Protecting Patients
Washington, DC — Americans were promised meaningful health benefits under health reform and deserve better than the near-worthless junk insurance that low-wage employers are lobbying to preserve, said Consumer Watchdog. The group urged President Obama to resist making wholesale exemptions to the new law.
Jones/Feuer Effort Defeated; Schwarzenegger/Leno Bill Clears Legislature
Allowing Insurers to Charge "Unreasonable" and "Unjustified" Premiums
Santa Monica, CA – Sacramento lawmakers, buffeted by hundreds of
thousands of dollars in insurance company contributions, defeated a
strong insurance rate reform bill supported by consumer and labor
organization (AB 2578- Jones/Feuer) late Tuesday night. Democratic
opponents of the Jones/Feuer legislation supported an alternative bill,
proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger and carried by Senator Mark Leno (SB
1163), that allows insurers to charge excessive health insurance
premiums under a new, industry-preferred standard that merely requires
rates to be "actuarially sound."
Actuarial Soundness” Defense Protects Insurers At Expense of Rate Regulation, Consumer Watchdog Says
Los Angeles, CA -- Anthem Blue Cross’s defense of its recent controversial premium increases will be codified in law under eleventh hour legislation by San Francisco State Senator Mark Leno, SB 1163, just as the California legislature is set to adjourn Tuesday night. Consumer Watchdog, the group behind auto insurance regulation Prop 103 that has saved Californians $62 billion, warned that if health insurers can defend rates simply by having an actuary say the increases are “actuarial sound,” as Anthem Blue Cross did and Leno’s legislation provides, consumers will be in big trouble.Physicians Must Disclose If They Own CT, MRI or PET Scanners
Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, a national consumer advocacy group based in Santa Monica, Calif., said the new disclosure requirement may eventually lead patients to think hard about the financial relationship their doctor has. But in the short term, he said, the law will have little impact. "People will still defer to the white coat."
The $1-million grants, which went to all but five states, will help many expand public access to information about rate hikes and hire experts to review proposed charges.
In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration specifically ruled out seeking prior approval authority. Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica-based advocacy group, urged the administration to reject California's grant application, saying the grant would "prevent, not develop, any effective state regulation of health insurance rates." California nonetheless received its grant, which is to be used to streamline collection of data on proposed rate hikes.
Insurance Commissioners and Obama Administration Must Resist More Weakening of Curbs on Industry Overhead and Profit, Says Consumer Watchdog
Seattle, WA --The nation’s state insurance commissioners are making far-reaching decisions in Seattle this week on whether health insurance companies will spend more on health care, less on their own overhead and investor profit. The decisions will affect whether insurance companies continue with double-digit premium increases and declines in the amount of actual health care they provide, or seek a more efficient business model that is as fair to consumers as it is to Wall Street, said Consumer Watchdog.« Previous
Recent Articles:
Resist Corporate, Insurer 'Blackmail' Demands to Exempt Junk Insurance From Health Law, Group Tells White House
CONTACT: Jerry Flanagan, 310-392-0522 x319, Carmen Balber, 202-629-3043
September 2, 2010
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Health Insurers Kill Real Rate Regulation Legislation; Insurer-Friendly Politicians Line Up Behind Proposal That Will Drive Up Rates in California
CONTACT: Doug Heller, 310-392-0522 x309; or Jamie Court, 310-392-0522 x327
September 1, 2010
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$800,000 In Campaign Cash From Health Insurers Stops Premium Regulation In Sacramento
CONTACT: Jamie Court, (310) 874-9989; or Carmen Balber, (310) 403-0284
August 31, 2010
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Anthem Blue Cross Defense of Recent Rate Hikes Codified In New Sen. Leno Bill
CONTACT: Jamie Court, (310) 392-0075; or Jerry Flanagan, (310) 392-0522, ext 319
August 30, 2010
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Health Law Changes Rules For Docs With In-House Imaging Machines
By Phil Galewitz, KAISER HEALTH NEWS / USA TODAY
August 23, 2010
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