Insurance

Liveblog: CDS- Misunderstanding?

July 1, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Commissioner Peter Wallison is suggesting that Credit Default Swaps are not inherently problematic. We just don't understand the underlying principles, he tells the witnesses. Wallison is asserting that CDS are just loans under another name, and...

Health Insurer Now Seeks 14 Pct Calif. Rate Hike

July 1, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Anthem Blue Cross has become a poster child for stricter premium regulation, said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, a group based in Santa Monica, CA.  Court said the double-digit increase following its earlier hike so closely shows the need for a law that gives regulators "the power to say no" to rate increases from insurers making "too much" money. </p>

Liveblog: Too big to recognize?

July 1, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Eric Dinallo, former Superintendent of the NYS Insurance Department, points out to Commissioner Keith Hennessey that AIG FP was in large part able to take on absurd amounts of risk because market perception viewed AIG FP in the context of its...

Anthem Blue Cross Seeks to Raise Rates Up to 20%

July 1, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

After taking heat for proposing to raise insurance rates as high as 39 percent, Anthem Blue Cross proposed rates Wednesday that would raise health premiums by an average of 14 percent and as much as 20 percent for thousands of California consumers. Several consumer groups said the Anthem case highlights the need for greater rate regulatory oversight. "Examining and controlling health insurance rates needs to be the law, not a one-time favor to consumers," said Judy Dugan, research director of Consumer Watchdog, which is based in Santa Monica.

Anthem Revises California Health Policies to a 14% Hike

July 1, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Greater government oversight is crucial to protecting consumers, said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, a left-leaning Santa Monica-based advocacy group. "The problem is we don't have a standard that sets out what is excessive and what is not," Court said. He argues the state should have the ability to deny rate increases it determines are too high. "We should let the regulators determine what's excessive," Court said. </p>

Liveblog: Session 2

July 1, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Session 2, with opening statements occuring now (links provided), has these witnesses set to testify:<br/> <br/> <div class="name"> Eric R. Dinallo </div> <div class="attribution"> Former Superintendant<br/> New York State Insurance...</div>

LIveblog: GS: We don’t track our derivatives operation

July 1, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Brooksley Born is asking GS execs about their derivatives operations. GS is continuing to assert that they integrate their businesses, and don't track derivatives separately, so they wouldn't have any specific information on derivatives...Brooksley Born is asking GS execs about their derivatives operations. GS is continuing to assert that they integrate their businesses, and don't track derivatives separately, so they wouldn't have any specific information on derivatives operations.<br /> <br />

Liveblog: Why was GS so inept at pricing?

July 1, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

After Thomas is done questioning, Angelides interjects and is incredulous that Goldman Sachs had a "scientific" methodology of pricing that was based on the market alone.<br/> <br/> He points out that GS' first pricing of one of AIG's...

Liveblog: Cassano: Never diluted our underwriting standards

June 30, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Representatives from AIG are asserting good faith and denying that credit default swaps (CDSs) or over-the-counter derivatives were ever sold without due diligence or with lower underwriting standards.<br/> <br/> Cassano especially is...

Liveblog: Did we learn anything?

June 30, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

The session with the "experts" is over. It is not entirely clear if the Commission learned anything new, especially considering the disparate views held by each of the panelists. In a telling series of answers, one member asked each of...

Liveblog: Opening statements

June 30, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

While opening statements wrap up from our four witnesses, only one witness seems to be defending the stance that over the counter derivatives played "no role" in exacerbating the crisis: Steve Kohlhagen. As questioning starts...

Consumer Group Warns Sebelius On Health Insurers’ ‘Bully Tactics’

June 30, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> A consumer group warned in a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that health insurers “cannot be trusted” when lobbying over provisions of the new federal health reform law. “The insurance industry is lobbying now for loopholes in regulatory language that would make it unnecessary for insurers to make mathematical ‘errors’ in order to meet the law’s requirement that they spend 80% to 85% of premium dollars on health care,” the letter to Sebelius suggests. Judy Dugan, research director from Consumer Watchdog, went further, saying, “The California rate scandal shows that insurers cannot be trusted with a hand calculator, much less the language of health regulation.” </p>