Insurance

Answering Questions on Target, Health Coverage and Top 1%

January 17, 2014 · Mark Reback

<div id="text-pages"> <div class="page" style="display: block;"> Today I have answers to questions on the Target data breach, whether Covered California policies cover you while traveling outside the United States and the top 1 percent in California.

State Tells Cigna To Stop Using Covered California Exchange Name

January 13, 2014 · Mark Reback

<div class="mod-latarticlesarticletext mod-articletext" id="mod-a-body-first-para"> California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris told insurance giant Cigna Corp. to stop selling health plans bearing the name of California's health exchange because it was deceptive. Cigna opted out of participating in the Covered California exchange when it launched last year. But the company continued selling policies outside the exchange and labeled some of them "Covered California" plans.

California’s Insurance Commissioner Seeks Re-Election, More Power

December 22, 2013 · Consumer Watchdog

He was an early supporter, but that hasn’t prevented Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones from finding plenty of fault with President Barack Obama’s new health care program and its rollout in California.

Insurance Commissioner Jones Lets An Insurance Company Base Auto Insurance Premiums on Income and Education Levels, In Violation of Proposition 103

December 20, 2013 · Harvey Rosenfield

<img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-20488" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/images_allstate-bad.gif" style="width: 225px; height: 199px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; float: right;" width="225" height="199" />Santa Monica, CA -- California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has approved a decision by an administrative law judge permitting Allstate Insurance Company to grant special premium benefits to motorists who attended prestigious colleges or have high income jobs like lawyers and doctors.

Physician Group in Favor of Provisions Dropped From New California Law

December 11, 2013 · Mark Reback

<div class="block__content block--article__content" id="page_0_content_0_BlockContent"> The American College of Physicians yesterday published a <a href="http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1788221" target="_blank" rel="noopener">position paper</a> in a medical journal that supports mandatory reporting of all prescription-drug dispensing -- a requirement that was stricken at the last minute from a California bill passed last legislative session.

Many In Middle Class Say They’re Squeezed By Healthcare Reform

December 9, 2013 · Mark Reback

The drum beat pulses as loud as a heavy-metal band. The chiropractor who expects her premiums to rise, the 60s-something company manager who has to pay for maternity coverage, the Simi Valley contractor and many others who make at least $46,000 a year - they all pound away at the same rhythm. They say the middle class is once again getting tattooed, this time by President Barack Obama's health care reform.

Insurers Are Offered Assistance for Losses

December 2, 2013 · Mark Reback

WASHINGTON — The White House is offering more money to insurance companies as an incentive for them to let people keep insurance policies that were to have been canceled next year.

Issuers Must Use CMS-Crafted Policy Cancellation Notices

November 27, 2013 · Mark Reback

CMS insurance chief Gary Cohen told stakeholders in a Thursday memo that in order to satisfy the administration's transitional policy on reinstating non-ACA compliant plans in 2014, insurers must inform consumers of their purchasing options using the exact language developed or approved by the agency, or CMS-approved state versions.

Rate Hikes Hidden in California’s Glowing Obamacare Reviews

November 26, 2013 · Mark Reback

<div class="article"> During a meeting last week, officials at <a href="https://www.coveredca.com/">Covered California</a>, the state’s much-touted health insurance marketplace, made a <a href="http://www.healthexchange.ca.gov/BoardMeetings/Documents/November%2021,%202013/PPT%20-%20CCIIO%20Transition%20Policy.pdf">pretty stark admission</a>: Half of the approximately 1 million consumers whose health plans are being canceled will pay more under the Affordable Care Act.

Lessons From The Cancellation Crisis

November 22, 2013 · Jamie Court

<a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/cancelledratehikes.pdf"><img alt="" src="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/sites/default/files/images/jamiecourt_updated.jpg" style="width: 211px; height: 287px; float: right; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px;" />An analysis just released by California’s health insurance exchange</a>, Covered California, offers the first real insight into the depth of the Obamacare cancellation crisis.

Covered Calif. Rejects Obama’s Health Plan Cancellation Fix

November 22, 2013 · Mark Reback

On Thursday, the Covered California board unanimously decided that insurers will not be allowed to continue selling policies in 2014 that do not meet the Affordable Care Act's minimum coverage requirements, <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/21/states-insurance-decision-aca/3664511/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USA Today</a> reports (Kennedy/Welch, USA Today, 11/21).

Consumer Watchdog Slams ‘Covered California’ Obamacare