Insurance

Poll: Obamacare Support Sliding, Jerry Brown, Water-Bond Up Big

September 23, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The Affordable Care Act continues to divide Californians, who remain skeptical four years after its passage despite the state’s relatively smooth launch in which more than 1.2 million people enrolled in <a class="lingo_link" href="http://topics.sacbee.com/health+insurance+coverage/" rel="nofollow" style="cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",Times,serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal;">health insurance coverage.</a></p>

ANTHEM BLUE: Sued Over Alleged Failure to Send Insurance Card

September 22, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Cristin Severance, writing for ABC10News, reports that a woman called Team 10 after fighting for months to get repaid thousands of dollars by her insurance company.</p>

Op-Ed: Prop. 45: Regulate Health Insurance Premiums

September 20, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Is health insurance in California affordable? Not if you buy your own health insurance and don’t get a federal subsidy.</p> <p>Health insurance premiums in California have risen five times faster than the rate of inflation over the last decade. Recently, $250 million in proposed rate increases for individuals and small businesses were deemed unreasonable by regulators, but under state and federal law they had no power to stop them. In an August Field Poll, voters expressed support for the Affordable Care Act but dismay at the escalating premiums.</p>

Ad Watch: Ad Targeting Rate Regulation Measure Overreaches

September 18, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Opponents of a Nov. 4 ballot initiative that would allow the state’s elected insurance commissioner to regulate health insurance rates have launched their first TV ad, claiming that the proposal would disrupt the health exchange and give too much power to a single politician.</p> <p>Following is text of the ad and analysis by Christopher Cadelago of The Bee Capitol Bureau.</p> <p><span class="ng_leadin"><strong>Text:</strong></span> Dr. Marshall Morgan, past president of the Los Angeles County Medical Association:</p>

Reality Check: New Anti-Prop. 45 Ad Is Partially Misleading

September 14, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="bodytext"><span id="mn_Global"><span id="MNGiSection">Proposition 45 would give California's elected insurance commissioner the authority to reject excessive health insurance rate hikes, a power the commissioner already wields for auto and homeowners insurance rates.</span></span></p> <p><span id="mn_Global"><span id="MNGiSection">The campaign against it -- for which the insurance industry has so far put up $37.3 million -- is now airing a 60-second radio ad narrated by a nurse named Candy Campbell.</span></span></p>

Watchdog Attacks CA Radio Ads

September 13, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="copy-paste-block"> <div class="post" id="post-214678"> <div class="entry"> <p>Public interest organization Consumer Watchdog would like appropriate officials in California to demand disclosure of the financial sources for issue ads, and is also asking radio stations to reject the ads.</p> <p>CW said, ”The largest health insurance companies in California have contributed $37 million to defeat Proposition 45, but are hiding from voters in deceptive new campaign advertising that violates disclosure laws and should be pulled from the radio.”</p>

Six Californias Measure May Fall Short Of Ballot

September 11, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<div id="text-pages"> <div class="page" style="display: block;"> <p>A revolutionary initiative to split California into six separate states was balanced on a knife's edge Thursday, still well short of the verified signatures it needs to have even a chance of making the 2016 ballot.</p>

Californians Want It. Insurers Don’t. So Why Are Top Officials Fighting Over Prop. 45?

September 10, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>"It's going to end up hurting Californians," <a href="http://cal-span.org/cgi-bin/archive.php?player=silverlight&owner=HBEX&date=2014-08-21" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a lawyer warned</a> last month, during a Covered California board meeting.</p> <p>"It will damage health care reform, perhaps permanently, perhaps fatally, in California and I think perhaps nationally."</p> <p>Was Kennedy talking about the Halbig lawsuit, which threatens the legality of Obamacare's insurance exchange subsidies?</p>

Kaiser Spends $20 Million Opposing State Ballot Measures, Is Top Campaign Donor in California

September 10, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Oakland-based Kaiser is spending big in an effort to defeat two state ballot measures this campaign season. Though the November election is still two months away, the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan has already spent a whopping $20 million, according to a<a href="http://www.fppc.ca.gov/top10nov2014/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> report from the California Fair Political Practices Commission</a> (FPPC).

Oakland Tribune Editorial: If You Like Proposition 103, Then You Will Reall Like Prop. 45

September 9, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="editorialbodytext"><span id="iba2_siteCss"><span id="MNGiSection">Californians passed Proposition 103 in 1987, regulating auto insurance rates and saving drivers tens of billions of dollars over 25 years. California's drivers have enjoyed some of the lowest auto insurance rates in the nation because of this law.</span></span></p>

What’s Behind Health Regulators’ Bickering Over Prop. 45?

September 8, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Tolstoy's line about all unhappy families being <a href="http://www.literature.org/authors/tolstoy-leo/anna-karenina/part-01/chapter-01.html">unhappy in their own way</a> hardly needs validation from us in the 21st century. But still it would be interesting to see what he'd make of the increasingly bitter division between two state agencies that should be working hand in hand to improve health insurance coverage for Californians: the state's individual health insurance exchange, Covered California; and the Department of Insurance.</p>

Lopsided Battle Over Proposition 45

September 8, 2014  ·  Mark Reback

<p><a href="http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/sep/08/lopsided-battle-over-prop-45/">Click here to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast segment</a>.</p> <p>The fight over <a data-ajax="false" data-transition="none" href="http://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_45,_Public_Notice_Required_for_Insurance_Company_Rates_Initiative_%282014%29" rel="external">Proposition 45</a> is shaping up to be a contest between insurance companies and consumer advocates. And so far, insurance companies have the upper hand.</p>