Insurance

Wildfire Insurance Trouble

June 4, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">CNN-TV - AMERICAN MORNING 6:00 AM EST</p> <p>Some southern California residents are finding that insurance companies consider them too hot to handle. Wildfire insurance is getting tougher, and it's actually more expensive.</p>

High deductibles a pain for some insured;

June 3, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Cash-strapped consumers can end up forgoing needed medical treatment or falling into debt. </h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>The point of insurance is to cover unforeseen events, critics of high-deductible plans say. Plans like Tonik "cherry pick" the healthiest consumers while saddling less healthy and poorer patients with overwhelming medical bills should they become gravely ill or unexpectedly pregnant, critics say. "If you can't afford the deductible, it really isn't affordable insurance," said Jerry Flanagan, an advocate with the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Consumer and Taxpayer Rights.</p>

Fundraiser’s timing questioned;

May 31, 2007  ·  Carmen Balber

<h3> S.F. lawmaker holds event a day before panel he chairs will deal with billions in spending.</h3><p class="source">Sacramento Bee (California)</p> <p>Carmen Balber, of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, said the group is pushing legislation in Leno's committee to slow health insurance rate hikes. "You have to raise the question: Is health-insurer money that goes into that fundraiser going to influence whether or not that bill (survives)?" Balber asked.</p>

Health insurance regulation proposed;

May 31, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Bill would require approval of rates and co-payments</h3><p class="source">THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE</p> <p>"This is the big showdown," said Jerry Flanagan, health care advocate for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a consumer group supporting the bill. "The insurers want to kill it... because the cost savings are huge for California consumers and they don't want that fact to be public."</p>

Proposition 103’s Impact on Auto Insurance Premiums in California

May 30, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>15 Years of Insurance Reform: 1989 - 2004</h3>

Insurance mandate at heart of plan

May 29, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">San Diego Union-Tribune (California)</p> <p>"There's nothing in the governor's plan that would require health insurance to be affordable. Consumers would have to pay what insurers charge," said Jerry Flanagan of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. The foundation is sponsoring legislation that would regulate health insurance in the same way auto insurance is regulated. The state requires auto insurance companies to justify rate increases and sets standards for industry profits.</p>

Poll: Allstate should be banned for next 10 years

May 26, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Los Angeles Business Journal</p> <p>A majority of respondents, 60 percent, said that Allstate should be banned, because they abandoned the new homeowners policy market and should face some form of punishment for the decision.</p>

Many records, little information;

May 25, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>State's methods for reporting government lobbying expenses mesh indirect and direct spending. The result: inflated figures and unreliable comparisons with other agencies or private firms.</h3><p class="source">The Orange County Register (California)</p> <p>So, under a system designed to make government more transparent, it's incredibly difficult to know how much of your tax dollars are being spent on lobbying or how that compares to other jurisdictions. Just getting a fuzzy picture takes a lot of work. "I'm not surprised," said political watchdog Carmen Balber of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights when I told her about my frustration reviewing the reports. "That's what you get when you look at lobbying reports," she said: an incomplete picture.</p>

Verizon customers vexed by new $2 fee

May 25, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Ventura County Star (California)</p> <p>Phone companies are looking for any reason to increase their profits, said Harvey Rosenfield, founder of the Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights, a consumer advocate group in Santa Monica. "I think it's a consumer outrage," he said.</p>

Justify rates, Allstate told;

May 24, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>State demand could lead to homeowner policy refunds</h3><p class="source">Sacramento Bee (California)</p> <p>Consumer advocates contend that the Allstate withdrawal is aimed at pressuring Poizner to approve higher premiums. They vow to lobby for steep cuts. "The premiums they were charging may have been appropriate four years ago. Their costs went substantially down. They should have lowered (rates)," said Doug Heller of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica. "They need to return money to the customers they overcharged."</p>

WILDFIRES SPUR INSURERS TO CUT SOME COVERAGE

May 24, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Arizona Republic (Phoenix)</p> <p>"It certainly isn't fair for these insurers to be dumping these last-minute requirements on homeowners," said Carmen Balber of the Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights. "It does make sense to require homeowners to take reasonable precautions, but some of the excessive demands that we've heard from homeowners are over the top."</p>

State to grill Allstate on premiums;

May 24, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Hearings are ordered that could lead to refunds to homeowners. The company says its rates are fair.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Douglas Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica, contends that Proposition 103 puts Poizner on firm ground to call for premium refunds, if merited. "Proposition 103 is very clear that insurance companies can't overcharge customers," he said.</p>