Insurance

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. <br/> <br/> 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

<strong>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.</strong> <p> 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. </p>

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.

What’s the corporate side of this kinky sex scandal?

September 9, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

The sex scandal du jour--California state Senator Mike Duvall, a "family-values conservative," <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Idw-CzHwgc&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Ftpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com%2F2009%2F09%2Fgop_lawmakers_graphic_sex-bragging_caught_on_tape.php&feature=player_embedded">boasting into an open mike</a> during a hearing about his spanking, stamina and other exploits with two female lobbyists--ought to broaden focus. Duvall is <a href="http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/gop_lawmakers_graphic_sex-bragging_caught_on_tape.php">political toast</a>--apologized, resigned. But what about Sempra Energy, the employer of the one lobbyist who's been identified? What did the company know, and what exactly is it expecting of its lobbyists?

Our response to CBS Outdoors

September 9, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Consumer Watchdog today demanded that CBS Outdoors restore our "Don't Trust Mercury Insurance" billboard, pulled down, mid-contract, at Mercury Insurance's request.

Baucus Offers His Plan For Healthcare Overhaul

September 9, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> <strong>The Senate finance panel chief would create cooperatives as an alternative to the public option.</strong><br /> </p> <p> A leading consumer group also took aim at the Baucus proposal, criticizing a provision that could allow insurers more flexibility to sell plans across state lines. "This is a huge loophole that the insurance industry has been seeking for decades," said Jerry Flanagan, healthcare policy director of Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog. </p>

Consumer Group Accuses Wellpoint and UnitedHealth Group of ‘Illegal Coercion’

September 9, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

SANTA MONICA, CA -- Nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, Consumer Watchdog, has written California Attorney General Jerry Brown to request an investigation into certain actions by two health care providers, which the group accuses of "illegal coercion under the California Labor Code."<br />

It’s Funny What Passes For Offensive These Days

September 9, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>A billboard critical of Mercury Insurance is taken down after the firm complains. But a vodka ad suggestive of part of the female anatomy is still eliciting gasps.</strong>

Congressional Hearing To Focus On Google Book Search

September 9, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

The Google Book Search Settlement has taken yet another twist: in a last minute announcement, the House Judiciary Committee today posted notice that it would hold a hearing on “The Competition and Commerce in Digital Books” or, in other words, the Google Books Search Settlement, on Thursday, September 10th at 10am. With the hearing, the Google Book Search settlement has now hit the trifecta—all three branches of government are involved: the Judiciary is overseeing the settlement; the Executive, via the Department of Justice, is looking at antitrust issues; and now Congress, which brings the widest possible government scope from which to address potential issues with book digitization.

A ‘framework’ made in health insurer’s workshop

September 9, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> The latest proposal in the Washington health reform debate protects employers from costs, delivers millions of new customers to the insurance industry and protects it from competition. Overall medical cost reduction is vague. And the middle class, the group with no free-spending Washington lobby, gets the lump of coal--less help with premiums and higher out of pocket costs than in other proposals. </p>

CA Investigates Kaiser, Anthem, Insurers

September 8, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="summary"> Judy Dugan of the Santa Monica-based advocacy group Consumer Watchdog said one of the primary reasons for the HMO system's dysfunction is its for-profit emphasis that puts patient care on the back burner.  "They (HMOs) seem to be happy to take care of slightly healthy people, but their dollar alert goes up when it's expensive," Dugan said. "They don't have any huge interest in figuring out what effective care is and isn't and sometimes it seems random when they deny something as not medically necessary." </p>

Uncertain Future For Low-Cost Auto Insurance Program

September 8, 2009  ·  Doug Heller

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is considering whether to extend the state’s low-cost auto insurance program, which offers bare-bones coverage to motorists who would otherwise drive without insurance — and break the law.  “It’s very important that this program be extended,” said Doug Heller, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that tracks insurance issues. “The last thing we want is for people to be uninsured.” The program will expire at the end of 2010 unless it is extended by lawmakers.