Insurance

Agents balk at promoting state’s low-income car insurance program

July 19, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Associated Press</p> <p>The state's showcase program to provide low-cost car insurance to poor people is coming under fire from agents who say the policies are too much trouble to write and pay them too little.</p>

United Health sells 225,000 California Members To Blue Shield

July 14, 2000  ·  Jamie Court

<p class="source">Associated Press</p> <p>In a deal symptomatic of the economics driving modern medicine, UnitedHealth Group Inc. Friday announced plans to sell 225,000 California policyholders to Blue Shield of California for $40 million. The proposed transfer drew immediate fire from the Fo</p>

Consumer Group Wants Northridge Settlements Tossed Out

July 11, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">BestDay News</p> <p>Settlements made between former California Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush and insurers accused of mishandling Northridge earthquake claims should be thrown out, a consumer group says.</p>

Ex-aide: Quackenbush knew all — Grays will testify to investigators, lawyer says

July 7, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Sacramento Bee</p> <p>Former Deputy Insurance Commissioner George Grays will tell federal and state investigators that Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush personally quarterbacked efforts to collect money for political advertising from insurance company settlements, his l</p>

State calls on McGeorge prof

July 6, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Interim insurance chief vows restored trust</h3><p class="source">Sacramento Bee</p> <p>In a move intended to douse lingering whiffs of scandal at the Department of Insurance, state leaders acted Wednesday to name a well-known law professor at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, J. Clark Kelso, to temporarily replace Insurance Commissioner</p>

Insurance Reform in California: The 1988 Insurance Wars

July 1, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> California is the single biggest market for insurance in the nation. Between 1985 and 1987, insurance premiums in California rose dramatically. In 1986 alone, automobile premiums in California increased by 22%, while the consumer price index increased 3.1%. The increases led to public outrage.¹<br /> <br /> During 1987, California consumer advocacy groups sponsored legislation that would have instituted limited regulation of property-casualty insurance premiums, including auto insurance, and repeal of the industry's exemption from state antitrust laws.<br /> <br />

New Program Offers Car Insurance For Low-Income Drivers

July 1, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>In a move to provide affordable auto insurance, state Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Montebello) and consumer advocates announced Friday a trial low-cost insurance program for the working poor of Los Angeles County.</p>

New California Department of Managed Care To Open Saturday

June 30, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Associated Press</p> <p>The new state Department of Managed Health Care, part of an overhaul of the beleaguered HMO system, opens Saturday, with the challenge of restoring consumer confidence after one of the state's biggest political scandals in years.</p>

Low-income car insurance program tested on West Coast

June 30, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Associated Press</p> <p>A plan to reduce the number of uninsured motorists by lowering premiums in Los Angeles and San Francisco begins Saturday with civic leaders across the nation watching to see if it could work elsewhere.</p>

California Offers Low-Cost Auto Insurance to Poor Motorists

June 30, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">CNN -- The World Today</p> <p>While you're on the crowded highways this weekend, you might stop to consider whether the drivers around you have insurance. California has one of the highest estimates of uninsured drivers, 26 percent. It's trying something different to solve that proble</p>

So Much for the ‘Witch Hunt’

June 26, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Times Editorial</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>The mystery is over. It turns out that the documents that triggered an investigation of state Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush were leaked by a veteran lawyer for the Department of Insurance, hired by one of Quackenbush's Republican predecessors.</p>

Public information: Why are legislators helping hide the truth?

June 26, 2000  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Bee Editorial</h3><p class="source">Sacramento Bee</p> <p>At the same time legislators express justifiable outrage over the troubling activities of Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush, they've taken action to make future misconduct by public agencies and insurance companies hard to uncover.</p>