ANTHEM/WELLPOINT: CALIF. MAY OK MERGER WITHOUT PUBLIC HEARING
<p class="source">American Health Line</p>
Insurance
Insurance news, investigations, and reform — auto, home, and health insurance rates, claims denials, and industry accountability.
Boxer claims Shell plans faster shutdown of Bakersfield refinery
<p class="source">Associated Press</p>
<p>Jamie Court, the foundation's president, said his group has talked to about half-a-dozen Shell employees, including refinery workers, who've reported being told by management about a planned shutdown in the crude unit in the third week of August.</p>
Going Slow on Cutting Premiums;
<h3>Insurers say savings will come from workers' compensation reform, but probably not as soon as employers wish.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p>
<p>Douglas Heller, director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a Santa Monica activist group, said premiums should drop by at least the 14% estimated by the rating bureau.</p>
Shell Has No Plans To Cover Refinery’s Loss
<h3>KERO Interviews Refinery Manager</h3><p class="source">The Bakersfield Channel - KERO TV (California)</p>
<p>Jamie Court, the president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, said that closing the refinery is about shorting the market and ultimately keeping gas prices above $2.</p>
Op-ed commentary: A Litigious Schwarzenegger Wants to Close the Door to Others
<p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p>
<p>The real question may be whether Arnold Schwarzenegger values the public's legal rights as much as his own. His stand on the initiative will be the litmus test of whether damage to the environment, public health and society is as important to him</p>
A Litigious Schwarzenegger Wants to Close the Door to Others
<!-- excerpt --><p>The real question may be whether Arnold Schwarzenegger values the public's legal rights as much as his own. His stand on the initiative will be the litmus test of whether damage to the environment, public health and society is as important to him</p>
Telling numbers: Banks set quotas for sales pitches
<p class="source">Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette (Texas)</p>
<p>It's particularly offensive that when we simply try to get our own money out of the bank, we're going to be blistered with sales pitches from tellers who are afraid for their job. It's forcing the teller to be the hard seller, said Doug Heller with FTCR.</p>
State chamber looks revitalized
<p class="source">Sacramento Bee</p>
<p>"Arnold is the gun that the chamber has put to the heads in the Legislature to get its way," said Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "But you can only make big business sound like populism for so long."</p>
Proposal to bar excessive HMO rates fails in Senate committee
<p class="source">Associated Press</p>
<p>Jerry Flannigan, a lobbyist for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, said the bill would have helped control one of the biggest factors in rising health care costs: administrative overhead.</p>
A Voice for HMOs
<font face="verdana,sans-serif" size="2">HMOs were not supposed to have
any more clout in the Capitol than patients if you believe Arnold's
campaign promises. But testimony by the Gov's newly appointed HMO
regulator tomorrow could...</font>
Lawmakers eye limits on health care profits;
<h3>Health profits' limits considered</h3><p class="source">The Daily News of Los Angeles</p>
<p>Consumer advocates have shown strong support of the bill. The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights issued a press release Monday detailing the lobbying efforts of health care companies attempting to woo legislators.</p>
Kaiser income enjoys big gain
<p class="source">Oakland Tribune</p>
<p>Consumer advocates say the first-quarter earnings show the need for passage of legislation that would require Kaiser and other health plans to go through a state approval process before raising premiums.</p>