Insurance

Calif. Auto Initiative Funded by Insurer, Called ‘Class Warfare’ by Foe

August 18, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

LOS ANGELES, CA -- A California ballot measure underwritten by Mercury General Corp. would allow insurers to raise or lower automobile insurance premiums based on a driver's coverage history, including the ability to raise rates based on the absence of prior coverage. In practice, Consumer Watchdog claims, consumers who decide not to drive and let their insurance lapse would be penalized against, as would one who files one late payment. The initiative would allow insurers latitude to raise rates after a policyholder files a claim, even when the policyholder is not at fault; this would create a "perverse incentive" to not file claims or report accidents, it said. "Mercury is using the initiative process to go after middle class Californians by allowing insurance companies to raise rates on struggling families in the middle of an economic crisis," Consumer Watchdog Executive Director Doug Heller said in a statement.

Consumer Group Criticizes Co-Op Proposal

August 18, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Consumer Watchdog today issued a press release criticising Senator Kent Conrad's (D-ND) health insurance cooperative proposal. The consumer group claims that the co-op model is a failed one, largely because co-operatives have failed to generate enough membership in order to negotiate the best rates. In addition, the consumer advocacy group claims that co-ops could be used to reduce the effectiveness of state consumer laws.

Amid Health Debate, Cash Flows To Lawmakers

August 16, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On a recent Wednesday morning, 1,000 insurance brokers spread out across Capitol Hill with a singular mission: kill a proposed government-run health care plan. Insurers support a proposed mandate that all Americans carry insurance. But they do not think they should have to compete with the government. "They want to turn the national desperation for affordable health care into a bill that really boosts their profits," said Jerry Flanagan, health care analyst with Consumer Watchdog, a California advocacy group. "They are getting Congress to do their dirty work." </p>

‘Deeply misleading’ polls on health insurance are fuel for the fear-and-anger campaign

August 11, 2009  ·  Judy Dugan

<p> "Liking" your health insurance policy is roughly the same as liking Bernie Madoff until you tried to withdraw your retirement savings. That's what's wrong with the polls that health corporations and Fox News are using to generate powerful fear and anger over health insurance reform. Any kind of insurance is fine until you have to make a major claim. </p>

What’s really driving health reform protests?

August 7, 2009  ·  Judy Dugan

<p> The light bulb went off in my head today reading NY Times columnist <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/opinion/07krugman.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y">Paul Krugman's description </a>of health reform protests--are these folks actually clamoring to give up their Medicare? If not, the boiling anger is about something else. And guess which industry is driving the fury. </p>

Co-op In Spotlight For Insurance Plan

August 6, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> <strong>United Agricultural Benefit Trust Spotlighted As Model For Healthcare Cooperatives</strong> </p> <p> Private insurers can screen out people more at risk for serious illness, hedging against the danger of expensive and frequent medical bills, said Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica group that monitors insurance practices. The fear is that co-ops will attract high-risk people who would otherwise go uncovered, which could bleed a co-op's funding dry, he said. Court also maintains that the co-ops' small size would work against them if operating on a scale as large as Sen. Conrad's proposal. "Co-ops are simply too small to have any real bargaining power," he said. </p>

Health insurance competition: One of their bigger lies

August 5, 2009  ·  Judy Dugan

<p> When health insurance companies or their Congressional sock puppets tell you that competition in the private market will reform health care and cut costs, run for the hills. It's a flat-out lie, and their lobbyists' noses are getting...</p>

Health insurers aren’t the victims, but the victimizers

August 5, 2009  ·  Jamie Court

<p> The head of the health insurance lobby, Karen Ignani, is <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/health/policy/05insure.html?_r=1&hpw">crying foul</a> about being demonized by Democrats trying to complete health insurance reform.  Let's not forget what health insurers have done to demonize themselves! </p>

Our Opinion: Follow The Money Trail

August 5, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

If those congressmen who have received money from the health care industry recused themselves from the debate, you could almost hear a pin drop in chambers. Sen. John McCain, according to consumerwatchdog.org, has received nearly $320,000 from the health insurance industry. The Republican senator from Arizona ranked first among his Senate colleagues in a list compiled by Consumer Watchdog, a national consumer group that monitors the ties between lawmakers and lobbyists. McCain also received nearly as much, $312,000, according to a July 12 report, from the pharmaceutical industry.

Will the White House embrace CIGNA whistleblower to shine a light on reform? (VIDEO)

August 4, 2009  ·  Jamie Court

<p> <object width="400" height="300"> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"> </param> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"> </param> </object> I introduced him in San Francisco at the <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/28/BUI1190H0P.DTL">Civil Justice Foundation</a> last week as a man who could change the direction of health insurance reform in America. <a href="http://vimeo.com/5938505">Watch</a> or <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/PotterSFSpeech.pdf">read</a> the full speech by former CIGNA executive Wendell Potter about his decision to go public and what the stakes are for health care reform in America.  </p>

Initiative To Change Calif. Auto Insurance Rating Factor Proposed, Faces Criticism

August 3, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Californians for Fair Auto Insurance Rates is working on gaining support for a voter initiative aimed at the 2010 ballot that reward drivers who have had insurance for some time to be eligible for a "persistency discount," even if they change carriers. Yet the "Continuous Coverage Auto Insurance Discount Act," for which support is being funded in part by Mercury Chairman George Joseph and other company executives, is facing criticism by a consumer watchdog group that says the measure "would legalize surcharges of hundreds of dollars for automobile insurance, penalize good drivers for accidents that are not their fault, and lead to more uninsured motorists."

DC Dispatch: Health care debate is time to dial for HMO dollars

July 31, 2009  ·  Carmen Balber

<p> What with the future of health care reform being shaped in both the House and Senate this week one might be tempted to believe that members of Congress took a break from fundraising to focus on legislating... </p>