Insurance

Aetna rate increase bites the dust; Review finds major ‘mathematical errors’

June 25, 2010  ·  Judy Dugan

<p> It was insurance company lobbying that stuck Americans with a health reform law that lets private insurance companies run the show. The industry keeps proving that it has no intention of doing an honest job of it. The California <a href="http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2010/release091-10.cfm">Department of Insurance announced Thursday </a>that Aetna's rate increases in the individual market, like those of Anthem Blue Cross, were full of "substantial mathematical errors." The company (also like Blue Cross) "agreed" to withdraw the planned premium hikes. </p>

White House carries a small stick against spiking health premiums

June 23, 2010  ·  Judy Dugan

<p> It was nice of the New York Times to print a story on the f<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/business/22kaiser.html">ast rise of health insurance premiums nationwide,</a> just a day before President Obama's showdown meeting Tuesday with insurance executives. The president needs all the help he can get, because the health reform law is a very small stick indeed for controlling insurance companies. </p>

Liveblog: Auto Dealers 1; Consumers 0.

June 22, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

The House/Senate conference committee on financial reform is debating the structure and authority of a consumer financial protection bureau. The issue just decided: Should the new Bureau regulate lending arranged by auto dealers? The House offer...

California Residents Urged to Take Advantage of Affordable Auto Insurance Option

June 21, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Imperial, CA - As Imperial County struggles with major unemployment, many drivers have failed to take advantage of a program that could help them. So far this year, only two motorists in Imperial County has qualkified for the state's Low Cost Auto Insurance program, an affordable way to comply with the law. </p>

Regs May Pit States Against Treasury

June 16, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Carmen Balber of Consumer Watchdog, which opposes the Senate version, disagreed with the industry’s interpretation. “The scope of pre-emption is much broader in the Senate bill than the insurance industry would like you to believe,” she said. The Senate version, she said, allows the Treasury Department to write new rules that could pre-empt state laws, while the House bill limits Treasury’s authority to recognize foreign laws. To support the Senate bill, Balber said, is to support “a move to weaken the strongest state regulations.” </p>

Mistreated Customers Try for Viral Vengeance

June 16, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

There’s been an uptick in the number of people who are going the social-media route to take shots at corporations that they feel have done them wrong, said Mark Reback of Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica.

Perspectives: Mercury General, Poizner Make Millions Disappear in Primary Election

June 14, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Mercury "got taken for a ride" by political consultants, said Jamie Court, president and chairman of Consumer Watchdog and a board member of its CCR affiliate. Prop 17, which lost by a 4% margin, was never going to pass, he said.

Voter Skepticism of Big Moneyed Interests Could Play Role in Fall Campaign

June 11, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Voters had to work hard to sift through the "obfuscation" and "deception" employed by PG&E and Mercury Insurance, said Doug Heller, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, whose political action committee ran the opposition campaign to Prop. 17. "They had to resist an all-out attack by special interests," Heller said, "and they managed to go to the newspapers and blogs and editorial boards and pick through the rubbish." </p>

Despite Prop. 17’s Defeat, Auto Insurers’ Battle May Not Be Over

June 10, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Proponents failed in their attempt “to scam California drivers by authorizing surcharges that voters made illegal in 1988 when they passed Proposition 103,” said Harvey Rosenfield, founder of Consumer Watchdog and author of the ballot measure that has regulated car insurance rates for 22 years. “This is a victory not just for motorists in California, but a broader victory for California voters, who have made it clear they don’t intend to let insurance companies or utility companies or other big corporations subvert the people’s initiative process,” Rosenfield said. </p>

Prop. 17: Auto Insurance Measure Appears To Fail

June 9, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Proposition 17, auto insurance measure, appeared to be headed for defeat. With 99. 1 percent of the precincts reporting, it was losing by 158,000 votes, or 52-48 percent.

Voters Reject Corporate-Backed Ballot Measures

June 9, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Voters rejected two business-backed measures that would have changed the electric power and auto insurance industries in California. Harvey Rosenfield, the noted consumer advocate who led the fight against the proposition, was scheduled to make a statement later. Existing law lets insurers offer loyalty (or “persistency”) discounts to long-term customers. Mercury has been fighting for years for the right to extend the discounts to other insurers’ long-term customers in an effort to lure them away. Rosenfield says that because of the “zero sum” regulations governing insurance premiums in California, companies that give discounts to one group have to raise premiums on others. He said newly insured motorists, or those who’d let their insurance expire temporarily, would pay big surcharges as a result.

California Voters Reject Mercury General-Funded Ballot Question

June 9, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

The outcome was a victory for consumer groups that argued the referendum would effectively legalize surcharges outlawed since the passage of Proposition 103 in 1988. Because those with lapses in coverage or payments would be disqualified from discounts, the initiative would allow insurers to charge those customers more, they argued.