Insurance

(More) hard insurance lessons from Massachusetts

July 15, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

Massachusetts is <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/15/us/15insure.html?_r=1">dropping legal, green-carded immigrants</a> from its subsidies for health insurance and will probably make it harder for poor citizens to get coverage. Small businesses are being <a href="http://www.wbur.org/2009/07/15/health-cost">slammed with insurance premium increases over 20%.</a> Insurance companies say they can't help unless they're allowed to sell brutally bare-bones "cheap" policies that would actually be more profitable. Why isn't Washington paying more critical attention to Massachusetts?

California ‘Pay-As-You-Drive’ Regulations Approach the Starting Line

July 13, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

Advocacy group Consumer Watchdog approves of the prohibition on location data, but staff advocate Carmen Balber said it does not go nearly far enough to protect consumers' privacy. She said the proposed regulations open the door to electronic devices that gather additional data on hours the vehicle is driven, how the vehicle is driven and more that California bars from being used in rate-making.

As GM owners, we need to look to our declaration

July 8, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

I never thought I would own GM, or even a piece of it, when I was an eight year old kid playing in my dad's parked, sky blue Oldsmobile Cutlass. But all of us Americans are inches from owning the new GM with a bankruptcy court ruling...

Mercury General Using Guise Of Benevolence To Assault Prop. 103

July 2, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

...one should wonder why Mercury, which is already one of the leading insurers in the state, would spend heavily to make its home market more competitive. I'm inclined to think the company has something else on its mind, and I'd bet that giving customers a break isn't it. Forewarned is forearmed: Hang on to your wallets.

Is Congress deaf? Or does insurers’ money just speak louder?

June 29, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

Congress is taking a holiday week off, heading home to wave flags and eat hot dogs. Some listening is in order, too. The <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/19/opinion/polls/main5098517.shtml">latest national poll</a> tells us that a whopping 70-plus percent of Americans want a health reform choice that lets them snub the giant insurance conglomerates that miserably abuse their customers.

‘Pay-As-You-Drive’ Auto Policies Could Become Option By Year’s End

June 27, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

Doug Heller, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica advocacy group, complained that Poizner's proposal would give insurance companies too much leeway to decide whether or not to offer a pay-as-you-drive option to potential customers. He said he feared that the regulations would allow companies to offer smaller discounts than they should for people who cut their driving by only modest amounts.

Treasury, GM Close to Reaching Deal on Legal Claims — Accident Victims, Dealers at Issue

June 27, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

"It's hard for me to comprehend why, when taxpayers are funding so much of the transition, and we're making specific choices about who gets money, that there's no money for these accident victims," said Douglas Heller, executive director of Consumer Watchdog. He expressed outrage that GM is requesting court approval to pay more than $100 million to its financial advisers, Evercore Partners, a New York boutique investment bank headed by former deputy Treasury secretary Roger Altman, and AlixPartners, a turnaround consultancy.

My View: HB 1171 Is Simply A Gift To Insurers

June 25, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

This My View was co-signed by Birny Birnbaum, executive director of the Center for Economic Justice; Douglas Heller, executive director of Consumer Watchdog; and Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders. In the strongest possible terms, we urge Gov. Charlie Crist to veto the home insurance deregulation bill, SB2036/HB1171. This bill is an invitation for insurers to game the Florida regulatory system and abuse consumers.

CIGNA exec puts wind in health care reform sails

June 24, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

Nebraska's Democratic United States Senator Ben Nelson is one of the holdouts on national health care reform. He had a hard time resisting the testimony of the former CIGNA executive who went to Congress today to tell of the industry's less than honest practices.

More red flags flying on Mass. health care plan

June 24, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

Massachusetts, where all citizens must prove they have health insurance or pay a $1,000 average fine, continues to scale back health coverage for the lowest-income residents who receive state subsidies for private insurance...

State Farm Florida: We Will Re-Examine Departure if ‘Consumer Choice’ Bill Signed

June 22, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

Consumer groups have sent letters to Crist urging him to veto the measure. In addition, Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has warned of the bill's potential adverse effects in the state's property insurance market, specifically Florida's domestic insurers that do not qualify to charge deregulated rates as outlined in the bill. Most recently a joint letter was sent by the Consumer Federation of America, the Center for Economic Justice, Consumer Watchdog, and United Policyholders. The groups said the bill "is an invitation for insurers to game the Florida regulatory system and abuse consumers."

25 Cal Republican Lawmakers Urge Supreme Court to Help Safeco Insurance

June 17, 2009 · Consumer Watchdog

In a stunning show of fealty to insurance giant Safeco, 25 Republican lawmakers <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/RepublicanACinSupportofSafeco.pdf">have asked</a> the California Supreme Court to overturn an appellate ruling that Safeco Insurance has to disclose the names of policyholders it may have cheated...

Prop 103 California Insurance Reform

New Bill Requires Insurance Companies to Offer and Renew Insurance Coverage for Fire-Safe Homes

Homeowners Dropped by Insurers