Insurance

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>

Race for Obscure CA Post and Ballot Initiative Could Derail Obamacare There

October 28, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Latino voters in California find themselves in the middle of one of the most important - in terms of immediate, real-world consequences – races of the 2014 elections.</p> <p>Actually, it’s two races.</p> <p>The first is for the unknown, but strangely powerful position of state insurance commissioner, between incumbent Democrat Dave Jones and Republican State Senator Ted Gaines.</p>

Why I Am Voting Yes on 45: Premiums up 300% to $750 for Nothing; Now They’re Charging $1,200 and Won’t Cover Emergency Services

October 28, 2014  ·  rob

<p class="rtecenter"><strong style="font-size: 16px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><em style="font-size: 16px;">“We’ve paid well over $100,000 in premiums and received almost zero health care services.”</em></span></strong></p> <p class="rteright"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: -webkit-right; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2808" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/images_phil_rogul_photo_copy_2.png" style="width: 250px; height: 263px; margin: 7px; float: right;" width="366" height="385" /></span></p>

Op-Ed: Prop. 45 Will Make Health Insurance Affordable

October 27, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>As a registered nurse, I’ve watched health insurance premiums jump while benefits and doctor networks shrink. I’ve watched patients pay thousands out of pocket before insurance pays for anything.</p> <p>We all have to buy health insurance under federal law. But there is no guarantee that it will be affordable. Proposition 45 provides that guarantee. It gives California the same power 35 other states already have to reject excessive rates.</p>

Water Bond, Drug Testing for Doctors on Ballot

October 27, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>With the November general election a week away, some of the biggest election debates aren’t between candidates running for office but rather between people for or against ballot measures.</p> <p>They include a measure for a $7.5 billion California water bond hammered out from intense negotiations between Democrats and Republicans in Sacramento, another that would force California to set aside money to protect against future budget shortfalls and one that would set new rules to raise insurance rates and charges.</p> <p>Here’s a a look at the measures:</p>

EDITORIAL: Yes on Prop 45

October 25, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<div id="content-only-wrapper-block"> <p><strong>Proposition 45</strong></p> <p>Watch much TV? Even if you only watch a little, you can't have escaped the torrent of Proposition 45 campaign ads washing across the airways, vying for consumer votes on health care insurance.</p> <p>You'll recognize the names of those companies fighting Prop. 45 with tens of millions of dollars -- Kaiser Permanente, WellPoint, Blue Cross/Blue Shield -- the list goes on. The proponents, with far fewer dollars, include Consumer Watchdog and a number of labor groups.</p>

Op-Ed: YES on 45: Stop Health Insurance Company Rip-Offs

October 24, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="entry-content"> <p>Students with parents who have health insurance can now stay on their plans until they are 26, thanks to the Affordable Care Act. But when young people strike out on their own as app developers, artists, therapists, graphic designers or any other kind of entrepreneur looking to buy their own insurance, they will discover California is still the Wild West.</p>

Yes On Proposition 45 Going To The Airwaves

October 24, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>With just over a week until election day, backers of Proposition 45, the health insurance rate regulation initiative, are finally putting ads on television.</p> <p>Though their opponents have used a $55-million campaign war chest to flood the airwaves, Consumer Watchdog, the Santa Monica activist group that put the measure on the ballot, only has $1 million to spend on limited TV and radio spots.</p>

Spending On 2 Health Initiatives Tops $100 Million

October 24, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p><span class="dateline">SACRAMENTO, Calif.</span> — Two health care-related initiatives on the November ballot have generated more than $100 million in spending, with insurers and doctors leading the fight to defeat both, according to campaign finance reports filed late Thursday.</p> <p>Opponents of Proposition 45, led by Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc., Wellpoint Inc. and Blue Shield of California, reported spending $42 million, with the campaign carrying $25 million in debt. The Yes on 45 campaign, led by attorneys, reported raising $1.6 million.</p>