Insurance

BP’s Cost Chiselers Back in Action

December 7, 2010  ·  Judy Dugan

<p> Late last week, as the presidential oil spill commission’s co-chair and staff <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20101202-712365.html">blamed BP’s cost-cutting</a> and “failure of management” for the devastating spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP managers claimed that the government estimate of the amount of the spill by should be cut 20% to 50%, which would save the company billions in fines.</p>

Termination Letters Emphasize Medicare Horror Stories

December 7, 2010  ·  Mark Reback

<p> Edgar Allen Poe and Mary Shelley are great sources of gothic fiction, but recent CMS termination and suspension letters sent to Medicare Advantage and Part D plans gives these masters of horror a run for their money.</p>

Will Online Privacy Look Different Tomorrow?

November 30, 2010  ·  Jamie Court

<p> <a href="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/images_donottrack.jpg"><img class="right size-full wp-image-1873" height="225" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/images_donottrack.jpg" width="300" /></a>It's likely that the first shot of a new online privacy revolution will be fired tomorrow at the National Press Club in Washington D.C.</p>

Can We Reverse the Corporate Takeover of Politics?

November 30, 2010  ·  Judy Dugan

<p> <img class="right size-full wp-image-1870" height="221" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/images_flag.png" width="300" />The biggest political scandal of 2010 is an issue that nearly all Americans agree on, yet there's hardly a peep from the electorate. In large part that's because elected officials, particularly in Congress, want to keep it as far in the shadows as possible. Yet it's such a simple thing: Should the insurance industry, oil companies, the financial industry, other corporations and unions have to disclose the hundreds of millions of dollars they are spending to elect politicians who will do their bidding, and defeat those who resist ? 

Oregon: We’ll Do Our Own Health Reform and Dump the Mandate

November 29, 2010  ·  Judy Dugan

<p> Oregon has examined the federal health reform, raised an eyebrow and said "We're going to do better, and do it without forcing people to buy private insurance." Of all the states, it may be in the best position to lead the way. Sen. Ron Wyden, who is <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/01/wyden-pushing-for-oregon-_n_701785.html">pushing the White House </a>to let Oregon head in a different direction, says the loathed "individual mandate" will be the first thing in the trash bin.</p>

With a Review Pending, the State’s Stem Cell Agency Looks for New Leadership, New Therapies and More Money

November 28, 2010  ·  Mark Reback

<p> Lured by visions of nearly magical medical solutions for everything from cancer to Alzheimer's, California voters six years ago approved a plan to borrow billions of dollars to pay scientists to look into human embryonic stem cell research.<br /> <br />

Insurance Commissioner calls on Supreme Court to erase anti-consumer Court of Appeal ruling

November 23, 2010  ·  Doug Heller

<p> As the <em>Daily Journal</em> reports today:</p> <blockquote> <p> Battle lines are being drawn between consumer activists and the California Department of Insurance on one side and the insurance industry on the other concerning a state appellate court decision whose opponents say immunizes insurers for using illegal underwriting criteria to determine rates.</p> <p> <a href="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/resources_dailyjournalmackay11-23-10.pdf"><img class=" size-full wp-image-1863" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/dailyjournal11-23-10.jpg" style="width: 240px; height: 371px;" width="240" height="371" /></a></p>

Feinberg Can’t Do Public Job, Take Secret Pay

November 23, 2010  ·  Judy Dugan

<p>

Oil Spill Commission Abandons Common Sense

November 17, 2010  ·  Judy Dugan

<p>

A ‘Get Out Of Jail Free’ Card For the Insurance Industry – Part 2

November 16, 2010  ·  Mark Reback

<p> The following op-ed (Part 2) by Harvey Rosenfield, the founder of Consumer Watchdog and the author of Proposition 103, was published in The Daily Journal of Los Angeles on Monday, November 16, 2010.  (Read Part 1 <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/story/get-out-jail-free-card-insurance-industry-part-1">here</a>.)<br /> -------------<br /> <br />

A ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ Card for the Insurance Industry – Part 1

November 15, 2010  ·  Mark Reback

<p> The following op-ed (Part 1) by Harvey Rosenfield, the founder of Consumer Watchdog and the author of Proposition 103, was published in The Daily Journal of Los Angeles on Monday, November 15, 2010. Part 2 will be published on November 16, 2010.<br /> ------------<br /> Can the California Insurance Commissioner or one of his staff authorize an insurance company to break the law, so that the company is immune from a civil suit for illegal surcharges?<br /> <br />

HHS Pressed To Resist Health Insurance Lobbying

November 11, 2010  ·  Mark Reback

<p> Health insurance industry efforts to lobby for weaker federal regulations should be strongly resisted, a consumer advocacy group warned this week.</p>