Insurance

Valerie Burchfield-Rhodes – Laguna Niguel, CA (Orange County)

February 1, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> <img class=" size-full wp-image-2369" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/images_valerierhodesfamily.jpeg" style="width: 270px; height: 203px;" width="640" height="480" /></p>

Sen. Feinstein Backs Health Insurance Rate Controls

February 1, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> A high-stakes ballot measure to give state regulators the power to approve health insurance rates in California has landed a heavyweight supporter: U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.</p> <p class="body"> One of California's most respected politicians, Feinstein has come forward as the chief spokeswoman and No. 1 booster of a proposed initiative to regulate hikes in health premiums.</p>

Consumer Group Attacks Auto Insurers ‘Disparate Treatment’ of Low Income

January 30, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> A consumer group on Monday issued a study that shows ‘disparate treatment’ of low-to moderate-income families by auto insurers nationwide, and is asking state insurance commissioners to consider lowering minimum liability coverage requirements, and creating low-income purchase programs.</p> <p> A study released from the Consumer Federation of America concludes that the auto insurance marketplace “denies important economic opportunities, especially those related to employment, to low- and moderate-income (LMI) households.”</p>

Billionaire Insurance Exec Backs Initiative to Change Rate Rules

January 27, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> <em>UPDATE, Jan. 27, 2012: Mercury Insurance provided <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/79626976/Mercury-Response" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this response</a> to questions about its record.</em></p> <p> The 90-year-old billionaire chairman of Mercury Insurance just won’t give up.</p>

Karyn Mor – San Diego, CA

January 24, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p>(Updated 2/4/13)</p> <p>We just received a 15% premium increase notice from Blue Cross that brought premiums for our family of four--my husband Tamir, myself and our two youngest children--to $2,176 per month as of February 1. This is an increase of $284.00 per month, and is in addition to three other increases since October 2010. Our premiums have gone up more than $800 per month in just over two years. The monthly insurance payment is now significantly more than our mortgage payment!</p>

Deborah Randolph – Fountain Valley, CA (Orange County)

January 24, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> My husband and I own a major-appliance repair business, and have been on an Anthem Blue Cross PPO policy since the early 80s. In the early years, the increases were reasonable and pretty predictable, so we could budget for them, but in the last several years it has been out of control.</p>

Deborah Starrett – Los Angeles, CA

January 24, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> My husband and I own a small business and we’ve had individual Anthem Blue Cross policies for nearly 30 years now. In that whole time we’ve met the deductible only one or two years. Almost all of our medical care costs have come out of our own pockets. Yet in the space of 8 months last year, Blue Cross increased our premiums 40%. We have to take money out of our retirement IRA just to keep our insurance. We’re afraid that otherwise we would lose our house if one of us fell seriously ill.</p>

Laurel Kaufer – San Fernando Valley, CA

January 23, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> As a self-employed single mother with two sons, I have struggled for more than a decade to balance the cost of health care and health insurance with the need to seek medical help. Our high-deductible health insurance policy with Blue Cross meant wrenching days of weighing a child’s spiking fever or sports injury against the out-of-pocket cost of seeing a doctor—or, even worse, going to an emergency room.</p>

Alison Heath – San Francisco, CA

January 23, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p><img class=" size-full wp-image-2360" alt="" class="right" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/images_alison_heath.jpeg" style="width: 242px; height: 242px;" width="432" height="432" />I feel like Blue Cross is stealing from us by charging us more for less coverage and there’s nothing we can do.</p> <p>Since October of 2010 we’ve had premium increases of 46% and on top of that they have increased our co-payments and annual deductibles. Our PPO Share 2500 policy with a $2500 deductible will soon have a $2950 deductible. This is an 18% increase. Copays are going from $35 to $40, also an 18% increase.</p>

Latest Auto Insurance Brawl ‘Not Personal’

January 22, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> From the courts to the Capitol to the ballot, insurance magnate George Joseph and attorney Harvey Rosenfield, who wrote the 1988 initiative that regulated auto insurance, have been butting heads for a quarter century.</p> <p> They assure me it's not personal.</p> <p> There was nothing personal in 2009 when Consumer Watchdog, the Santa Monica advocacy group founded by Rosenfield, bought billboard space on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles declaring, "You Can't Trust Mercury Insurance," the company that Joseph founded 50 years ago.</p>

Auto Insurance Discount Initiative Approved For Ballot

January 19, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> An automobile insurance discount initiative, more than 99% bankrolled by the chairman of Mercury Insurance, has qualified to go before voters on November's ballot.</p> <p> Officially sponsored by a trade group, the American Agents Alliance, the proposal would provide motorists, who switch insurance companies, with a discount if they had been previously insured.</p> <p> Passage of the initiative, whose petitions got signatures from almost 505,000 registered voters, would make the automobile insurance market more competitive, supporters argue.</p>

Consumer Advocates Push for Greater Health Plan Rate Regulations

January 17, 2012  ·  Mark Reback

<p> One year after a new law (<a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/sen/sb_1151-1200/sb_1163_bill_20100930_chaptered.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SB 1163</a>) expanded state officials' ability to review health plan rates, some consumer advocates are calling for greater power to regulate insurance rates, the <a href="http://www.contracostatimes.com/bay-area-news/ci_19740425" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><i>Contra Costa Times</i></a> reports.</p> <p class="subheading"> <strong>Background</strong></p>