Insurance

State board approves rate cut for earthquake insurance

August 26, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">San Jose Mercury News (California)</p> <p>"This was a key moment for California homeowners, because getting the approval of the earthquake authority was so important to lowering rates," said Doug Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group in Santa Monica.</p>

Concerns Voiced on Bid to Buy PacifiCare

August 26, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Jerry Flanagan, a spokesman for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica, brought two small pigs to the hearing to protest the executives' bonus packages, which he said would match the cost of a year's worth of health coverage for 150,000 uninsured people.</p>

State Plans Cut in Quake Premiums;

August 26, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>The cost of residential coverage would drop by an average of 22%. But some areas, including Palm Springs, could see a dramatic increase.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Consumer groups applauded the planned cuts. "This decrease will mark the beginning of an essential expansion of coverage in the state," said Douglas Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica.</p>

Merger critics target execs

August 26, 2005  ·  Jerry Flanagan

<p class="source">The Orange County Register (California)</p> <p>Jerry Flanagan, an activist with the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica, brought a pair of pigs to illustrate what he called a "pork-out" by top PacifiCare executives, who stand to earn $ 230 million in cash and stock if the merger is completed before Feb. 1.</p>

Plan would drop California earthquake premiums 22 percent

August 26, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Daily News of Los Angeles</p> <p>Groups representing policyholders, including the San Francisco-based United Policyholders and Santa Monica-based The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, support the larger decrease, arguing it would provide relief to homeowners as well as encourage more of them to buy earthquake insurance.</p>

Quake insurance could get cheaper;

August 25, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Schwarzenegger on panel looking at rate reduction</h3><p class="source">The San Francisco Chronicle</p> <p>A consumer group, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, endorsed the reduction Wednesday. Its executive director, Douglas Heller, said the proposed reduction would be a boon to government as well. "Only as rates come down and homeowners purchase earthquake insurance will the public treasury see its risk in the wake of earthquakes diminish. In other words, in order to save taxpayers from being the de facto earthquake insurer in California, rates must come down."</p>

California board considers reduction in earthquake insurance rates

August 25, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Sacramento Bee (California)</p> <p>"One of the key reasons people have not bought or have dropped coverage is the rates are so high," said Doug Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica. "There is no financial justification for the current rates. They must come down," Heller said. The rate cut will expand coverage in California and ease the financial risk to the state if a major earthquake hits, he said.</p>

Quake insurance rates may drop

August 25, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Contra Costa Times (California)</p> <p>Consumer groups said a decrease would lead more homeowners to buy the insurance, which would help taxpayers as well as those individuals. Earthquakes pose a constant and potentially devastating threat to California homes, yet only about 15 percent of homeowners have earthquake insurance because of its prohibitively high cost.</p>

FTCR Letter Urging DMHC to Oppose PacifiCare/UnitedHealth Merger

August 19, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

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Blame it on your ‘consumer champ’;

August 19, 2005  ·  Jamie Court

<h3>Garamendi never enforced an initiative ending ZIP Codes as a criteria in setting auto insurance rates. Maybe ambition got in the way.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>There was a time in California when consumers put an initiative on the statewide ballot demanding an end to auto insurance rates determined in large part by ZIP Code. The year was 1988, and the initiative passed. So why are drivers on one side of a ZIP Code line still paying premiums hundreds of dollars higher than if they lived across the street? Ask Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi.</p>

Stronger Rules Sought on Association Health Plans;

August 17, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>The cut-rate medical policies often offer only marginal benefits, a consumer group says in a petition to the state insurance chief.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>"There is no more junk policy than the association health plans," said Jamie Court, president of the Santa Monica-based nonprofit Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, which petitioned Garamendi's office.</p>

OIL: MULTINATIONALS POCKET MORE AS PRICES SHOOT HIGHER

August 15, 2005  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">IPS-Inter Press Service</p> <p>On Monday, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR), a Santa Monica-based consumer group, said that profiteering by the oil industry is to blame for a 20-cent increase at the pump over the last three weeks.</p>