Consumer-Friendly Dave Jones Rubs Some in Insurance Industry the Wrong Way
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SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones is something of an anomaly.</p>
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Insurance news, investigations, and reform — auto, home, and health insurance rates, claims denials, and industry accountability.
Hernandez Attacked in TV Ad
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A consumer advocacy group took on the chair of the Senate Health Committee at the end of last week, and it has stirred up Sacramento.</p>
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The ad was in reaction to the legislative decision to delay a vote on AB 52 by Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) and Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), the proposal to regulate health insurance rate increases.</p>
Consumer Groups Get Health Grants
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A portion of federal grants to help states monitor rate hikes will be going to consumer advocacy groups that regularly pick fights with insurers - and the insurance industry is calling foul.<br />
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Earlier this week, the Department of Health and Human Services awarded $109 million in grants to 28 states and Washington, D.C., to strengthen their review process of proposed hikes. It marked the second round of rate review funds under the health care reform law, after HHS sent out $46 million to 45 states and the<br />
District of Columbia.<br />
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It’s Politics: More Dirt and Ironing in the AB 52 Battle
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In these pages last week, we looked at recent attack ads against Sen. Ed Hernandez over his position on Assembly Bill 52, a bill that would mandate state regulation of health insurance rates.</p>
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We talked to Consumer Watchdog, the group that paid for the television ads and is demanding Hernandez step down from his chair of the Senate Health Committee over what they cite as a conflict of interest.</p>
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Hernandez, who objected to provisions of the bill, rents office space in Baldwin Park to insurance giant Kaiser Permanente, which fought the measure.</p>
A Bad ‘Discount’
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<strong>In seeking to change California law, an insurance executive's initiative would make it too expensive for too many people to insure their vehicles.</strong><br />
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Should you be penalized under the law if you previously hadn't been able to afford a car, chose not to own a car or if you lived for a time in a city where you didn't need one?<br />
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A Los Angeles insurance billionaire has made an $8-million bet that says you should, contributing a chunk of his fortune to an initiative he hopes to qualify for the June 2012 ballot.<br />
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Watchdog: La Puente Lawmaker Earned $350K In Rent From Kaiser
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<strong>Click here to listen to the audio of this news segment:</strong> <a href="http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/09/20/watchdog-la-puente-lawmaker-earned-350k-in-rent-from-kaiser/">http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/09/20/watchdog-la-puente-lawmaker-earned-350k-in-rent-from-kaiser/</a><br />
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LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A public watchdog group is calling for a La Puente lawmaker to resign his post as chairman of a California senate health panel over charges that he earned over $350,000 from one of the largest health providers in the state.</p>
Sen. Ed Hernandez Hits Back Against Attack Ads
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<b>Insinuations of greed abound in the fight over health insurance regulation</b></p>
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PASADENA, CA - State Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, responded Tuesday to a television ad slamming him for an alleged conflict-of-interest - and what appears to be an unflattering lack of concern for constituents.</p>
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The conflict in question is the lawmaker's business connection to Kaiser Permanente - he leases office space in Baldwin Park to their outreach division for several thousand dollars a month - and his position as chair of the Senate Health Committee.</p>
State Senate Health Chairman Doing Business With Kaiser
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<b>A firm owned by Sen. Ed Hernandez, who derailed legislation opposed by the nonprofit health group, leases office space to Kaiser Permanente. An advocacy group seeks his ouster from the chairmanship.</b></p>
George Joseph and his PR Brigade: An Imagined Conversation
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<img class=" alignright size-full wp-image-2240" alt="" src="https://consumerwatchdog.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/joseph.jpg" style="float: right; width: 250px; height: 162px;" width="500" height="324" />When a billionaire auto insurance executive personally sponsors a statewide ballot initiative to delete regulations on his industry, would we Consumer Watchdogs be right to smell a rat? Yeah, we thought so. That’s why Mercury Insurance Chairman George Joseph is not only putting millions of dollars into getting people to sign his ballot petition, he’s also throwing a brigade of quick-draw PR at the image problem.</p>
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Exec Again Tries To Alter Insurance Law
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<strong>George Joseph gives $8.1 million to 2012 initiative campaign to up-end Prop. 103.</strong></p>
Health Insurers Ordered To Publicly Justify Rate Hikes
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<strong>Under a new federal rule, firms must post details on their websites of increases exceeding 10%.</strong><br />
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WASHINGTON -- Health insurers will have to start publicly justifying big rate hikes, according to a new requirement of the federal healthcare law that is meant to put pressure on insurance companies to hold down skyrocketing premiums.<br />
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