Insurance

Bill may lower health care costs

April 8, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>State to consider legislation that would give it the power to restrict rate increases by health insurers</h3><p class="source">Contra Costa Times</p> <p>Aiming to halt the yearly hikes in health care premiums that are straining employers and individuals, California legislators will introduce today a bill to dramatically change the way rates are set by giving state regulators the power to veto excessive in</p>

GOP covets state medical malpractice caps

April 7, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>As premiums rise, national Republicans would like federal law to emulate California's</h3><p class="source">Oakland Tribune</p> <p>Shimamoto said that she was told by the several malpractice lawyers she had a strong case, but because of the monetary limits to noneconomic damages, they would not take her on. "One lawyer told me, 'If it had been your face that was carved up I might b</p>

Consumer advocates, Democrats eye state control on health insurance increases

April 7, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">SFGate.com / Associated Press</p> <p>A group of Democratic lawmakers and consumer advocates will propose legislation Tuesday to try to hold down skyrocketing health insurance costs by requiring state approval before insurers can raise their rates.</p>

Activist Claims ‘Corporateers’ Harm Society

April 3, 2003  ·  Jamie Court

<p class="source">The Georgia Straight (Canada)</p> <p>Jamie Court, executive director of the California-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, defined corporateering as how "commerce changes social mores as well as the rule of law and ethics" to harm individuals and benefit corporations.</p>

Misleading malpractice reform

April 1, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Oregonian</p> <p>California found that caps on noneconomic damages weren't enough to hold down premium increases. California set limits on increases in 1988 and enjoys some of the lowest malpractice premium rates in the country.</p>

Med Mal Caps Won’t Solve Insurance Hikes

April 1, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Western Massachusetts Law Tribune</p> <p>Clearly caps are unfair to those victims with loss of fertility, disfigurement, and other traumas, and they just don't work.</p>

The high stakes of an insurance claim

March 30, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">San Diego Union-Tribune</p> <p>The object of Pfeffer's ire is State Farm Insurance. The former Rohr Industries buyer said the cost of his homeowner policy increased by 50 percent after his wife, Patricia, called the company to inquire about the extent of their homeowner coverage...</p>

Insured pay price if they try to collect

March 30, 2003  ·  Doug Heller

<p class="source">San Diego Union-Tribune</p> <p>Rising homeowner insurance rates and the threat of policy nonrenewals have made many Californians wary of filing claims for anything short of catastrophic losses.</p>

No need to cap medical malpractice awards

March 29, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Fort Collins Coloradoan</p> <p>With medical insurance costs amounting to only 3.2 percent of the average physicians expenses and with only 2 percent of people injured by physician's negligence, caps on medical malpractice suits would only inflate the checkbooks of insurance agencies a</p>

LAZARUS AT LARGE: Counting up the costs of combat

March 23, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The San Francisco Chronicle</p> <p>"The money for the war will ultimately have to come from somewhere," said Doug Heller, a spokesman for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Southern California. "I don't see how you can pay for both cruise missiles and huge tax cuts."</p>

Oregon Doctors Push Legislators for Malpractice-Insurance Relief

March 19, 2003  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Register Guard (Eugene, OR)</p> <p>Doctors blame their rising insurance costs on greedy attorneys who, unhindered by a cap, are seeking bigger and bigger jury awards. Attorneys and consumer groups say arrogant doctors are acting in concert with the insurance industry to escape accountabili</p>

COMMENTARY: Insurance ‘Reform’? Consider the Source

March 18, 2003  ·  Jamie Court

<h3>Health-care profiteers aim to grow fatter by feeding off a crisis that has invaded the middle class.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Ultimately, if we really want to cover the uninsured, we're going to need a 2004 ballot initiative that gets past the "Kumbaya" spirit of "Cover the Uninsured" week to the question of who is to blame for the problem.</p>