Insurance

Court Ruling Undermines Consumer Rights

May 2, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> You might want to start reading the fine print when you open a bank account, buy a car or a refrigerator, or sign up for cellphone or cable TV service.<br /> <br /> If you have a dispute with the company, the U.S. Supreme Court just made it near impossible for you to join up with other aggrieved consumers to get relief.<br /> <br /> In a 5-4 ruling Wednesday in a California case, the high court said that clauses in contracts in which consumers agree to arbitration block them from later joining class-action lawsuits.<br /> <br />

S.C. Insurer’s Actions Draw Fire

May 2, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, which has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in profits over the past five years, has boosted the pay of board members and top executives while sticking policyholders with ever-higher premiums, a Post and Courier review found.<br /> <br /> The nine members of the company's board of directors have more than doubled their reported salaries in the past year, financial filings show. In 2010, two executives earned more than $1 million in salary and bonus pay, and another earned more than $2.2 million, according to the filings.<br />

State Can’t Halt Insurer Rate Hikes

April 30, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> <strong>Anthem Blue Cross' 16% increase for 120,000 customers is called 'unreasonable.'</strong><br /> <br /> A California regulator for the first time has declared a health insurance rate increase "unreasonable" but acknowledged that it can do nothing to stop the state's largest for-profit insurer from going ahead with it.<br /> <br /> As a result, rates for 120,000 customers of Anthem Blue Cross will begin rising an average of 16% on Sunday, infuriating policyholders and frustrating officials at the California Department of Managed Health Care.<br />

Businesses Turn To ‘Private Exchange’ Health Insurance

April 30, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> Fed up with the unpredictable cost of health insurance for his small business, Mike Sarafolean last year made a dramatic change: Instead of picking a plan to offer workers, he now sends them to a "private exchange" or marketplace where they compare and choose their own insurance. And the amount his company pays toward coverage is capped.</p> <p class="inside-copy"> The move puts his St. Paul-based company on the leading edge of a nascent trend that could shape how more employers offer and pay for health benefits in the coming years.</p>

CA Regulator: Blue Cross Rate Hike Unreasonable

April 29, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> LOS ANGELES, CA -- Double-digit rate hikes for 120,000 Anthem Blue Cross health insurance policyholders will take effect Sunday despite a state regulator's determination the increase is unreasonable.<br /> <br /> A California Department of Managed Health Care review found the increases were 3 percent to 4 percent higher than individual plans with similar benefits under the jurisdiction of the state's other insurance regulator, the Department of Insurance.<br /> <br />

Health Insurance Industry Claim: ‘California is a Success Story’ for Patients. LOL!

April 27, 2011  ·  Judy Dugan

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Watching The Health Insurers

April 26, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="deckhead"> <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> <div class="thumbnail" style="width: 300px;"> <div class="holder"> <table cellspacing="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td> <br /> <p class="small right"> <span class="credit">Graphic by <span class="photographer">Alex Nabaum, for The L.A. Times</span></span></p>

Maine SC Upholds Insurance Rate Reduction

April 26, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> 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 />  <br /> The increase was proposed by Anthem Health Plans of Maine Inc.<br />  <br /> In a 12-page ruling filed Thursday, the Court dismissed the company's appeal as moot.<br />  <br />

Governor Says Ratepayers Should Not Pay for Retirement of PG&E CEO

April 22, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> 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> <p> <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

April 22, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> 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 /> <br /> 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 /> <br />

Are Auto Insurers Charging Immigrants Extra?

April 21, 2011  ·  Judy Dugan

<p> <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?

April 15, 2011  ·  Jerry Flanagan

<p> 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>