Insurance

Covered California Questions Rate Review Ballot Initiative

June 19, 2014 · Mark Reback

California Ballot Measures Are Where The Money Will Be In November

June 14, 2014 · Mark Reback

Insurance rate hikes, medical malpractice and water tunnels might not generate the kind of passionate water-cooler debate you'd find over marijuana, abortion and the death penalty.

Reference Pricing Would Let Insurers Cap What They Pay For Procedures

May 29, 2014 · Mark Reback

After getting a green light earlier this month from the administration of President Barack Obama, more employers may begin to cap what they pay for certain medical treatments, such as joint replacements and drugs, potentially shifting more costs to workers.

Calif. Ballot Initiative Seeks Health Insurance Price Controls

May 27, 2014 · Mark Reback

A ballot initiative before California voters in November could challenge insurance coverage set up under Obamacare, imposing the same kind of price controls on health insurance that already exist on the state's auto, property, and casualty insurance.

Rate Regulation Battle Lines Drawn

May 15, 2014 · Mark Reback

<div class="block__content block--article__content" id="page_0_content_0_BlockContent"> One side says health insurers are gouging California consumers and need to be regulated. The other side says adding more government oversight in the early stages of health care reform will muddy the waters and could damage the new system before it has a chance to work.

High-Profile Ballot Measure Hopes To Curb Health Insurance Rate Hikes

May 13, 2014 · Mark Reback

<a href="http://www.californiahealthline.org/insight/2014/high-profile-ballot-measure-hopes-to-curb-health-insurance-rate-hikes">Click here to listen to the audio of this radio broadcast</a>. In a California Healthline report by Kenny Goldberg, experts discussed an expensive and controversial November ballot measure that would give enforcement power to the state Insurance Commissioner to regulate health insurance rate hikes.

Disabled Woman Sells Home to Pay Health Premiums

May 9, 2014 · rob

<img class=" size-full wp-image-2351" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/images_marticonger.jpg" style="width: 185px; height: 295px;" width="226" height="353" />"I am really struggling. After food and housing and a few necessities my income basically goes to health insurance and health care."

Regulating State’s Health Premiums Could Hurt Exchange, Report Says; Nonsense, Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones Says of Industry Concerns

May 8, 2014 · Mark Reback

Obamacare in California could suffer setbacks, delays and legal challenges if voters this year approve a statewide ballot initiative to regulate insurance rates, a new industry-backed report warns. Those predictions drew immediate fire from Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. He said the concerns are nonsense and passage of the ballot measure is essential for consumers to reap the full benefits of the Affordable Care Act.

Healthy Athlete Premium Raised 44% for Bare Bones Plan

May 8, 2014 · rob

"For me, paying $260 per month for something I almost never use, plus having to pay $4,500 before coverage kicks in, and 100% of out-of-network care is like not having insurance at all."

Kaiser, Blue Shield Contribute $28 Million To Defeat Rate-Regulation Initiative

April 23, 2014 · Mark Reback

Kaiser Permanente and Blue Shield of California have contributed $23.8 million to defeat a November ballot initiative that would allow California's insurance commissioner to deny health premium increases seen as excessive. The funding went to Californians Against Higher Health Care Costs, a lobbying group backed by insurers, the California Medical Association, the California Hospital Association, the California Chamber of Commerce, the Bay Area Council and many other medical associations, business groups and even a few labor entities.

Cheerios Maker Gets Bowled Over

April 21, 2014 · Mark Reback

General Mills reverses course on right to sue after backlash by consumers. General Mills, maker of Cheerios and Wheaties, thinks it deserves credit for reversing itself after quietly trying to strip customers of their constitutional right to a day in court. But that's like a homeowner saying he deserves credit for putting out a house fire after deliberately setting his living room ablaze.

Autumnwood: A Community Living in Toxic Fear and Uncertainty

April 17, 2014 · Consumer Watchdog

Autumnwood is a show-home suburbia of stucco fronts and primly kept lawns nestled in the heart of Wildomar, California, about an hour and a half southeast of Los Angeles. Tranquil, sleepy, Autumnwood could be a poster-child for any modern housing tract. But beneath the façade, Autumnwood is a community riven by a fear held by many that the land on which the houses were built is contaminated with toxic chemicals. And despite the findings of two separate governmental agencies, more questions continue to be raised than have thus far been answered.

Prop 103 California Insurance Reform

New Bill Requires Insurance Companies to Offer and Renew Insurance Coverage for Fire-Safe Homes

Homeowners Dropped by Insurers