to rein in executive compensation," Brown said. "At the very least, California ratepayers should not be footing the bill for this."</span></p>
Regulatory Split Costs Policyholders
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Something got lost in the flap about big rate increases for individual health insurance: Some policyholders got a worse deal than others, depending on which state regulator oversees the policy.<br />
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A review by the state Department of Managed Care found that 121,000 people whose Anthem Blue Cross insurance policies it regulates are facing a rate increase 3 to 4 percentage points higher than increases facing 70,000 people enrolled in similar policies with the same name that are regulated by the state Department of Insurance.<br />
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Are Auto Insurers Charging Immigrants Extra?
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<img class=" size-full wp-image-2061" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/logo01.png" style="width: 166px; height: 134px;" width="166" height="134" />It looks like legal immigrants who buy auto insurance in California may be getting a raw deal from at least some insurance companies. What we're hearing is that a few companies are refusing to give the state's Good Driver discount to immigrants who have held a U.S. drivers license for less than 18 months. Even drivers who can show a clean driving record.</p>
What’s Farmers going to do with all that money anyway?
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This week Consumer Watchdog's legal team called on Farmers Group, Inc. to disclose how it plans to spend<img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2039" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/farmerslogo_1.gif" style="width: 120px; height: 90px; float: right;" width="120" height="90" /> up to $400 million or more in class action settlement funds that are intended for consumers but will revert to the insurance company under the terms of a pending class action settlement.</p>
California Legislators’ Car Allowance Slashed
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BURBANK, CA -- California legislators saw one of their most maligned perks slashed Thursday, as a panel charged with setting compensation ruled that lawmakers will have to traverse the state in their own vehicles - fueled only by a $300-a-month taxpayer-funded stipend.</p>
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<span id="articlebody">The Citizens Compensation Commission didn't cut legislators' health benefits or salaries, which now average $95,291 for most lawmakers.</span></p>
Group Takes Aim At Bill Seeking Agent Commission Exemption
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A consumer advocacy group attacked a bill before Congress seeking to exempt insurance agent and broker commissions from the medical loss ratios, calling it “special interest legislation.”</p>
State Accuses Sutter Health of Fraud
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Sutter Health, one of California's largest health care givers, fraudulently charged insurers up to hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade for anesthesia services that in some cases weren't even provided, the state's insurance commissioner said Wednesday.<br />
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"This is happening across all Sutter hospitals," Commissioner Dave Jones said. "It's being done at the expense of private insurers and ultimately results in higher premiums that businesses and consumers are forced to pay."<br />
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