Insurance

The Next Health Reform Debate: What’s an ‘Unreasonable’ Insurance Premium Hike?

August 3, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Carmen Balber, director of the Washington office for Consumer Watchdog, an insurance industry critic that has been keeping close tabs on the law's implementation, said that increased public scrutiny has served to pull back some insurance companies. But, she said, that isn't enough. "There's only so much that shaming the industry will do," she said. What really needs to happen, she said, is for state regulators to get the resources and political power to investigate and crack down on unjustified rate hikes. "That's why the state grant program is so important," she said. </p>

Health Insurance Rates: California Plans to Crack Down, But How Hard?

July 30, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> <strong>As an Aug. 31 deadline nears, state lawmakers haggle over how difficult it should be for companies to significantly raise premiums.</strong> </p> <p> Consumer groups, meanwhile, say that allowing insurance companies to pick the actuaries who review their filings would give them too much influence over the process. "Insurance companies in California will be getting millions of new customers, and the least that Californians should get in return is strong oversight of rates and premiums," said Judy Dugan, research director for Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica. "Instead, the governor's proposal would prevent effective oversight." </p>

Insurance lobbying thriller

July 28, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Can insurance company lobbying of federal health regulation be turned into a gripping spy thriller? OK, no. But this is as close as it gets... <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wendell-potter/health-insurers-leaning-o_b_661498.html">a Huffpost story by former insurance exec Wendell Potter.</a> He's crystal-clear about the lengths to which for-profit insurance companies will go, if it means they can keep their record profits and obscene executive salaries at the expense of Americans struggling to get or afford health care. And they're assuming that no one is really watching. Thanks, Wendell. </p>

You Can’t Trust Mercury Insurance

July 26, 2010  ·  Jamie Court

<h2 class="rtecenter"> <img class=" size-full wp-image-2160" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/images_canttrustmercury-pagemasthead.gif" style="width: 555px; height: 183px;" width="555" height="183" /></h2> <p>  </p> <p class="rtecenter"> <b>Mercury Is At It Again - It Wants To Repeal Consumer Protection<br /> Laws That Voters Defended in 2010</b></p>

Web 2.0 hearing overshadowed by politics

July 23, 2010  ·  John M. Simpson

Consumer Watchdog's John Simpson testified at a <a href="http://oversight.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5040:qgovernment-20-part-i-federal-agency-use-of-web-20-technologies&catid=48:hearings&Itemid=29">hearing</a> yesterday on federal agency use of Web 2.0 technology, but the hearing got off to a rocky start when Ranking Member Patrick McHenry (R-NC) opted for a procedural gimmick and even introduced a motion to adjourn the hearing before the witnesses were able to testify.<a href="http://oversight.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5040:qgovernment-20-part-i-federal-agency-use-of-web-20-technologies&catid=48:hearings&Itemid=29"></a>

What the new consumer financial regulator looks like

July 22, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<img src="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/images/blog/4529835/THLAsml.jpg" alt="THLAsml.jpg" title="THLAsml.jpg" width="300" height="200" align="right"/>I flew back to Los Angeles this week to touch base with colleagues in CW's Santa Monica...

Rivals Say Google Has Too Much Sway Over Administration’s Net Neutrality Policy

July 19, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> <strong>Internet service providers cite e-mails between onetime Google executive Andrew McLaughlin, who now works for the White House, and his former colleagues as the FCC prepares to rewrite the rules governing broadband.</strong> </p> <p> McLaughlin's e-mails were<strong> </strong>obtained through a public records request filed by Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica nonprofit advocacy group, and were first reported on by The Hill, a Washington newspaper. John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog said the e-mails suggested that Google, an Internet behemoth with $23.7 billion in annual revenue, had too cozy of a relationship with the White House. "You have to sort of wonder, well, how many times did Alan Davidson pick the phone up and have a conversation with McLaughlin?" Simpson said. "It shows an attitude and connection that seems to me to be ongoing and inappropriate." </p>

U.S. Health Reform Spurs Battles in States Over Premium Rate Increases

July 19, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> OLDWICK, N.J. --Since the passage of U.S. health care reform, battles have erupted in some states between insurance commissioners and health insurers over double-digit premium rate increases sought by insurers on members in their individual and small group health plans. With more talk at the federal level about the need for oversight of excessive rates, insurance commissioners are interested in showing that they are acting to protect consumers, said Carmen Balber, director of the Washington, D.C. office for Consumer Watchdog. Insurance departments are scrutinizing premium rates because consumers "have reached their breaking point," said Balber. Complaints are rolling into departments from consumers who cannot pay "the outrageous prices" insurers are charging, she said.<br /> </p>

Senate Passes Financial-Reform Bill

July 16, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>Obama Plans to Sign Measure; GOP Leader Vows Repeal Try</strong><br /> <br /> Both banking groups and their consumer and labor adversaries vowed to keep lobbying during the regulatory process to get the results they want. "The fight will continue for stronger regulation, including stricter limits on bank size and leverage to ensure no bank will ever again be deemed 'too big to fail,' " said Carmen Balber, Washington director for Consumer Watchdog. She called the bill "a critical first step toward reversing the deregulatory excesses that culminated in the 2008 financial collapse."

Big Money from Special Interests Attempts to Sway Three Local Elections

July 11, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>Without directly revealing their involvement, major industries and organizations play key roles in legislative contests.</strong> <p> Voters may not have been aware that insurance companies, lawyers and other interests were calling most of the shots in the three campaigns. The California Senior Advocates League, which paid for attack ads in two of the three contests, received money from JobsPAC, which is affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce, and Put California Back to Work, a committee sponsored by the Civil Justice Assn. of California. Both groups' members and contributors are mostly big corporations. Doug Heller, executive director of the Santa Monica nonprofit Consumer Watchdog, said the league's name gives the impression that the candidates' support is coming from "an authentic campaign by seniors."<br /> </p>

Applicants Dismayed as Minor Medical Conditions Lead to Insurance Denials or Big Hike in Premiums

July 4, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> People have been rejected for such common conditions as acne and high blood pressure, said Judy Dugan, research director for Consumer Watchdog. "If you are pregnant, (insurers) will run the other way screaming," she added. "They don't want to insure a baby until they have looked it over to make sure it's absolutely healthy." </p>

“Trust us” not good enough for health insurance rates

July 1, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

After meeting with health insurance executives two weeks ago, President Obama reiterated an oft repeated promise: "The CEOs here today need to know that they're going to be required to publicly justify unreasonable premium increases." ...