Insurance

34 percent of area gas stations fail pump tests in last three years

October 21, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale)</p> <p>Devices that shortchange customers are taken out of service until they are fixed and reinspected. Pumps that err in consumers' favor are not shut down. "It is difficult to tell when a pump is cheating you," said Judy Dugan, founder and research director for Oilwatchdog.org, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group based in Santa Monica, Calif. "But the key issue here is does anybody [gas station owners] ever pay a price for cheating?"</p>

Auto insurance reforms set to equalize rates face a deadline

October 21, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Inside Bay Area (California)</p> <p>Prop. 103 is "all about giving drivers a fair shake," said Doug Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayers and Consumer Rights. Under the old system, urban drivers can end up paying for insurance that is hundreds of dollar higher than drivers in other areas.</p>

Insurance providers want your attention

October 15, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The San Diego Union-Tribune</p> <p>Proposition 103 created an elected state insurance commissioner, an office now held by Steve Poizner, and requires that auto insurers get the approval of the state Department of Insurance before adjusting their rates. The insurance industry, which backed three unsuccessful alternative initiatives to Proposition 103 in a campaign that set spending records, has continued the fight in the courts, the Legislature and the regulatory process.</p>

Home Insurers’ Secret Tactics Cheat Victims, Hike Profits

October 14, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Companies pay out less, make $73 billion more</h3><p class="source">The Biloxi Sun Herald (Mississippi)</p> <p>Insurance companies are no longer following their mandate to take care of policyholders' money and then pay it out when needed, says Douglas Heller, executive director of the nonprofit Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica, California. "The whole purpose of insurance is evaporating before our eyes as we continue to send checks to the companies," Heller says. "Insurers are looking to shed their purpose as a risk bearer and become financial institutions."</p>

Health insurance lessons from Massachusetts;

October 13, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>UNIVERSAL COVERAGE TOUGHER IN CALIFORNIA</h3><p class="source">San Jose Mercury News (California)</p> <p>"Massachusetts faced far fewer hurdles in reforming its health care system than California does," said Carmen Balber of the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, which is tracking Massachusetts' efforts and says California needs to regulate insurance rates as part of any health reform effort. "Nevertheless, as far as the affordability of health care goes, it's not working there."</p>

US insurers push for federal oversight

October 11, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Financial Times (London, England)</p> <p>However, some consumer groups say a federal charter could threaten state consumer protection laws. Carmen Balber, spokeswoman for the non-profit Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, also notes that Mr Kanjorski's renewed interest in regulatory reform comes as insurance companies are among his top corporate donors. Other defenders of the status quo say states have been reforming and there is no need for a federal solution.</p>

Insurers vs. lawyers: What’s behind the fight;

October 10, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Ads fast, furious - Gregoire: "I don't believe any of the stuff that I'm seeing" - Election 2007 - Referendum 67</h3><p class="source">The Seattle Times</p> <p>Doug Heller, who tracks insurance issues for the California-based Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights, said he was surprised to learn that Washington policyholders can only recover actual damages in lawsuits against their own insurers. Washington is one of a handful of states that does not allow punitive damages in liability lawsuits. "It's like catching a bank robber and simply making them give the money back," Heller said. "That's not justice. That gives the bank robber the ability to play the odds."</p>

Your rights and Referendum 67

October 7, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Olympian (Olympia, Washington)</p> <p>Doug Heller of the Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights, based in Santa Monica, Calif., said Washington's insurance commissioner could help hold down premiums in the state by making sure that litigation costs are not passed on to consumers. Heller said Washington's current law makes the state one of the weakest in the country for consumer protections in insurance.</p>

Capitol Beat: Smile for the camera

October 7, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">San Jose Mercury News (California)</p> <p>POSSIBLY COMING TO A TV NEAR YOU: Unflattering video footage of legislators yukking it up with health industry lobbyists at a couple of fundraisers may turn into embarrassing TV ads -- if consumer advocates can raise enough money."They don't understand how bad it looks to take so much money from the insurers," said Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, "and to give them a guaranteed market for their product without regulation of the cost."</p>

State watchdog group leery of aides with corporate ties

October 7, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Contra Costa Times (California)</p> <p>Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, said the fellowship is akin to a shadow corporate government infiltrating the Capitol. "It's a new way the private sector has influenced the public sphere, and I think there should be an audit by the state auditor."</p>

Less to bank on at state universities;

October 7, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Educators fear a 2004 funding deal has schools sliding toward mediocrity</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Other grants also have stirred controversy, including a $500-million donation by oil giant BP to form a joint UC-BP research laboratory at UC Berkeley to develop biofuels. BP researchers will work alongside UC professors, and the company will have exclusive rights to some of the expected discoveries. "The compact is driving the UC and CSU systems to seek funds from corporations at an unprecedented rate," said John Simpson, an advocate with the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "What we are witnessing is the corporate privatization of what was once the nation's greatest public education system."</p>

Foundation submits patent changes: It hopes to solidify stem cell claims

October 3, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin)</p> <p>John Simpson, stem cell project director at the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, said he hadn't seen the Madison foundation's filings but expected it was narrowing the claims made in the original patents. "The best thing WARF could do for stem cell research and for itself would be to abandon all claims under these three patents."</p>