Insurance

FCC Should Prohibit DIRECTV’s Anti-Consumer Practices By Freezing Rates and Banning Excessive Fees, Or Block $49 Billion AT&T Merger

February 25, 2015  ·  John M. Simpson

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2877" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/images_fcc.jpg" style="width: 250px; height: 250px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; float: right;" width="300" height="300" />Los Angeles, CA – Consumer Watchdog today urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reject AT&T’s proposed purchase of the satellite television company DIRECTV unless the company agrees to eliminate DIRECTV’s anti-consumer policy of charging massive Early Termination Fees, often taken directly from a customer’s bank account or credit card without notice.</p>

A Letter Can Change Things, Including EPA Standards

February 24, 2015  ·  Cody Rosenfield

<p><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2852" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/images_epalogo_0.jpg" style="width: 231px; height: 231px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; float: right;" width="231" height="231" />Four years ago, after an avalanche of complaints about Hyundai’s Elantra’s inflated mileage, Consumer Watchdog <u><a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/ltrepaelantra11292011.pdf">wrote the EPA about the problems with trusting automakers to self-test their MPG claims</a></u>. Yesterday, the EPA toughened its testing procedures for the first time in a decade.</p>

HEALTH NET: Faces Class Suit Over Alleged Inferior Health Plans

February 19, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Health Net used bait-and-switch tactics to enroll Californians into its inferior health plans under the federal Affordable Care Act, a class claims in court.</p> <p>Rebecca Lehman, of Los Angeles County, and Heather Womick, of Orange County, filed the complaint on December 19 in Los Angeles Superior Court against Health Net of California Inc., and its subsidiary Health Net Life Insurance Co.</p>

How To Pay for Retiree Health Coverage

January 22, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="block__content block--article__content" id="page_0_content_1_BlockContent"> <p>When he took office as California's new treasurer this month, John Chiang (D) issued a warning about rising health care costs for retired state workers:</p> <p>"If we continue to do nothing, we will be sowing the seeds of a future crisis," Chiang said. "The price tag associated with providing health care to retired state workers has quietly grown to rival or even eclipse the funding gap associated with public pensions."</p>

Woefully Inadequate

January 22, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>It's been a year since many people discovered that the lists of doctors accepting Anthem Blue Cross' and Blue Shield's Covered California plans, both locally and beyond the borders of Humboldt County, were <a href="http://www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/bait-and-switch/Content?oid=2621002">wildly inaccurate</a>. Many of the doctors and specialists that the insurance companies promised policy buyers would accept their new government mandated insurance had not, in fact, agreed to reimbursement contracts with the insurance companies. Other doctors had moved or retired.</p>

California Court Rejects Insurance Challenge to Prop. 103

January 21, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<div id="article-content"> <p>The Sacramento Superior Court issued a decision rejecting an insurance industry challenge on the California insurance commissioner’s regulations under Proposition 103 that limit the amount of advertising costs insurers may pass on to consumers through insurance premiums.</p> <p>California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones called the ruling in <em>Mercury v. Jones</em> an important win for California.</p>

Google to Stop Consumer Sales of Glass to Redesign Device

January 15, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<h3 id="dek">Google Glass pulled off consumer market as company works on more refined, affordable version</h3> <p><a class="r_lapi" href="http://abcnews.go.com/topics/business/companies/google.htm">Google</a> will stop selling its Internet-connected eyewear to consumers until the company can develop a more polished and affordable version that's less likely to be viewed as a freakish device.</p>

Mercury Insurance Fined $27.6 Million For Charging Wrongful Fees To Auto Customers

January 13, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California’s insurance commissioner is ordering Mercury Insurance to pay a $27.6 million fine for charging wrongful fees to its auto customers.</p> <p>In announcing the largest fine against a California auto insurance company, Commissioner Dave Jones said Monday that Mercury charged customers the same amount – $27.6 million – in broker fees that his agency did not approve.</p> <p>Jones says a judge recommended the fine after finding that the fees were wrongfully charged in 180,000 auto insurance transactions.</p>

Mercury Insurance To Pay $27.5M Fine For Charging Unapproved “Broker Fees”

January 13, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Los Angeles-based Mercury Insurance was ordered by the California Department of Insurance to pay a fine of more than $27.5 millionfor charging customers unapproved "broker fees," state officials said Monday.</p> <p>"While the $27.5 million fine against Mercury is significant, it is commensurate with the amount of money that was unlawfully collected from Mercury policyholders," state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said.</p>

Consumer Group Calls On Sen. Hertzberg To Disclose Clients

January 12, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>A consumer group asked Sen. Robert Hertzberg (D-Los Angeles) on Monday to disclose all of his clients as an attorney with a law firm to determine whether he has a conflict of interest in pushing a proposal to revamp corporate taxes in California.</p> <p>“With SB 8, you have proposed a drastic change to California’s tax system, targeting some industries for increased taxes while reducing the overall corporate income tax,” said the letter signed by Consumer Watchdog Executive Director Carmen Balber and consumer advocate Cody Rosenfield.</p>

State Fines Mercury Insurance $27.5 Million For Unapproved Fees

January 12, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>State regulators have issued a record $27.5-million fine against Mercury Insurance Group for charging customers fees that had not been approved by the Department of Insurance.</p> <p>The order closes a long-running case that involved charges made in 180,000 automobile insurance transactions between 1999 and 2004.</p> <p>A 1988 voter-approved initiative, Proposition 103, prohibits insurers from charging "excessive" rates and requires that all rate proposals be approved by the elected insurance commissioner.</p>

Mercury Insurance Ordered To Pay Nearly $27.6 Million Fine

January 12, 2015  ·  Mark Reback

<p>State regulators on Monday ordered <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/search/?action=search&channel=news&inlineLink=1&searchindex=gsa&query=%22Mercury+Insurance%22">Mercury Insurance</a> to pay a nearly $27.6 million fine for improperly collecting unapproved broker fees from its auto customers.</p> <p>The fine, issued by the Department of Insurance, was the culmination of years of litigation that involved more than 180,000 transactions conducted from 1999 through 2004.</p>