Insurance

Health insurers shocked, shocked we want them to spend money on health care

October 13, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

How does the health insurance industry think it can act like rules requiring them to spend more consumer premiums on health care, and less on paper-pushers, are coming out of left field? This has been one of the most talked-about provisions of health reform, and regulators have been debating how to implement it since May.

Insurance Company Seeks Waiver

October 12, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Now that health care reform has begun its incremental changes to how health insurers can operate, some companies are demanding waivers exempting them from providing compensation to policy holders.  Consumer Watchdog is calling for the rejection of these requests and site the case of Dana Christensen. She was left with $450,000 in medical bills when her husband Doug died of bone cancer. Despite the purchase of a special rider for chemotherapy, the limited benefits MEGA policy would only pay for a small portion of the treatments.

Insurance lobbyists never sleep

October 11, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> The passage of a law means nothing to the lobbying industry. It only means refocusing on regulators, and if that fails, on changing or reversing the law. Health insurance brokers are in the middle stage: demanding that the White House trash a key part of the health reform law just to protect brokers' commissions of up to 20% of the cost of a policy. </p> <p>   </p>

Administration Struggles with Fallout from Healthcare Reform Waivers

October 11, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> "MEGA’s bid to evade the law is a litmus test for President Obama," Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court said in a statement. "If he waives one of the most important rules for one of the worst insurance companies in the market, why did he pass health reform at all? No insurer should get a free pass to cap insurance benefits, least of all the kind of junk policies sold by MEGA that don’t even cover common medical events like a night in the hospital or an emergency room visit."<a href="http://bit.ly/bTMcNN"></a> </p>

Some Cry Foul Over Farmers Settlement

October 11, 2010  ·  Mark Reback

<p> Days after a $545 million settlement was announced that would resolve a long-standing nationwide class action against Farmers Group Inc. for alleged overcharges, the plaintiffs may have hit a snag: a lack of consensus as to whether the arrangement is a good deal for class members.<br /> <br />

Farmers Group Agrees to Pay $455 Million to Settle Policyholder Suit

October 8, 2010  ·  Mark Reback

<p> <b>Class action had accused the L.A.-based insurance management firm of charging excessive fees to customers. Farmers says plaintiffs' claims are without basis but it agreed to settle to end the case.</b></p> <p> Reporting from Los Angeles and Sacramento — Farmers Group Inc., a Los Angeles-based insurance management firm, and its Swiss corporate parent Thursday agreed to pay $455 million to 13 million current and former policyholders to settle a 2003 lawsuit that accused them of charging excessive fees to customers.</p>

Getting the benefits health reform promised

October 5, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

70 million Americans who get health insurance through their employer cannot take their insurance company to court when the insurer doesn't provide the benefits it promised, even if the insurer's decision to delay or deny life-saving treatment results in an employee's death.

Time for Obama to get tough on insurers with rate freeze via Executive Order

September 29, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Obama's mad about insurers blaming his health care plan for big rate hikes, but he doesn't have to take it anymore. He can and should issue an executive order to stop the rate hikes immediately. A Blue Cross policyholder emailed me last night about her recent 20 percent rate hike. She's now being pushed into a policy that costs much more and comes with a $7500 deductible. Her insurer's response: blame the president and his "10,000 page legislation." </p>

Sebelius throws anti-regulation spin back at her accusers. Good for her.

September 28, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> The level of straight talk in a Wall Street Journal <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704082104575515851336184716.html">opinion piece by HHS chief Kathleen Sebelius </a>is breathtaking. Bottom line: Do the critics harping against regulation in the health care market--and attacking Sebelius personally--want to go back to letting insurance companies do what they please? </p>

For Fox National News Viewers

September 24, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> This morning I ventured into the Tea Party's den at Fox National News to talk about our Times Square Superscreen advertisement, which calls the question: "Are You Mad As Hell But Think The Tea Party Is Insane?" Fox viewers have been following up with emails and calls about the anchor's  inquiries regarding Consumer Watchdog's funding, which I discuss here. </p> <p>   </p>

Insurers twist arms in states to evade law’s new curbs

September 23, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> The insurance industry is going directly to the White House in its latest attempt to evade a key portion of the health reform law that would force them to operate more efficiently. But instead of making the argument directly, the industry is <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/120303-federal-regulators-asked-to-allow-medical-loss-ratio-phase-in">speaking through state insurance commissioners</a> that are either friendly to insurance companies or cowed by insurers' threats to leave a state market. </p>

Health Insurance Changes Come Too Late For Some

September 23, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Jamie Court, who heads the California-based advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, says he's seen much worse. In California, he says, typically insurers would "cancel [policyholders] when they're at their weakest and their worst. When they're in a hospital bed or just out of a hospital bed and racked up a couple hundred thousand dollars of hospital costs." Court cases filed in California uncovered the fact that insurance companies had entire divisions devoted to delving into the medical records of people in order to find reasons to rescind their coverage after they had become sick and threatened to cost the company large amounts of money. <p>   </p>