Insurance

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>

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 />

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>

Ballot Measure Would Regulate Heath Insurance Premiums in California

February 20, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> <a href="http://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/feb/20/ballot-measure-would-regulate-heath-insurance-prem/">Click here to listen to the audio of this news broadcast</a>.</p> <p> <strong>Consumer advocates are trying to get a measure on the fall ballot that would allow the state to regulate health insurance premiums.</strong></p>

Taking the Initiative in a Struggle Against Excessive Rate Increases

February 20, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> The biggest applause line Senator Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) got at a gathering of Democratic Party activists last week came when she endorsed a ballot initiative to give the California Insurance Commissioner power to reject excessive health insurance rate increases.</p>

Feinstein, Jones Boost Health Insurance Initiative at Dem Convention

February 13, 2012  ·  Carmen Balber

<p> <img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2374" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/feinsteinandjones.jpg" style="width: 250px; height: 161px; margin-left: 7px; margin-right: 7px; float: right;" width="250" height="161" />Two heavyweights - Senator Dianne Feinstein and Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones - went to bat for health reform at the Democratic Convention in San Diego this weekend, and activists' embrace of their call to action was loud and immediate.</p>

Feinstein: Obama Contraception Compromise ‘Can Be Lived With’

February 11, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> SAN DIEGO -- U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein expressed disappointment Saturday in the compromise the Obama administration announced this week on its birth control coverage mandate, but said the decision "can be lived with."</p> <p> "I regret the fact that the president felt he had to do it, but he had to do it," she told reporters after speaking at the California Democratic Party convention in San Diego.</p>

Billionaire George Joseph Pushes California Ballot Prop – Again

February 10, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> In California, the rule of politics is sometimes “one man, one ballot proposition.”</p> <p> Pretty much by himself, billionaire <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/george-joseph/">George Joseph</a> is financing an initiative governing insurance rates.</p> <p> As the chairman and largest stockholder of Mercury General Corporation, an insurance company that does most of its business in California, Joseph has deep pockets. <em>Forbes</em> estimated his net worth at $1.1 billion in September.</p>

White House Seeks To Appease Catholics On Birth Control Coverage

February 10, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> <a href="http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2012/02/10/22486/obama-announces-changes-to-contraceptive-rule">Click here to listen to the audio of this broadcast</a>.</p> <p> President Obama today answered blistering criticism of the 3-week old policy forcing religious employers to pay for employees' birth control. Speaking from the White House, Obama said, "Religious liberty will be protected and a law that requires free preventative care will not discriminate against women."</p>

Suing an Insurer that Cheated a Hero

February 10, 2012  ·  Harvey Rosenfield

<p><img class=" size-full wp-image-2199" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/images_harveydrawingname.gif" style="width: 133px; height: 200px;" width="133" height="200" /><a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/newsrelease/long-term-care-insurer-policyholder-resolve-lawsuit">Read the press release regarding the settlement in this case.</a></p> <p> </p>