Insurance

Paulson’s plan to deregulate insurance companies

April 2, 2008  ·  Carmen Balber

<p> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/business/01regulate.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin">Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s proposal</a> for a newly created federal insurance regulator, and the... </p>

Still in Verizon customer service hell

March 31, 2008  ·  John M. Simpson

I <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/corporateering/articles/?storyId=19316" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported last week</a> on my efforts to receive a promised television set for signing up with Verizon's FiOS Triple Freedom plan.  The saga continues...

AT&T Mobility, VZW, Sprint Nextel Targeted in Gambling Class Action

March 31, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>Legal Action Targets Text Messages Tied to TV Programs</strong><br/> <br/> The nation's three largest wireless carriers have been hit with class action lawsuits accusing them of illegal gambling in connection text messaging tied to...

Punchier Name

March 31, 2008  ·  Jamie Court

<p> Since 1985, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) has been the bane of insurance companies, energy utilities, politicians and other entities that the Santa Monica-based consumer group considers corrupt fat cats. </p> ...

First, Self-Control. Then, Debt Control.

March 29, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> If you have gotten in over your head in credit card debt, you are in good company. The Federal Reserve says Americans have accumulated nearly $1 trillion, a record amount, in what it calls ''revolving credit.''<br/> <br/> But while...</p>

Hillary’s Premium Cap Trap

March 28, 2008  ·  Judy Dugan

<p> Sen. Hillary Clinton fell into the "premium cap" trap in a New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/28/us/politics/28clinton.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin">interview </a>published today, saying that, in her mandatory insurance proposal, she would cap premiums at up to 10 percent of total family income. It's a meaningless guarantee when insurance companies can cut premiums by requiring thousands of dollars in deductibles, charging high--even unlimited-- out of pocket costs and cutting coverage. The Times, sadly, didn't see the trap, either. </p>

Don’t Let the Door Hit You….

March 26, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

When the doors are slammed on a meeting between government and industry, the excuse is usually that a "frank exchange" must be allowed. The reality is too often that there's something to hide. So it is with today's private meeting between California health regulators and the state's biggest insurers.

Not a private science club

March 25, 2008  ·  John M. Simpson

Back in February California's stem cell agency <a href="http://www.cirm.ca.gov/press/pdf/2008/02-15-08.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made a big deal</a> of hosting a meeting of the International Stem Cell Forum. Chairman Bob Klein and his colleagues made...

Wisconsin Stem Cell Patents Upheld

March 21, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Scientists are still grumbling about the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation's grip on stem cell patents--a hold strengthened by rulings this and last month affirming WARF's patents on primate and human embryonic stem (ES) cells. But there is a...

Canada: What Heparin problem?

March 20, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Today's news stories identifying the apparently deadly fake heparin that adulterated a major U.S. brand of the blood thinner brought back memories: All those <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/mcclellan_02-26-04.html">dire warnings</a> from the Bush administration about the illegality and danger of buying cheaper prescription drugs from Canada. </p>

Massachusetts hikes premiums, co-pays for low-income consumers

March 20, 2008  ·  Carmen Balber

<br /> It's official - the poorest Massachusetts consumers will pick up the slack for cost increases under the state's mandatory health insurance program. The state approved a ... <p>   </p>

A campaign fine fit for the Guinness book

March 19, 2008  ·  Carmen Balber

There’s a slew of stories today about the <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/796609.html">biggest campaign fine in FPPC history</a>: a $350K fine issued to State Senator Carole Migden (they’ll be meeting tomorrow afternoon to...