‘Groundhog Day’ for Health Care–The Profit Nightmare
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Insurance
Insurance news, investigations, and reform — auto, home, and health insurance rates, claims denials, and industry accountability.
Movie Rating: Not Suitable For Health Insurance Executives
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One million Californians will be slammed today with health insurance rate hikes as high as 20%. Consumer Watchdog Campaign has a solution.</p>
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Watch this short, funny movie trailer about an alternative future with no rate hikes, and share it with your friends.</p>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PMO-_woxVpE?rel=0" width="560"></iframe></p>
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Health insurance price hikes recur more often than Groundhog Day -- Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall. Now there’s something Californians can do about it.</p>
Stand with the May Million to Stop Unjust Rate Hikes
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<img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2405" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/may_millions_facebook_logo.png" style="width: 250px; height: 350px; float: right; margin: 3px 4px;" width="286" height="400" />In just one week, <strong>ONE MILLION</strong> Californians will have their health care rates unceremoniously hiked by up to 20%. For many of these Californians, this will represent the 2nd or 3rd hike in less than two years. With insurance companies turning record profits quarter in and quarter out, it's time to stand up and tell them that we are sick and tired of these unjust rate hikes.<br />
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Are you one of the May Million too?
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<img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2403" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/laurel_bio_photo_copy_0.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 221px; margin: 3px 4px; float: right;" width="467" height="517" /><a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/article/laurel-kaufer-san-fernando-valley-ca">My name is Laurel Kaufer and I’m a Consumer Watchdog member</a>. I am also one of the one million Californians who will be hit with a health insurance rate hike on May 1st.<br />
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<strong>Are you one of the May Million facing rate hikes of up to 20%?</strong><br />
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Firms Weigh Health Care Costs
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<b>Some attorneys can't afford benefits, enroll with spouse instead.</b></p>
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As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to release its decision next month on the constitutionality of the Obama administration's Affordable Health Care for America Act, the state is waging its own battle to rein in rates.</p>
Jessica Blacher – Santa Monica, CA
<p><img class=" size-full wp-image-2408" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/images_jessicablacher.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 239px;" width="251" height="300" /></p>
<p>(Updated 2/4/13)</p>
<p>I am 55-plus. I’ve never wanted to be 65, but Medicare can’t come soon enough. My Blue Cross premium keeps spiraling upward yet I’m working fewer days and my income is down. I keep having to change policies--higher deductibles, more copays, less coverage--to afford it. Now it’s just backup in case of a catastrophe. And soon I won’t be able to afford any kind of health insurance.</p>
Are Insurance Companies Picking Your Pocket with Installment Fees?
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<img class=" size-full wp-image-2399" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/images_dollarcrash_0.jpg" style="width: 275px; height: 220px; " width="300" height="240" />Lately, California’s auto insurers have been slipping unjustified service fees onto bills – even when policyholders don’t use the service.</p>
Barbara Lipscomb – Santa Monica, CA
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<img class=" size-full wp-image-2401" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/images_barbaralipscomb.jpg" style="width: 180px; height: 270px;" width="426" height="640" />I’ve been without health insurance for two months now. I’m just crossing my fingers and trying to stay optimistic. The last straw was when Blue Shield raised my PPO this spring from $732 a month to $931, beyond what I can afford.</p>
Initiative To Regulate Health Insurance Hikes Sparks Big Debate
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<b>Initiative would regulate health care</b></p>
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To the woman who spends as much as $1,000 in a month on medical care and argues she saves money by not having insurance, the proposal makes sense.</p>
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Force health insurance companies to gain government approval before they impose rate hikes on individuals or employers.</p>
Insurance Commissioner: State In Position For Its Own Health Care Overhaul
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California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said he's optimistic the U.S. Supreme Court won't strike down the federal health reform law.</p>
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The law will likely survive, he said, because it's based on solid precedent that the court's conservative wing holds dear.</p>
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"They keep telling us that they don't believe in judicial activism, so I'm going to take them at their word," Jones said on Thursday before a town hall meeting in Marina with Assemblyman Bill Monning, D-Carmel.</p>
Official Slams Aetna Increase
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<strong>California insurance commissioner calls the rate hike for small businesses 'excessive.'</strong><br />
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SACRAMENTO, CA -- Aetna, the state's third-largest health insurance company, is raising rates for thousands of small-business customers to a level that state insurance regulators call "excessive."<br />
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Aetna Proceeds with Health Insurance Hike for Small Businesses
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Despite criticism from the state insurance commissioner and several statewide consumer groups, Aetna said Thursday it's going ahead with a recent hike in health care premiums for small businesses.<br />
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Aetna's new increases, which average 8 percent annually and took effect April 1, were deemed "unreasonable" this week by state Department of Insurance Commissioner David Jones.<br />
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He said it's the first time a California health insurer has proceeded with an increase after it's been labeled as excessive by the department.<br />
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