Insurance

Hyundai, Kia Will Pay $100 Million for Overstating Fuel Economy Claims

November 3, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

South Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia have agreed to penalties totaling an estimated $350 million for inflating fuel economy claims on 1.2 million vehicles, the...

Far Out Friday: Steer Manure Delivered to Health Insurance CEOs

October 31, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>It’s certainly one way to get a message across.</p> <p>Angered over what they view as excessive hikes in health insurance rates and the $57 million health insurers have spent to defeat California Proposition 45, members of Consumer Watchdog, the California Nurses Association and supports of Yes on Proposition 45 delivered a truckload of steer manure to health insurance industry executives at the Fairmont Hotel yesterday to greet former Kaiser CEO George Halvorson.</p>

Prop. 45 Targets Health Rates

October 31, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<div id="slideContainerDiv"> <div id="slideImgDiv"><img alt=" Financial adviser Larry Leisenring experienced a sharp increase in the cost of his health insurance and was forced to switch to a new plan last year. Proposition 45 would give the insurance commissioner the authority to reject premium increases. " class="galleryLink" height="491" id="fullImage" src="http://images.onset.freedom.com/ocregister/gallery/nec1j8-b88245280z.120141031163358000g7b600u1.20.jpg" title="" width="600" /></div> </div> <div id="otherImages">

B.S. Alert: Health Insurance Robber Barons Spend $56 Million vs. Prop 45’s Rate Regulation in California Without a Single Public Comment

October 30, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Four health insurance companies are spending $56 million to defeat California <a href="http://www.yeson45.org" target="_hplink" rel="noopener">Proposition 45</a>, a ballot measure to be decided Tuesday, which I wrote, that bans excessive insurance rate hikes.

B.S. Alert: Health Insurance Robber Barons Spend $56 Million vs. Prop 45’s Rate Regulation in California Without a Single Public Comment

October 30, 2014  ·  Jamie Court

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California’s Proposition 45 Would Offer Public a Say on Health Insurance Rates

October 30, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="image"><span class="caption-text"><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-10846" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/images_yeson45bs_la_nytimes.jpg" style="width: 311px; height: 202px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; float: right;" width="675" height="439" />Yes on Proposition 45 supporters rallied this month outside Blue Shield of California in El Segundo. The ballot measure would require health insurance companies to justify rate increases.</span> <span class="credit" itemprop="copyrightHolder"> <span class="visually-hidden">Photo Credit</span> Monica Almeida/The New York Times </span></div>

Capitol Journal: A Voter Guide To California’s Boring But Important Ballot Propositions

October 30, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Six state propositions are on the ballot and none are sexy. All are snoozers. But each is significant.</p> <p>Some, in fact, are game-changers.</p> <p>Why else would the medical profession and insurance companies be spending well over $100 million to beat back Propositions 45 and 46?</p> <p>Prop. 47 would punish handgun thieves with a figurative slap on the wrist.</p> <p>Prop. 48 would set a precedent by allowing an Indian tribe to build a Vegas-style casino off the reservation in an urban area.</p>

Nancy Pelosi and Consumer Watchdog Duke It Out Over Prop. 45

October 30, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Consumer Watchdog, the non-profit group behind Proposition 45, is firing back at House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi over her opposition to the measure.<br /> <br />

No Bull: Don’t Be Fooled By Insurance Companies – Vote Yes on Propositions 45 and 46

October 30, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Bias alert! I am proud to say that for 25 years I’ve been a board member of Consumer Watchdog, the nonprofit formerly known as the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. You could say I’m a dogged board member.</p>

Taking a Look at Proposition 45

October 29, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<script src="http://player.bimvid.com/v2/vps/xetv/1072e1aa1cf2f0cf8d2388899c64fb1af3d5c06a"></script> <p>With the election less than a week away, we've decided to take a look at some of the more controversial issues on the ballot.</p> <p>This time, we're looking at Proposition 45.  The measure would give power over regulating healthcare insurance rates to the state's insurance commissioner.</p> <p>"I've seen my insurance rates go up 50 percent in the last two years," said citizen rights activist Rena Marrocco.</p>

Hoover Poll Shows Support for Health Insurance Rate Regulation

October 28, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<div id="content-only-wrapper-block"> <p>Proposition 45, a ballot measure that would regulate health insurance rates, is ahead, according to a new Internet poll by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.</p> <p>The survey of self-reported, registered voters who said they planned to vote in the Nov. 4 election, had Proposition 45 leading with 41.6% of those queried and opposed by 29.9%. Undecideds were 28.5%.</p> <p>The poll was taken between Oct. 3 and Oct. 17 and had a margin of error of 3.65%.</p>

In California, Consumer Watchdog’s Prop 45 Challenges Obamacare — From the Left

October 28, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<div id="content-only-wrapper-block"> <p>Blue Shield of California, one of the state's four major health insurers, has a sales office on the 20th floor of the Pacific Corporate Towers in El Segundo. Had the employees peered down to the plaza on a recent Tuesday morning, they would have seen a small cluster of picketers.</p> <p>From 300 feet up, it would be impossible to read the signs, or hear the chants, or smell the aroma drifting off the white pickup truck that was parked below in a loading zone. But on the ground, the scent is unmistakable: manure.</p>