Insurance

States Draw Fire for Pitching Citizens On Private Long-Term Care Insurance

February 26, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<div class="postDetail"> Last year, six million letters bearing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's name and official state seal went out to Californians. <div id="postContent"> <p> The missives, sent by a direct-mail company...</p> </div> </div>

Speaker Race Is a Capitol Brawl

February 25, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>With Fabian Núñez termed out, 10 Democrats are politicking for the Assembly's biggest prize</strong> <p> The prize is a $17,500 pay increase, a massive office, giant staff, instant renown, control over millions in...</p>

Poizner’s Businesslike Style Pays Political Dividends

February 25, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<b>STATE INSURANCE CZAR MAY RUN FOR GOVERNOR IN 2010</b> <p> SACRAMENTO, CA -- Some kids dream of being a firefighter or an astronaut when they grow up. When a young Steve Poizner pondered his future career, he was more practical: He...</p>

Insurers Attack Auto Insurance Regulation in Georgia

February 19, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Here's a dog bites man story: The insurance industry wants to deregulate auto insurance premiums in Georgia. </p> <p> Our friends at <a href="http://georgiawatch.org" target="_blank" title="Georgia Watch" rel="noopener">Georgia Watch</a> tell us...</p>

Race, age, gender mean less compensation for injured workers

February 19, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Dean Calbreath in the <a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/calbreath/20080217-9999-1b17dean.html">San Diego Union-Tribune</a> shines a spotlight today on the overt discrimination...

Independent Insurer Health Net Grows By Staying Small

February 18, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<div class="postDetail"> It seemed inevitable only two years ago that Health Net Inc. would meet the same fate as California's other publicly held health insurers: being swallowed by an out-of-state competitor. Rumors swirled that Aetna...</div>

More costs for low-income patients in Mass.

February 17, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> More costs – for the individuals who can least afford it – are creeping into the Massachusetts mandatory health insurance plan. <br /> <br /> If rules proposed this week pass, premiums for subsidized insurance ... </p>

Telecom Outages Incite Calls For New Regulation

February 16, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<div class="postDetail"> On a recent morning, Janis Flippen called her service provider, Verizon Communications Inc., when her business voice mail went down. <div id="postContent"> <p> The operator said there was an outage...</p> </div> </div>

Blue Cross Halts Letters Amid Furor

February 13, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>Its request to doctors for data that could lead to policy rescissions was widely criticized</strong> <p> Facing a torrent of criticism Tuesday, Blue Cross of California abruptly halted its practice of asking physicians in a letter...</p>

Watchdog Targets Lawmaker Junkets

February 12, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>Special Interests: How They Get Around Voter-Approved Limits on Campaign Contributions</strong> <p> More money is flowing into California's legislative campaigns than ever, despite contribution limits that voters approved eight...</p>

Gov offers voter-approved bond money to campaign contributors

February 11, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> The <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-railfight11feb11,1,7893162.story?page=1&ctrack=1&cset=true">Los Angeles Times</a> reports today that Governor Schwarzenegger wants to hand over millions of dollars in state bond money to two of his corporate campaign contributors.... </p>

Exxon, the Worldwide Scrooge

February 11, 2008  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p>   You'd think that a company making nearly $41 billion in yearly profit in 2007 would be profligate in its charitable giving. We don't know yet what Exxon Mobil's 2007 total was, but the company issues a yearly feel-good report on <a href="http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/community_contributions_report.aspx">“community contributions.”</a>  The 2006 document says Exxon gave away $138 million in 2006, as it made its previous record profit of $39.1 billion. That comes to less than four-tenths of one percent of its profit, and about one-third of the $398 million that Exxon gave Chairman Lee Raymond as he retired in 2006. </p>