Insurance

Academic Senate Calls for BP Deal Oversight

April 20, 2007 · Consumer Watchdog

The Daily Californian (Berkeley, CA) John Simpson, the stem cell project director for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, said the process at the meeting yesterday discouraged faculty members from expressing concerns over the campus negotiations with BP and that he felt the decision to pass the new resolutions "had already been settled in advance."

Arnold’s Fundraising Total Tops $115 Million

April 18, 2007 · Consumer Watchdog

Arnold shows no signs of slowing down his prolific fundraising machine, and his total take is now just shy of $115.3 million. This is quite the opposite of what Arnold promised when first...

State stem cell program head suddenly resigns

April 18, 2007 · Consumer Watchdog

THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE John Simpson, who has been monitoring the stem cell program on behalf of a Santa Monica nonprofit called the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, said the two resignations made public Tuesday clearly signaled problems in one of the most critical aspects of the stem cell program.

Allstate hit with $2.8 million verdict in Katrina case

April 17, 2007 · Consumer Watchdog

Associated Press The jury found Northbrook, Ill.-based Allstate -- which claimed most of the damage was due to storm surge, an event not covered in its policy -- did not pay Robert Weiss enough money to cover wind damage to his home. The verdict included a $1.5 million penalty for the company's failure to pay the claim quickly enough.

Embryonic stem cell pioneer chose to publish, not patent

April 16, 2007 · Consumer Watchdog

The San Diego Union-Tribune "(James) Thomson made a very important contribution to science," said John Simpson of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "It just wasn't something that was patentable."

Little angst at the gas pump;

April 16, 2007 · Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Poll shows most resigned to prices climbing</h3>The Stockton Record Judy Dugan of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights wants California lawmakers to regulate refinery production and gasoline supplies in storage, which she says would smooth out price spikes. "Oil companies built this system to keep supplies tight," Dugan said. "They know they will reap ever-higher overall profits without having to make or sell more gasoline. With only a handful of companies making most of the refined gasoline in California, they don't compete, they cooperate. The usual laws of supply and demand are broken."

Redlining’s end a pinch for some

April 15, 2007 · Consumer Watchdog

Los Angeles Daily News There's a provision of Prop. 103 that's responsible for a serious change in insurance pricing that's already being felt by California consumers. Doug Heller of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, whose founder, Harvey Rosenfeld, wrote Prop. 103, explained that last year former Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi issued a regulation forcing auto insurers to stop jacking up rates in certain neighborhoods -- redlining -- and base rates only on driving records.

INSURANCE PROGRAM SPINNING ITS WHEELS;

April 14, 2007 · Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Autos: The Low-cost Option Finds Few Takers. Some Blame Marketing</h3>The Press Enterprise (Riverside, CA) Doug Heller, executive director of the Los Angeles-based Foundation for Consumer and Taxpayer Rights, the group that sponsored the bill creating the program, said he is disappointed that the insurance has not been more popular. Heller complained that the assigned risk plan, which administers the program, and insurance agents should be doing more to market the low-cost coverage.

Health-care insurance rules altered

April 13, 2007 · Consumer Watchdog

State House News Service The California-based health-care advocacy group Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights condemned the state's approval of high-deductible health plans, claiming they will prevent people from seeking proper health care. "Massachusetts has moved away from the promise of 'universal' health coverage at every step as it implements its insurance mandate, and now turns a blind eye to costs that will stop even the 'insured' from getting needed care."

Controls urged for medical insurers;

April 12, 2007 · Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Some lawmakers and consumer advocates are supporting a new effort to regulate insurance rates in California.</h3>Los Angeles Times The foundation (FTCR), one of the backers of Jones' bill, also said that since 2002, four insurers -- Blue Cross of California, PacifiCare, Health Net and Aetna -- have sent $3.2 billion of California premiums to their national parent companies as profit. Jerry Flanagan, an advocate at the foundation, said that California's success in regulating auto rates through Proposition 103 in 1988 showed that such oversight saves money. Between 1989 and 2003, auto premiums dropped 7% in California while premiums in the rest of the country increased 47%, he said.

Lawmaker: Regulate health costs;

April 12, 2007 · Consumer Watchdog

<h3>PROPOSAL TO HAVE STATE SET RATES FACES TOUGH GOING</h3>The San Jose Mercury News (California) Jerry Flanagan, the health care policy director for the consumers and taxpayers group, said that Jones' bill would give regulators more power to scrutinize how insurers are spending premium dollars, and decide whether rate increases are justified. He said the consolidation of the health insurance market in California -- recent corporate mergers have left five companies in control of 80 percent of the health-maintenance organization market -- demands a bigger role for government.

Cell phone donations challenged

April 11, 2007 · Consumer Watchdog

UPI - United Press International The wireless industry is making money from a program that lets cell phone users donate to the American Red Cross. The Text 2Help program is a business strategy masquerading as a charity, the Foundations for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights claimed.

Prop 103 California Insurance Reform

New Bill Requires Insurance Companies to Offer and Renew Insurance Coverage for Fire-Safe Homes

Homeowners Dropped by Insurers