Insurance

Feedback: Cable, Satellite Rates Going Up

January 8, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Channel surfing is gong to get more expensive for Dan Sauer, a subscriber to Time Warner Cable.</p> <p>"I'm not happy with it because there's not too many other options you can go with," he said.</p> <p>The rate increase is spread across line items on your bill.</p> <p>Time Warner says it's because of its continued investment in performance and reliability and because it is paying more for programs.</p> <p>But a consumer watchdog group says there's another reason your rates are always going up.</p>

New Options For Earthquake Issurance; Earthquake Authority Offers New Insurance Options, Rebates

January 7, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="loose"><span class="SS_L3"><span class="verdana">The California Earthquake Authority is offering new insurance policy options this year, including deductibles ranging from 5 to 25 percent, higher coverage limits for personal property and additional living expenses, and a bigger discount for homeowners who submit verified proof of retrofitting.</span></span></p>

Proposed DWP Refund Settlement Given Conditional Approval

December 21, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="paragraph" data-pnum="1">A judge Monday gave conditional approval to a proposed settlement that calls for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to pay out tens of millions of dollars in refunds to customers who billed inaccurate amounts during a problem-filled overhaul of the utility's customer billing system.</p>

State Urged To Protect Consumers in Proposed Centene-Health Net Merger

December 21, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="block__content block--article__content" id="page_0_content_0_BlockContent"> <p>Consumer advocates are urging the Department of Managed Health Care to "use its full authority to impose comprehensive requirements to protect consumers before allowing the merger between Centene and Health Net to move forward."</p>

Settlement In DWP Overbilling Case OK’d

December 21, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>A judge Monday gave conditional approval to a proposed settlement that calls for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to pay out tens of millions of dollars in refunds to customers who were billed inaccurate amounts during a problem-filled overhaul of the utility’s customer billing system.</p>

Whoa On Aetna-Humana, Anthem-Cigna Deals, 9 Groups Say

December 17, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>A coalition of nine consumer advocacy and union groups are urging Florida regulators to think twice about approving big health mergers they say will reduce competition and consumer choice and could lead to higher premiums in counties including Palm Beach.</p> <p style="">For example, combining Aetna and Humana “would give the combined entity over half of all Medicare Advantage enrollees in five Florida counties: Broward, Franklin, Palm Beach, Pasco, Volusia,” according to a letter signed by Washington-based attorneys representing the groups.</p>

Consumer Group Wants Brakes Put On Rules For Self Driving Cars

December 9, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>A consumer advocacy group is asking the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to slow down, following NHTSA’s announcement that it will be updating its policy on self driving cars.</p> <p>John M. Simpson, the privacy project director for advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, addressed the issue in a letter to Secretary of the Department of Transportation Anthony Foxx and NHTSA Administrator Mark R. Rosekind. Consumer Watchdog is a nonprofit that promotes numerous taxpayer and consumer initiatives, such as auto insurance premiums and gasoline prices.</p>

Advocates Say Efforts To Rein In Vague Lobbying Payments Should Be Strengthened

December 3, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The Fair Political Practices Commission is pushing <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article45353034.html" target="_blank" title="" rel="noopener">new rules </a>that would require interest groups for the first time to disclose how they spend millions of dollars on ads and other efforts to influence state policy.</p>

Instability in Marketplaces Draws Concern on Both Sides of Health Law

November 28, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="278" data-total-count="278" id="story-continues-1" itemprop="articleBody">WASHINGTON — The latest turmoil in <a class="meta-classifier" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/health/diseasesconditionsandhealthtopics/health_insurance_and_managed_care/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" title="Recent and archival health news about health insurance and managed care.">health insurance</a> marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act has emboldened advocates on both sides of the political spectrum, providing ammunition to conservati

Lax Regulatory Enforcement Leaves Thousands at Risk of Lead Poisoning in California

November 22, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p><em><a href="http://truth-out.org/members/donate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This story could not have been published without the support of readers like you. Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to Truthout and fund more stories like it!</a></em></p> <p>California's regulatory agencies have repeatedly failed in their testing, enforcement and cleanup of various lead-contaminated sites in the state, an investigation by Truthout has revealed.</p>

LADWP: Customers Will Get Full Refunds For Overbilling

November 20, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials said Thursday their customers would receive full refunds for any over-payments related to inaccurate bills sent out amid the utility’s bungled overhaul of its billing system, under revised settlement terms submitted to a judge this week.</p> <p>DWP and city officials said they support the settlement — which has drawn criticism from consumer advocates — “because it returns 100 cents on the dollar to every customer affected by our billing system problems.”</p>

Consumer Watchdog Calls for DWP Customer Advocate’s Job

November 13, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Consumer Watchdog says the man hired to be customer advocate for the DWP has failed at his job and needs to go.</p> <p>Consumer Watchdog has sent a letter to Mayor Eric Garcetti and City Attorney Mike Feuer urging them to fire DWP ratepayer advocate Fred Pickel.  Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court explains why:</p> <p>“He has been largely missing in action over this entire overbilling scandal.  We have thousands of customers, consumers getting ripped off by tens of millions of dollars.”</p>