Insurance

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

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Oil Spill Commission Abandons Common Sense

November 17, 2010  ·  Judy Dugan

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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>

Will Massachusetts Give Health Insurance Industry the Boot?

November 10, 2010  ·  Judy Dugan

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-1853" align="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/images_singlepayer-chart.png" width="60%" />Massachusetts was the pioneer in mandatory health insurance, requiring its citizens to buy insurance as a quid quo pro for private insurance companies' agreement to sell policies to all applicants, not just the healthiest. More people are covered now, but it hasn't cut the price of health insurance or saved the state any money.

Money Isn’t Everything

November 7, 2010  ·  Mark Reback

<p> The following editorial was published on <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-money-20101107,0,7245882.story">Sunday, November 7, 2010 in the Los Angeles Times</a>:<br /> <br /> As Whitman's loss proved, campaign spending can be a double-edged sword.<br /> <br />

California, do it: Challenge the health insurance industry

November 3, 2010  ·  Judy Dugan

<p> <img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-1846" align="right" height="160" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/images_public_option_cartoon_0.png" width="250" />California had a different election from the rest of the U.S. It provides a unique opportunity to improve on, rather than spew about repealing, the federal health reform.</p>

Connecticut Insurance Commissioner to Resign After Dust-Ups with Advocacy, Auto Body Groups

November 2, 2010  ·  Mark Reback

<p> HARTFORD, CT -- Just days after a consumer advocacy group called for Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Thomas R. Sullivan to step down for approving large premium rate increases since passage of the federal health care reform law, Sullivan notified Gov. Jodi M. Rell that he will resign from the post Nov. 12.<br /> <br />

Insurance ‘Death Spirals’ Remain Full Of Life

November 1, 2010  ·  Mark Reback

<h3> <strong>State seems at a loss to keep companies from closing plans, which drives up premiums</strong></h3> <p> <br /> Nicholas Peppler, Fort Wayne, was healthy and only 23 years old, but he appeared to be in the beginning of a death spiral.<br /> <br /> A health insurance death spiral, that is.<br /> <br /> The Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield policy he had purchased was being closed to new enrollees in 2009, a common practice that critics say drives up costs and forces people into the ranks of the uninsured.<br /> <br />

State Insurance Commissioner Race Unusually Heated

November 1, 2010  ·  Mark Reback

<p> 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.</p> <p> <span>"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." </span></p>