Insurance

Listen to the Insiders

January 5, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

If our semi-reformed health care system is going to stay in the hands of private, largely for-profit insurance companies, we're all going to need the help of insiders--the people who know the inner workings of the health insurance industry. For instance, former corporate insurance adviser Richard Eskow has <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/im-the-guy-who-cut-your-h_b_410999.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a Huffington Post piece today</a> that's an eye-opener on the "give them less and make them think it's more" tactics used by both employers and health insurers.

Insurance-Rate-Hike Foes Can Recoup Legal Fees

January 5, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

Consumer groups that successfully challenge insurance rate increases can recoup their legal fees from the insurers, even when the companies drop their requests or agree to a compromise, a state appeals court has ruled. The author of the ballot measure said the ruling was an important victory for consumer advocates and would encourage them to hire experts who could take on insurance company witnesses. "The insurance industry was attempting to escape accountability when they ask for permission to raise rates," Harvey Rosenfield, founder of an organization called Consumer Watchdog, said Monday. "If they can prevent consumer groups from scrutinizing rates, they're more able to overcharge."

Mercury Is Poison

January 4, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

Now that we’re about to entrust health reform to the tender mercies of the insurance industry, it’s sobering to see the skullduggery that one of California’s largest auto insurers is trying to pull on the state’s drivers. If you want a preview of what health insurers may do to premiums if they’re forced to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions, <a href="http://stopthesurcharge.org/2009/12/17/mercury-insurance-submits-sigs-to-raise-car-insurance-rates/">have a look at what Mercury Insurance</a> wants to do to drivers with pre-existing driving conditions.

The massive ponzi scheme at Goldman Sachs

December 31, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

In what might as well be called a perfect ending to the year - and maybe a reasonable summation of the decade - <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/81465.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">McClatchy is reporting</a> on newly revealed documents from Goldman Sachs that point to a massive ponzi scheme by the Wall Street titan. (Credit to <a href="http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/goldman_sachs_duped_investors_investigation_finds_20091230/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Truthdig</a> for putting it on our radar).

What’s more dangerous: a fetus or a gun?

December 31, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

Those of us who spend a lot of time watching insurance companies are worried about a seemingly innocuous provision in the Senate health reform bill: Insurance companies and employers could provide up to a 50% "wellness incentive" in the major health reform bill. My thought: Who is it that insurance companies want to discourage from buying their policies?

It’s Not Too Late To Mend The Ailing Health Care Bill

December 29, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

Consumer Watchdog, an organization fighting for more regulation, <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/politicians/articles/?storyId=32001">notes that a loophole in the Senate bill</a> would give leeway to the big insurers in raising rates. The legislation does this by permitting the companies to impose so-called reasonable rate increases. Jerry Flanagan of Consumer Watchdog warned that most Americans would be required “to buy health insurance without adequate constraints on what insurers can charge for coverage.”

State Voters Can Expect A Packed Ballot

December 27, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

Signatures Are Being Collected For More Than 50 Initiatives, Including A Potential Labor-Business Battle. SACRAMENTO, CA -- With heated contests looming for U.S. Senate, governor and other statewide posts, 2010 stands to be a blockbuster year in California politics. The state could also see a bumper crop of ballot measures.

AIG keeps poking its fingers in America’s eye

December 23, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

Just in case you were under the naïve impression that the folks over at AIG give a damn (or are even a little grateful for the taxpayer lifepreserver that’s still keeping them afloat), news today that executives never repaid $25 million in bonuses they promised to return...

Senate Healthcare Bill Now Relies On Regulation

December 18, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

Without a 'public option' to compete with private insurers, the government would instead police the industry. But do regulators have enough authority to make a difference? Although the bill mandates that state and federal regulators review rate increases, it is unclear how the regulators would evaluate what insurers want to charge and how aggressively they would restrain the industry. "The public option was really the best check on the industry," said Jerry Flanagan, patient advocate for California-based Consumer Watchdog. "Though it was small, there was an implicit threat to the industry that it could be expanded.... And, unlike regulation, it allowed people to vote with their feet and go somewhere else if they didn't like what insurers were doing." Consumer Watchdog, the American Cancer Society and other advocacy groups have been working with Democrats on Capitol Hill to close some loopholes and tighten the regulations before the Senate passes a final bill.

Blue Shield Drops Plans To Reduce Grace Period On Missed Payments

December 17, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

The healthcare insurer says the move comes after 'a lot of feedback' from customers concerned that the company was taking away a key benefit during hard times. Jerry Flanagan, who oversees healthcare issues for Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica advocacy group, said he wasn't surprised that Blue Shield blinked after its proposed contract change was publicized. "The publicity exposed Blue Shield as being just like all the other insurance companies, which is not how they want to be seen," he said.

Senate Plan Is Called Too Empowering To Health Insurers

December 17, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

The Senate health-care bill could enable insurers to avoid some of the strongest consumer protections and benefit requirements adopted by state governments, Democratic lawmakers from Maine and California say. Jerry Flanagan, health-care policy director at Consumer Watchdog, said that language includes wiggle room for future lobbying when regulations are written to implement the bill. The language does not appear to protect requirements dictating what benefits health plans must provide, Flanagan said.

Neutralizing Lieberman and his ilk

December 17, 2009 · Jamie Court

This <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/opinion/16wed4.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y">sizzling editorial</a> (two words you can't often use together) in the New York Times lays out the damage Sen. Joe Lieberman has singlehandedly done to health reform. It's the best argument you could find for following the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamie-court/bust-the-fillibuster-not_b_392019.html">call of my colleague, Jamie Court,</a> to dump the Senate's 60-vote "filibuster rule" that lets industry mouthpieces like Lieberman play a suicide bomber role against reforms.

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