Insurance

Is Health Overhaul Possible Without Requiring Coverage?

January 26, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With a major health overhaul in deep trouble, some lawmakers want a scaled-back approach that targets the indisputably unpopular insurance industry, by enacting such popular ideas as requiring insurers to accept people with medical problems and barring them from canceling policies or charging more for customers with health problems. Jerry Flanagan, the health care policy director of the Consumer Watchdog advocacy group in Los Angeles, never bought the idea of a mandate. "The industry was crying a lot of crocodile tears. The idea that people won't buy coverage unless it's required is largely overblown," he says. A more modest bill that includes new limits on insurers but doesn't force people to buy coverage will prove that "Congress can stand up to the industry." </p>

GOP Decries ‘Phony War’ On Wall Street

January 25, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Consumer Watchdog, the consumer advocacy group, released its own report last week targeting the industry for spending big money on campaign contributions and lobbying efforts. The report found that the 23 members of the Senate Banking Committee received nearly $42 million in campaign contributions from the industry between 2005 and 2009. Democrats made up seven of the top 10 recipients, the report showed.<br />

Haiti Refocuses Attention On Quake Insurance

January 25, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

This month's big earthquake in Eureka, followed by the far more devastating one in Haiti, should focus attention on the staggering uninsured losses that will result from the next big shaker in California unless something is done soon.

Interstate Insurance Sales Considered By Legislators

January 22, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

A proposal to allow Georgia residents to buy individual insurance plans across state lines could give residents cheaper options for coverage, but consumer protections would be a necessary component, said a North Georgia insurance agent. In the U.S. House health reform bill, Republicans tried to include a provision that would have allowed individual plans to be sold across state lines nationwide. The provision was rejected. The overhaul bills passed by the House and Senate offered similar provisions with added regulations, though critics say those consumer protections still don't go far enough. "The idea is very seductive, but the details are very bad for consumers," said Jerry Flanagan, health policy director for Consumer Watchdog. "Insurance companies are pushing these plans to essentially deregulate state regulation of health insurance."

Googling Obama’s China policy

January 16, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Google's ties to the Obama administration are perhaps unrivaled in corporate America, but the Internet giant's announcement this week that it's considering pulling out of China because of Chinese censorship and hacker attacks put the White House in a tricky spot. "They like to go around and sing the mantra, 'Don't be evil,'" said John Simpson, a consumer advocate with the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog. "But they almost always act in what they perceive to be Google's interest - and that doesn't necessarily coincide with that of any government."

Proposals Clash On States’ Role In Health Plans

January 14, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Should someone in Idaho or Nevada have significantly different health care coverage from someone in Massachusetts? That, essentially, is one of the biggest questions Congress will be wrestling with as it tries to meld House and Senate bills into a single law to revamp the nation’s health care system. Even some consumer advocates agree that the states should continue to serve as insurance regulators, even if the federal government sets the ground rules. “You always want the states to be the first responder,” said Jerry Flanagan, a health care advocate for Consumer Watchdog in California. </p>

U.S. State Officials, Advocates: Health Reform Could Undermine Authority

January 11, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Some advocates and officials across the political spectrum said they believe federal health care reform could undermine states' rights and responsibilities -- a mutual conclusion reached from different perspectives. The Senate bill includes state-based insurance exchanges and an opt-out provision for states. It specifies certain roles for state regulators and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in developing rules and regulations. According to Consumer Watchdog, 17 states representing 54% of the U.S. population could be the most strongly affected. Those states have more than 50 health benefit mandates. </p>

Mandatory Purchase Of Health Insurance Becomes An Issue

January 11, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

"Our work now is to make this bill, in these final throes, as good as possible," said Jerry Flanagan of Consumer Watchdog, a left-leaning advocacy group. "If the public option is off the table, you have to have strict regulations on what health insurance companies can charge – or the individual mandate becomes a profit machine for the industry," Flanagan said. 

California Insurers Lose Bid To Block Payments To Advocates

January 8, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

LOS ANGELES, CA -- A California appeals court upheld changes to state insurance regulations that clarified that insurers must pay the cost of challenges to rates deemed excessive. The appellate panel rejected a challenge from the Association of California Insurance Companies and others. Hoping to discourage consumers from challenging rate applications, insurance companies argued that they were not required to pay the legal costs if they withdrew or settled challenges to rate applications before a formal hearing on their application was called, Pam Pressley, Consumer Watchdog's litigation director, said in a statement.  The revised regulation stemmed from a 2005 court case that said a consumer group was not entitled to reimbursement because there was no hearing, Sorich said.

Calif. Court Says Insurers Must Pay Consumer Advocate Fees

January 6, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

A California appeals court ruled that the state’s insurers must compensate consumer advocacy groups when they take action to have a carrier’s rates rolled back, even when a settlement is reached without a hearing. For consumer groups, the ruling was viewed as a major triumph. “This important victory ensures that California motorists, homeowners and businesses will pay the lowest insurance premiums possible,” said Consumer Watchdog’s litigation director, Pam Pressley, in a statement. “Like many other provisions of Proposition 103 that the insurance industry has tried to attack with lawsuits, this one has helped save Californians billions of dollars. Companies can only be made to obey the law when the public can challenge insurers’ attempts to illegally hike rates and actively participate in the rate review and approval process as Prop 103 requires,” said Ms. Pressley.

Listen to the Insiders

January 5, 2010  ·  Judy Dugan

<p> 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. </p>

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."<br />