Insurance

Health Care Premiums Rise 5% For Year — Increase Is 131% For Decade

September 16, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

The average family premium for health insurance offered through an employer surpassed the $13,000 mark this year, and the cost of coverage continues to outpace increases in wages and inflation, according to a report released Tuesday. "The current legislation would actually encourage insurance companies to raise rates in order to increase profits," said Jerry Flanagan, health policy analyst with Consumer Watchdog, which is based in Santa Monica. "If the government is going to require all Americans to buy health insurance, then the government has the responsibility to make insurance affordable.

Mercury Insurance Billboard Sparks Controversy

September 16, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

The controversy over the Los Angeles billboard telling the public "You Can't Trust Mercury Insurance" could soon become a lawsuit. Attorneys for Consumer Watchdog, the group that put up the message, have sent a letter to CBS Outdoor, Inc., the billboard owner, threatening legal action to force them to restore the sign if the company does not do it by themselves.

Baucus Releases Health Care Bill

September 16, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

Consumer Watchdog, a good government group, rapped the plan for allowing middle class families to continue to pay up to 20 percent of the annual income on health care coverage and imposing steep fines on Americans who do not buy coverage. “Government cannot force families to pay more than their mortgage to purchase coverage from a for-profit insurer,” said Jerry Flanagan, health policy director of Consumer Watchdog. “Yet if families paying more than 10 percent are automatically exempted from the law, they will still be without health care. It’s an impossible bind, and tough, transparent regulation is the right start to fixing it.”

California Consumer Group Wants Its Billboard Back

September 13, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

Bright Yellow Billboard Warned Consumers 'You Can't Trust Mercury Insurance' It's not unusual for businesses to respond aggressively when consumers go online to complain about them, but it's not often a billboard causes a major dust-up. In Los Angeles, the <a href="http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/09/mercury_billboard.html#">non-profit consumer group Consumer Watchdog</a> is demanding that CBS Outdoor reinstall a bright yellow billboard that read "Consumer Watchdog Says: 'You Can't Trust Mercury Insurance'". CBS Outdoor must re-install the billboard immediately and fulfill its contractual obligation, the consumer group demanded in a letter to the billboard company sent last week. <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/DOC090909.pdf">The letter</a>, from First Amendment lawyer Anthony Glassman said that Consumer Watchdog would sue CBS Outdoor if the company did not honor the contract.

DC Dispatch: The week in review

September 13, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

Things got busy fast this week in DC as Congress returned from the month-long summer break. Finance committee chair Sen. Max Baucus released his long-awaited health reform proposal on Tuesday after months of closed-door meetings...

Duvall Incident Spotlights Politicians’ Perks In Capital

September 11, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

Beyond lavish meals with fine wines, special interests offer overseas junkets, pro basketball games, weekends at spas and golf resorts and in some cases sex. Doug Heller, executive director of the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, said the Duvall incident shows that lobbyists are increasingly pushing the envelope: the rise of "extreme lobbying," he calls it. "I'm afraid this is not a once-in-a decade anomaly," Heller said.

Giant Vagina Outlasts Spiteful Billboard

September 10, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

In Koreatown, a billboard that read "Consumer Watchdog Says: 'You Can't Trust Mercury Insurance'" was dismantled last week after the company complained to CBS Outdoor. The billboard was preapproved by CBS Outdoor and was up for almost two weeks before Mercury's lawyers applied pressure, The Times reported. Yet a few blocks away, there's an Absolut Mango ad that wins our coveted "Outstanding Achievement in Vaginal Art" award. Actually the billboard is kind of tasteful -- well, as tasteful as a giant vagina can be. It does have a certain Edvard Munch vibe to it. Think "The Scream" meets the female anatomy.