Insurance

Trump, Clinton Prioritize Cybersecurity, Tech Issues

October 4, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p>At last week’s presidential debate, Donald Trump famously expressed concern about “somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds” hacking into computers. In a speech Monday in Virginia, he sought to clarify his views on cybersecurity, saying it would be an “immediate and top priority,” and that a Trump administration would call on the Department of Justice to create a task force “to crush this still-developing area of crime.”</p>

Attention Former Time Warner Customers: Get Ready For Your Cable Bill To Go Up

October 4, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Meet the new cable company. Same as the old cable company.</p> <p><br /> That was Culver City resident Jack Cohen's feeling the other day when he received his first bill from Spectrum, the newly christened brand from Charter Communications, which has gobbled up Time Warner Cable.</p> <p><br /> He told me he'd been paying Time Warner about $140 a month for TV, phone and internet service. But now that Spectrum had reared its head, his bill had shot up to $162.</p>

California Regulators Loosen Restrictions On Fully Autonomous Vehicles

October 3, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p><strong>California lawmakers passed a law to allowing pilot tests of vehicles without drivers. The next day, they also released revised draft regulations to allow for broader testing of fully autonomous cars on public streets</strong></p> <p>In the last two days of September, California transportation authorities made some noteworthy changes to their self-driving vehicle policy.</p>

Drug Companies Against Prop 61 Repeat Rent-A-Vet Strategy

September 27, 2016  ·  Jamie Court

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DOT Doesn’t Try to Provide All The Answers in Driverless Cars Guidance

September 21, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p><b>QUESTIONS FOR OTHERS TO ANSWER: </b>The driverless car guidance DOT released Tuesday leaves a lot of room for Congress, states and automakers to shape the direction of a technology that ultimately is meant to make human drivers obsolete.

DOT’s New Driverless Car Policy Welcomed, With Caveats

September 20, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="entry-content"> <p>Lawmakers and tech groups reacted with tentative support for a broad new federal policy regulating the development and deployment of self-driving cars Tuesday. The Department of Transportation released the wide-ranging plan late Monday.</p>

Self-Driving Policy Announced With A Few Possible Loopholes

September 20, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The U.S. Department of Transportation and NHTSA announced their guidelines for self-driving cars.</p>

Feds Outline Plans to Regulate Autonomous Cars

September 19, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p>SACRAMENTO—The Obama administration on Tuesday will roll out new policies governing autonomous vehicles that give the federal government a lead role in developing safety, testing and road-ready rules for the fast-growing industry.</p> <p>The long-awaited policy, outlined broadly by federal officials in a press briefing Monday, includes a voluntary 15-point "safety assessment" for automakers developing and testing driverless cars as well as model state regulations expected to address areas where local agencies will have more discretion, such as liability standards.</p>

Consumer Watchdog Group Claims DWP Dragging Feet On Refunds

September 13, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p><strong>LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) —</strong> <span class="vm-hook-outer vm-hook-default"><span class="vm-hook" style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0); border-color: transparent transparent rgb(0, 153, 0);">Consumer</span></span> Watchdog, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, claims ratepayers who overpaid the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power may not get refunds until mid-2017.</p>

Prop. 61 Seeks To Lower Drug Prices, Boost Transparency

September 6, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Counting on the growing public outrage over the soaring costs of prescription drugs - and bolstered by the recent fury generated by huge price hikes for lifesaving EpiPens - Proposition 61 proponents are gearing up for one of the most highly anticipated ballot measure showdowns this election season.</p>

Your Call: Covered California 2017 Rate Hikes

September 6, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p><a href="http://kalw.org/post/your-call-covered-california-2017-rate-hikes#stream/0">Click here to listen to the audio segment of this radio broadcast</a>.</p> <p>On the September 6th edition of Your Call, we’ll discuss the rising cost of healthcare and health insurance in California. Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange, has announced that in 2017, premiums will rise by an average of 13 percent.</p>

Stem Cell Company Paid $443,500 To Former Head Of State Agency That Funds Research

September 1, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The former president of the $3 billion California stem cell agency received $443,500 in total compensation from the Bay Area stem cell company that appointed him to its board of directors only seven days after he left his state post.</p> <p>The stock and cash were provided over a two-year period to Alan Trounson by Newark-based StemCells Inc., a firm that was awarded more than $40 million in funding while Trounson headed the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, as the state stem cell agency is formally known.</p>