Insurance

Allstate Rebuts Stinging Criticism

September 1, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Claims Magazine</p> <p>Allstate also has been recently targeted by public interest law firm Public Justice and consumer rights group Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights to prevent the company from sealing court records in the case Weiss v. Allstate, which was settled after Weiss was awarded $2.8 million in a bad-faith ruling. The two groups say that the documents reveal claim practices and policies the company used to shortchange homeowners after Hurricane Katrina.</p>

Bill to lower insurance industry support for earthquake coverage

August 31, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Associated Press</p> <p>"The chief policy objective should not be, 'What legislation does the industry support?'" Doug Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a Santa Monica-based consumer group, told the committee. "The only question (should be), 'What makes the CEA more stable and CEA policies more affordable?' This proposal goes in the opposite direction."</p>

Rules against health plan cancellations are delayed;

August 29, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>A state agency drafting the regulations says the variety of policies is slowing the process.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Her comments came after a letter from a Santa Monica-based consumer advocacy organization accused the department of dragging its feet. "Patients cannot afford for you to allow another company's rescission policy to leave more Californians uninsured, uninsurable and facing unpayable medical bills," Jerry Flanagan, a patient advocate for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, wrote in a letter submitted to the department Tuesday. The foundation filed a petition demanding regulations nearly a year ago.</p>

Appellate Ruling Puts Insurers Outside Consumer Remedies Act

August 24, 2007  ·  Harvey Rosenfield

<p class="source">Los Angeles Daily Journal</p> <p>A leading activist says consumer protections for Californians are being eroded in a way not seen since the 1980s, and warns of a potential backlash at the ballot box if the trend continues. The comments, from Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) founder Harvey Rosenfield, followed an appellate court ruling handed down Wednesday that concluded a landmark consumer protection law does not apply to the sale of insurance in California.</p>

Things you need to know about flood insurance

August 24, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">NBC TV News - Today Show</p> <p>Mr. DOUG HELLER (Consumerwatchdog.org): Insurance companies use a host of different tricks to get people to accept low-ball settlements. They will have an adjuster come in and say that you haven't met the deductible. They will ask people to sign on the dotted line and sign away their rights.</p>

Health Insurers Target The Individual Market

August 21, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>Aetna, WellPoint, Others Roll Out Policies That Cater to People Who Lack Employer Coverage; Stripping Out Maternity Care</strong><br/> <br/> Health insurers are targeting the two groups of people least likely to be covered by insurance...

Arnold Appointee Says Donations Matter

August 20, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<font face="verdana,sans-serif" size="2">Kim Fletcher, a <a href="http://arnoldwatch.org/articles/articles_001062.php3">$110,600 donor</a> who was appointed to a seat on the Del Mar Fair Board by the governor last month, told the North...</font>

State to get a bigger cut of any stem cell revenue;

August 20, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Payback rate raised to 25 percent for all</h3><p class="source">San Francisco Business Times</p> <p>John Simpson, stem cell project director for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, said CIRM's intellectual property rules still fall short in terms of affordable access to treatments and cures. The state attorney general, Simpson said, "should have the ability to march in and do something about that."</p>

Allstate exhibits remain public;

August 18, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Judge sees no trade secrets in material</h3><p class="source">Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA)</p> <p>Vance also ruled Thursday that two national consumer groups, the California group the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, which was being represented by the Washington, D.C., advocacy group Public Justice, had a right to intervene in the case over the record-sealing issues.</p>

CONSUMER CONFIDENTIAL: Hopes for ’07 health reform on critical list

August 15, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Los Angeles Times</p> <p>The insurance industry, meanwhile, has responded to recent reform efforts by becoming even more organized. Consumer advocates say insurers are shoveling piles of cash toward controlling the healthcare debate and protecting their lucrative livelihood. "The industry is saying that it will accept reform only if it's good for them," said Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica. "The problem is that if it's good for the industry, it won't be good for the public."</p>

Groups want Allstate trial trial records kept open;

August 14, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Insurer wants to seal storm claims manual</h3><p class="source">Times-Picayune (New Orleans)</p> <p>The California insurance group the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, and the Washington public interest law firm Public Justice filed a motion in court last week opposing Allstate's request to seal the key documents from Weiss v. Allstate. In April, jurors awarded Dr. Robert Weiss of Slidell a $2.8 million judgment against Allstate. Weiss later settled the case on confidential terms after the company in post-trial motions had asked U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance to order a new trial or reduce the jury's "irrational verdict."</p>

Share the fruits of state-funded research with taxpayers

August 11, 2007  ·  John M. Simpson

<p class="source">Wisconsin Technology Network</p> <p>When venture capitalists provide money to companies they require clearly spelled out conditions and expectations. There is no reason it should be any different when Wisconsin's taxpayers put their hard-earned dollars on the line to fund research. They are entitled to insist upon maximum public benefit for their investment.</p>