Insurance

Would someone please make Congress watch Will Ferrell?

September 24, 2009  ·  Judy Dugan

<p> No wonder Congress wasn't on the ball about the whole prisoner-torture thing. I watch a lot of Congressional hearings, but today's Senate Finance Committee on health reform was more than usually like a slow fingernail-pullng. What I heard was hours of political preening, scoring points to use against "big government" in next year's election. </p>

Senate health amendment follies

September 22, 2009  ·  Judy Dugan

A lot of the public debate over the latest health reform proposal, in the Senate Finance Committee, is just noise--political gotcha statements for use in the next election campaign. But we read hundreds of proposed amendment and boiled them down to the key issues at stake. Here are the ones that matter to your wallet and your health.

Does Microhoo Raise Antitrust Issues For Consortium?

September 22, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

The impact of the proposed merger of Microsoft and Yahoo's search platforms raises "significant antitrust concerns" that include the impact on the Yahoo Newspaper Consortium, four groups argue in a letter Monday to the U.S. Justice Department Antitrust Division. "How will the transaction impact the operation of Yahoo's Newspaper Consortium, which now serves as a revenue source for the beleaguered newspaper industry?," asks the letter to Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney from the four groups: the Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Action, Consumer Watchdog and U.S. PIRG (Public Interest Research Group).

Public-Option Protesters Target Anthem

September 22, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

WOODLAND HILLS, CA -- Activists and customers protested Tuesday at Anthem Blue Cross offices in Woodland Hills and nationwide to criticize the company's role in the national health care debate. "While Congress is debating the health care issue, we want Americans to stand up and show their support and debate all the issues," said Jerry Flanagan, policy director for Consumer Watchdog, who also was at the Woodland Hills protest.

Insurance Mandates Don’t Work

September 22, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

A cornerstone of President Obama's health-care plan is, as he said in his <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/09/AR2009090901771.html">speech</a> to Congress, "individuals will be required to carry basic insurance, just like most states require you to carry auto insurance." But the tarnished history of such laws shows that making insurance mandatory, and even making it more affordable, does not compel the uninsured to buy it.

Dated Medical Malpractice Law Comes Under Scrutiny

September 21, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Wayne Volkmuth learned what a "250 case" was while conducting research shortly after the loss of his 7-year-old son, Ryan, who died three years ago during a dental procedure at a Palo Alto clinic. The "250" refers to $250,000, the most Volkmuth could recover in a medical malpractice claim over his disabled son's death, a limit set 34 years ago by California's landmark medical malpractice law. It's also the reason his case was turned down by most of the dozen medical malpractice attorneys he and his wife consulted. Patients and families who struggle to get an attorney to represent them contend the law stands in the way of justice. "It's really a nightmare if you're an injured patient, or a patient's family member, and don't have large medical bills or large wage losses," said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica. "There is no justice." </p>

Rationing And Restricting Health Care?

September 21, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> RACHEL MADDOW, HOST: ... An advocacy group called Consumer Watchdog on Friday released a sheet of internal underwriting guidelines from the industry that may clear just how sweet the deal has been for companies in the current system and how bad that system has been for those of us trying to use it to get our health care needs met. BlueCross of California guidelines from 2004, for example, said you could be disqualified from health coverage in certain circumstances if you had varicose veins. </p>

Acne, Pregnancy Among Disqualifying Conditions

September 20, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

A proposal to make preexisting health conditions irrelevant in the sale of insurance policies could help not just the seriously ill, but also people who might consider themselves healthy, documents released Friday by a California-based advocacy group illustrate. Health insurers have issued guidelines saying they could deny coverage to people suffering from such conditions as acne, hemorrhoids and bunions. One big insurer refused to issue individual policies to police officers and firefighters, along with people in other hazardous occupations. Some treated pregnancy or the intention to adopt as disqualifying. <br />

Health Care Penalty

September 17, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> LOU DOBBS, HOST: As promised Senator Max Baucus released his controversial health care proposal. It is the last of five to emerge from Congress and like each of them the senator's $856 billion proposal would require every American to have health insurance or face thousands of dollars in fines for not doing so. </p> <p> CARMEN BALBER, CONSUMER WATCHDOG: His plan has suggested that Americans could be required to spend 20 percent, nearly 20 percent of their income on health insurance. That's simply unaffordable for a family who's around 400 percent of the poverty line struggling to pay their bills let alone pay for health insurance. </p>

Health insurance stocks zoom; Patients kicked to the curb

September 16, 2009  ·  Judy Dugan

<p> A tip of the hat to the Center for American Progress, which noticed that <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2009/09/16/stocks-baucus/">health insurance company stocks shot up today</a> as the Senate's new national health reform proposal eliminated any publicly financed alternative to their for-profit model. At the same time, families were <a href="http://domesticpolicy.oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2589">telling a House subcommittee</a> about their demoralizing struggles with focused, purposeful insurance company delays and denials of life-saving treatments. </p> <p>   </p>

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

September 16, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> 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. </p>

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.