Insurance

Stem Cell Intellectual Property Policy: “Affordability, Accessibility and Accountability in California Stem Cell Research.”

January 23, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Report on affordability, accessibility and accountability on intellectual property policy in California stem cell research. <!-- excerpt -->

Measure Seeks Curbs on Insurers

January 21, 2006  ·  Harvey Rosenfield

<h3> <strong>A leading consumer advocate presses an initiative that could compete with a ballot proposal offered by an industry executive.</strong></h3> <p class="source"> <em>The Los Angeles Times</em></p> <p> SACRAMENTO -- California voters may be in for a repeat of the 1988 ballot free-for-all that produced a landmark state insurance law.</p>

Group: Klein should quit

January 19, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Nonprofit claims 'pattern of leadership failures' by stem cell agency chief.</h3><p class="source">Sacramento Bee</p> <p>John M. Simpson, Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights stem cell project director, said this policy could deny affordable access to cures. He called for revamping the agency's structure rather than getting rid of Klein because the agency's problems "go beyond personalities."</p>

City officials decry insurance initiative

January 18, 2006  ·  Harvey Rosenfield

<p class="source">The Daily News of Los Angeles</p> <p>"It would undo all that has been done under Proposition 103, taking California from one of the highest cost states to get insurance to one of the lowest," CA Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi said. "This is just an attempt by one company to benefit itself at the expense of California motorists."</p>

Insurers’ System for Rates Varies;

January 16, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>A driver's address or gender can be more important in the state than experience. But a Prop 103 compliance push may change that.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Garamendi's proposal is the latest salvo in a decades-long battle centered mainly on the industry's practice of giving the most weight to ZIP Code factors that measure the cost and frequency of accidents and thefts in an area.</p>

Reckless and Feckless

January 12, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<font face="verdana,sans-serif" size="2">Giving your biggest donors access to your chief of staff <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me-kennedy12jan12,0,6614835.story?coll=la-home-headlines">(as the LA Times...</a> </font>

Study: Malpractice insurers inflated losses to raise rates

January 9, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Post-Standard (Syracuse, New York)</p> <p>Medical malpractice insurance companies consistently inflated the amount they estimated they would pay out in claims between 1986 and 1994, then used the inflated figures to justify enormous increases in doctors' premiums, according to a study by the nonprofit Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.</p>

Driven To Excess

January 9, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Los Angeles Times</p> <p>It's safe to say that the industry is not much better loved today than it was in 1988. Other large insurers have not yet stated whether they will join Joseph and Mercury's attempt to roll back Proposition 103. They should remember once and think twice. </p>

Industry Greed, Not Patients’ Interest, Drives Consolidation of Health Insurers

January 9, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Los Angeles Business Journal</p> <p>Two recent mergers, PacifiCare with United Health and Anthem with WellPoint, reveal that getting bigger is, in fact, all about insurance industry greed, not better value for the businesses that pay for coverage or the patients who use it. Take a look at what the stakeholders won and lost.</p>

Insurer: ZIP codes vital to fair rates;

January 7, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>INITIATIVE AIMS TO UNDO ORDER TO HALT THE PRACTICE</h3><p class="source"> San Jose Mercury News (California)</p> <p>"Anybody that believes that the insurance industry is going to change this law for the benefit of consumers is dreaming,'' said California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi. "The insurance industry is going to change this law for the benefit of the industry.''</p>

Insurance Industry Files Ballot Initiatives to Repeal Prop. 103, Raise Auto, Home and Business Rates by Hundreds of Dollars Per Year

January 5, 2006  ·  Harvey Rosenfield

Consumer Advocates See Rematch of $80 Million 1988 Battle

Prop. 103 Changes May Join Ballot;

January 5, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Mercury Insurance's chief is pushing a measure to rewrite the 1988 initiative that governs auto insurance premiums in the state.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>If Joseph's (Mercury Insurance) proposal makes it to the November ballot, Rosenfield vows to launch a counter-campaign that could include ballot measures to regulate workers' compensation insurance rates, prohibit insurers from canceling homeowners' policies after claims have been filed and outlaw the use of consumers' credit scores in underwriting, he said.</p>