Insurance

Medicare private plan marketing’s a miracle–for insurer profits

September 1, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> I was surprised to find out recently that nearly one-fourth of Medicare patients are enrolled in private Medicare Advantage plans, which are offered by the big health insurance companies that we know and don't love. Enrollent is growing by the millions each year. But why, since these plans <a href="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/12/11/insurer-profit-ma/">don't provide better health outcomes</a>, cost taxpayers tens of billions of dollars more than regular Medicare and can <a href="http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2009/August/31/Medicare-Advantage.aspx">restrict coverage</a> more tightly than regular Medicare? The answer came from my mailbox--a flood of costly, glossy, taxpayer-funded marketing by private insurers. </p>

Whoops! Mercury Insurance screwed up their own initiative

September 1, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> According to word on the street, Mercury Insurance has had to throw away the signatures they've been paying for for the last week or so.  Apparently, they mixed up the initiative that the Attorney General reviewed for circulation...</p>

California Homeowners Facing Insurance Rate Hikes

September 1, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>In a state parched by a three-year drought, wildfires are at least partly to blame for the price increases, industry officials and even some consumer advocates agree. </strong> <p> The dramatic images of firestorms now sweeping through the San Gabriel Mountains produce fear and dread "but don't make for any actuarial implication," said Douglas Heller, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica group. "We're talking about not even 1% of homes." </p>

Retailers Sense New Thriftiness In Aisles — Year-Over-Year Sales At Stores Show Frugality Of Consumers

August 31, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Consumer advocate Harvey Rosenfield, founder of the California-based group Consumer Watchdog, puts much of the blame for the current economic situation on credit-card companies that offered easy access to credit, then raised fees, interest rates and, in some cases, minimum payments when the economy soured. </p>

Clarity peeks out in health reform

August 27, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> The media slam against Congress and President Obama has been that supporters of health reform don't make a clear, simple argument for what it is and why we need it. Opponents' smear-and-fear campaign grabs the headlines. I've had the same complaint about the mainstream media itself--too much dwelling on politics and little substance. A guy named <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/patients/articles/?storyId=28627">Wendell Potter</a> is helping change that, most recently in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/opinion/27kristof.html?_r=1&ref=opinion">Nicholas Kristof's column</a> in the New York Times. </p>

Auto Body Repair Plan Touches Capitol Nerve

August 27, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Consumer Watchdog, which opposes the bill, said the language of the legislation doesn’t do what insurers contend. “It’s anti-steering bill that would permit steering,” said Consumer watchdog attorney Todd Foreman. “It specifically states that an insurer can provide information about services. That’s what steering is. It essentially guts the consumer protections in Speier’s bill regarding steering and when a company can’t steer.”  The collision repair industry agrees, and believes the bill hurts the consumer by allowing insurers to selectively push customers to shops that have dubious, cost-cutting contracts with some carriers.

Watchdog: Auto Insurance Law May Up Rates

August 25, 2009  ·  Harvey Rosenfield

<strong>Insurance Company Sponsors Initiative </strong><br /> <br /> The Continuous Coverage Auto Insurance Discount Act may sound appealing, but the consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog told 10 News that potential voters should not be fooled, calling the measure a thinly veiled attempt to raise insurance rates. “It’s a fraud. It’s full of deception. It will lead to higher insurance premiums,” said Harvey Rosenfield, founder of Consumer Watchdog and author of Proposition 103, which overhauled the insurance market in 1988.

Mercury Insurance’s History of Legislative Attacks on Consumer Protections in California

August 24, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Ever since California voters enacted the landmark insurance reform initiative Proposition 103 in 1988, Mercury Insurance has led a series of efforts to remove its consumer protections. </p>

News Truth: Insurers sing ‘Hallelujah’ for weak health reform

August 24, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> It turns out that all the health reform fear and fury about pulling the plug on Grandma and creeping socialism (or is it Nazism?) will benefit one very elite group: health insurance companies. If the so-called public option stays dead, and government requires Americans to buy insurance, 'reform' will be a huge profit machine. As <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/healthcare/la-na-healthcare-insurers24-2009aug24,0,6925890.story">a great LA Times story</a> reports today: </p>

Co-Opting Public Plans

August 20, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Consumer Watchdog calls the co-ops "pseudo-reform" that could do far more harm than good if they create loopholes that could gut state consumer protection laws. The consumer advocacy group notes that Sen. Mike Enzi, R-WY, came up with a similar plan in 2006, which would have exempted the co-opts from state consumer protection laws.

New Credit Card Rules Start Thursday

August 20, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

A recent survey of more than 400 credit cards found rates have gone up an average of two percent since last December. ConsumerWatchdog.org, which is tracking all of this, says about one-third of card holders are now paying 20 percent interest. "They're taking advantage of people at a tough point in their lives, when they can't afford to give up their credit cards," said Judy Dugan from ConsumerWatchdog.org. "And saying, 'Well, you can't pay off your balance, you're going to pay a lot more, you're going to pay 17 percent, 22 percent, 28 percent.' And this bill does nothing to change that."

Will Your Health Plan Fully Cover You?

August 20, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

LOS ANGELES, CA -- (KABC) -- You may have health insurance, but it may not cover your when you really need it.  At least one in five people in America are in the same insurance shape as Susan. They don't have adequate insurance and may not know it until it's too late.  According to Jerry Flanagan of Consumer Watchdog, it may not be all the consumer's fault.