Insurance

Nine States Appeal Federal Rule Limiting Health Insurers’ Profits

May 10, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> WASHINGTON — In a move that could absolve health insurers of paying more than $95 million in consumer rebates, nine states are pressing for relief from a federal rule limiting insurers' profits and administrative costs.</p> <p> State regulators say they fear insurers would flee their markets and leave some individuals without coverage options if the rule isn't eased. But consumer groups say there's little evidence insurers would bail out.</p>

Sen. Feinstein, Rep. Schakowsky, Maine insurance official and CW talk out-of-control health insurance rates

May 6, 2011  ·  Carmen Balber

<p> Join us!</p> <p> Senator Dianne Feinstein, Representative Jan Schakowsky, and Maine's top insurance regulator will join Consumer Watchdog founder Harvey Rosenfield at a Consumer Watchdog newsmaker briefing on Capitol Hill next Wednesday. Here are the details.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <span style="font-size: 16px;"><strong>How Health Insurance Rate Regulation Can Lower Premiums and Save Health Reform</strong></span><br /> <br /> Wednesday, May 11, 2011, 2:00pm - 3:30pm</p> <p> 116 Dirksen Senate Office Building</p> <p> Washington, DC</p> <p>  </p>

Health Reform and Insurance Regulation: Can’t Have One Without the Other

May 5, 2011  ·  Jamie Court

Health insurance premiums are increasing at a rate faster than medical inflation, especially in the volatile individual and small group markets, and worker incomes have...

Health Insurers’ Rates Targeted in the Capitol

May 5, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> The insurance-driven costs that millions of Californians pay to drive their cars, work at their jobs and protect their homes are closely regulated, in part because of generations of decisions by the Legislature and in part because voters demanded it.</p> <p> But despite the attention paid in recent years to health care reform, the price tag to 23 million California consumers of billions of dollars worth of care is only scantly regulated, at least directly. Health insurers’ rates are set by the health insurers themselves reflecting the market and their costs.</p>

Trump’s Real Estate Courses Didn’t Deliver, Lawsuit Says

May 4, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> SAN FRANCISCO -- Before Donald Trump sold the idea of a possible 2012 presidential bid, the bombastic real estate mogul peddled the American dream at a place called Trump University. He promised consumers the golden opportunity to be "my next apprentice" and learn "insider" secrets of real estate.</p>

Do Not Track Bill Up For Vote

May 3, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> <b>Bill Bans Online Consumer Tracking</b></p> <p> <a href="http://www.kcra.com/video/27762938/detail.html">Watch video clip here</a>.</p> <p> SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Landmark legislation that would prevent online monitoring of consumers faces a key vote Tuesday at the state Capitol.</p> <p> SB761 by Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, would allow consumers to opt out of tracking by companies that do business in California.</p>

Making A Case for Regulating Medical Insurance In California

May 2, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> <b>Breathtaking premium hikes have prompted California's new insurance commissioner to sponsor a bill that would require medical insurers to get state approval before increasing rates.</b><br /> <br /> Auto and homeowner insurance premiums have been regulated by the state of California for two decades. Maybe it's time that healthcare premiums are too.<br /> <br />

Court Ruling Undermines Consumer Rights

May 2, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> You might want to start reading the fine print when you open a bank account, buy a car or a refrigerator, or sign up for cellphone or cable TV service.<br /> <br /> If you have a dispute with the company, the U.S. Supreme Court just made it near impossible for you to join up with other aggrieved consumers to get relief.<br /> <br /> In a 5-4 ruling Wednesday in a California case, the high court said that clauses in contracts in which consumers agree to arbitration block them from later joining class-action lawsuits.<br /> <br />

S.C. Insurer’s Actions Draw Fire

May 2, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, which has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in profits over the past five years, has boosted the pay of board members and top executives while sticking policyholders with ever-higher premiums, a Post and Courier review found.<br /> <br /> The nine members of the company's board of directors have more than doubled their reported salaries in the past year, financial filings show. In 2010, two executives earned more than $1 million in salary and bonus pay, and another earned more than $2.2 million, according to the filings.<br />

State Can’t Halt Insurer Rate Hikes

April 30, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> <strong>Anthem Blue Cross' 16% increase for 120,000 customers is called 'unreasonable.'</strong><br /> <br /> A California regulator for the first time has declared a health insurance rate increase "unreasonable" but acknowledged that it can do nothing to stop the state's largest for-profit insurer from going ahead with it.<br /> <br /> As a result, rates for 120,000 customers of Anthem Blue Cross will begin rising an average of 16% on Sunday, infuriating policyholders and frustrating officials at the California Department of Managed Health Care.<br />

Businesses Turn To ‘Private Exchange’ Health Insurance

April 30, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> Fed up with the unpredictable cost of health insurance for his small business, Mike Sarafolean last year made a dramatic change: Instead of picking a plan to offer workers, he now sends them to a "private exchange" or marketplace where they compare and choose their own insurance. And the amount his company pays toward coverage is capped.</p> <p class="inside-copy"> The move puts his St. Paul-based company on the leading edge of a nascent trend that could shape how more employers offer and pay for health benefits in the coming years.</p>

CA Regulator: Blue Cross Rate Hike Unreasonable

April 29, 2011  ·  Mark Reback

<p> LOS ANGELES, CA -- Double-digit rate hikes for 120,000 Anthem Blue Cross health insurance policyholders will take effect Sunday despite a state regulator's determination the increase is unreasonable.<br /> <br /> A California Department of Managed Health Care review found the increases were 3 percent to 4 percent higher than individual plans with similar benefits under the jurisdiction of the state's other insurance regulator, the Department of Insurance.<br /> <br />