Insurance

Critics Say Poizner Changes Could Boost Rates

December 19, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> SACRAMENTO, CA -- State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner is under fire from his predecessor and a consumer group for proposing regulation changes that they say would increase rates for automobile, homeowner and most other kinds of coverage by millions of dollars. "Insurance rates will go through the roof at a time when we can hardly afford to deregulate another industry in the financial sector," said Harvey Rosenfield, founder of the Consumer Watchdog group and the author of Proposition 103, a rate-regulation initiative approved by voters in 1988. </p>

You Scratch My Back… And I’ll Be Back

December 16, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Michael Rothfeld of the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-arnold14-2008dec14,0,2372023,full.story">LA Times recently highlighted Governor Schwarzenegger's many public appearances</a> this year on behalf of his donors. Nothing new there, as we've noted several times before... </p>

People don’t trust Google anymore

December 16, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/contact/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google's</a> corporate motto is still <a href="http://investor.google.com/conduct.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"Don't be evil"</a>, but folks just don't trust the Internet...

Bailout exec compensation cap goes up in smoke

December 16, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Yesterday's Washington Post eliminated another pretense of accountability for companies taking the billions in taxpayer money Congress has thrown at Wall Street<em>...</em> </p>

Will Your Insurance Rates Rise Or Fall?

December 12, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- California's Insurance Department wants to change the rules that consumer activists say will stop protection for California consumers. The battle got underway in San Francisco on Friday. Proposition 103 has been protecting insurance customers for 20 years. But on Friday the Insurance Department started looking at possibly changing the rules for setting rates.

Panel Restricts Perks for Officials

December 12, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>Ethics Commission Tightens Rules on Municipal Employees Accepting Tickets to Concerts, Sport Events.</strong><br /> The new rules "should reduce the number of tickets, because some will have to be considered gifts that weren't before," said Carmen Balber of the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog. Anaheim, Pasadena and other cities argued that attending a sporting event or the Rose Parade serves a public purpose in allowing the government official to see how the city-owned venue is operating. That exception may be widely exploited, Balber asserted.

ISO: Consumers in the know are criminals

December 11, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> I know that the insurance industry likes to operate in the dark. It took a <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/insurance/subcamp/prop103/">voter revolt at the ballot box</a> and 20 years fighting to implement Proposition 103 to... </p>

Money Getting Tighter for Thinkers

December 10, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

(<a href="http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/12/10/think_tanks/">Click here to listen to audio of the radio broadcast of this segment</a>.)<br /> Washington's 340 think tanks are hurting from new lows in funding. This could hit more impartial, non-partisan groups the hardest, while corporate-funded think tanks may get a leg up.

Consumer Groups Seeking Investigations Into Flight Cancellations

December 4, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Consumer advocacy groups want federal regulators and Congress to investigate whether U.S. airlines are canceling or rerouting flights at the last minute when they have not sold enough seats to make them profitable. They say airlines are canceling flights to save money, but telling passengers it’s because of mechanical problems or weather delays. And they are ready to take legal action against carriers.

Health Insurers Offer Reform Plan

December 3, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>Savings Promised, But Everyone Would Have To Buy Policy</strong><br /> The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog said the insurance industry's proposal would simply "encourage the industry to demand higher premiums and more taxpayer subsidies, while providing less health care."

Health Insurers Pitch Plan to Curb Costs, Premiums

December 3, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Obama should block any effort to override coverage of services mandated by state legislatures, such as preventive screenings and newborn care, and stop health plans from selling stripped-down “junk insurance policies,” said Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica, California-based advocacy group. The insurance trade association should focus on other problems in the health-care system, the consumer group said in an e-mail.<br />

Núñez Joins Board of Workers’ Comp Insurer

December 2, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Former Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez has taken a lucrative seat on the board of directors for a workers' compensation insurer after helping broker a 2004 deal that benefited the industry. Doug Heller, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, a group that tracks the insurance industry, criticized the deal. "This is the revolving door working at its worst," he said.