Insurance

Janet Hildreth, small business owner – Tree Lovers Flooring

March 1, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> We’ve always offered health insurance in our small business, Tree Lovers Flooring, to provide for our employees as we would for ourselves. It was the right thing to do. But it’s getting almost impossible to keep doing. The total cost this year, even after changing to a plan with higher copays, is about $51,000 for 12 of us. A few families are included, but mostly it’s for individuals in their 30s or early 40s.</p>

GeoVera Insurance Settles with State

March 1, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> The California Department of Insurance has settled a noncompliance action against GeoVera Insurance Co. following an investigation that started after some customers complained about steep increases in their earthquake insurance premiums.<br /> <br /> Although the investigation found the premium increases were "justified and legitimate, we also uncovered other underwriting practices that we thought were illegal," says Bryant Henley, assistance chief counsel for the department.<br /> <br />

Maine Supreme Court Upholds Anthem Rate Decrease

February 29, 2012  ·  Carmen Balber

<p>

Insurance for a Cancer Survivor — The disease hasn’t recurred in 20 years, but coverage is still pricey.

February 27, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> <strong>HEALTH 411</strong></p>

Health Plan Hikes Reveal Bad Blood

February 27, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> A loud hissing contest on California's left political flank began weeks before the state's largest health insurance companies announced the other day they plan to raise average rates by 8 percent to 14 percent for thousands of consumers with individual policies — well over twice the 3.6 percent increase in their annual costs.</p>

Proposed Ballot Measure Seeks Tougher Health Insurance Rate Regulation

February 27, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> In more than 30 states, government insurance departments have the authority to reject what they determine to be excessive rate hikes for health insurance. But not in California. Earlier this month, consumer advocates launched a drive to put an initiative on the November ballot to let voters decide if California’s Insurance Commissioner should have this power.</p>

Consumer Advocates, Unions Back Health Care Ballot Measures

February 26, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> Consumer advocates and labor unions are looking to tap into Californians' anxiety over health care costs with ballot measures targeting insurance companies and hospitals.</p>

California Health Insurers To Raise Average Rates 8% to 14%

February 23, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> <strong>The proposed premium hikes for hundreds of thousands of California consumers with individual coverage would outpace the cost of overall medical care, which has risen just 3.6% in the last year.</strong><br /> <br /> California's largest health insurers are raising average rates by about 8% to 14% for hundreds of thousands of consumers with individual coverage, outpacing the costs of overall medical care.<br /> <br />

Proposal Could Limit Health Insurance Rate Hikes

February 22, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> A volunteer-backed citizens’ group calling itself <a href="http://www.justifyrates.org/index.php" rel="nofollow">Consumer Watchdog</a> is pushing an initiative that would give the state insurance commissioner the power to reject excessive hikes in health care rates.</p>

Tere Rice – Temecula, CA

February 21, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> <img class=" size-full wp-image-2378" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/images_tererice.jpeg" style="width: 96px; height: 112px;" width="96" height="112" />I feel I am at the mercy of Anthem Blue Cross, which has raised my health insurance rate by almost 50% since 2006. Another $65 a month increase will kick in April 1, bringing the premium to $861 a month and more than $10,000 a year. The policy has a $1,500 deductible and 30% copays, with many kinds of treatment excluded from the deductible. The increase just since just 2010 has been 33%, while my income from real estate sales is stagnant at best in this market.</p>

War Hero Sues Insurance Company for Denial of Benefits

February 21, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> It seems no good deed goes unpunished. A temporarily disabled Korean War veteran in California is <a href="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/resources_hallfiledsc2-7-12.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suing the Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania</a> (SHIP) for allegedly engaging in deceptive practices to avoid paying claims the plaintiff says should have been covered.</p>

Texas To Renew Farmers Overcharge Case

February 21, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> AUSTIN, TX -- Farmers Insurance agreed recently to a national class-action settlement that included up to $90 million in restitution for its Texas customers for homeowners and auto rates that were too high, but a related case may once again be revived in the state.<br /> <br /> The Texas case - the first class-action insurance lawsuit ever filed by the attorney general's office - stems from a homeowners insurance rate dispute between the state and Farmers that first flared during the 2002 governor's race.<br /> <br />