ConsumerWatchdog.org

SA detailed report issued by the Congressional Budget Office comparing health care reform options found that a plan to allow Americans to buy into Medicare before turning 65 would lead to more people with health coverage and lower costs than private insurance coverage....

Seeks Meeting With Chairman Eric Schmidt About Privacy Concerns

Santa Monica, CA -- Google should offer users of its search engine the ability to leave no personal data on the Internet giant’s servers, the nonpartisan, nonprofit Consumer Watchdog said today and asked for a meeting with Google’s chairman to discuss the group’s privacy concerns.

A new public health insurance plan that competes directly with private insurers is essential to controlling health care costs and improving quality of care, according to a new report released yesterday by the U.C. Berkeley Center On Health, Economic & Family Security.

Santa Monica, CA -- Internet giant Google must match new privacy measures announced by search rival Yahoo!, Consumer Watchdog said today, and called on both companies to enact stronger protections to truly guarantee users’ privacy. The nonprofit, nonpartisan consumer group warned the public that even with shorter data retention times, identifiable personal data remains on the search companies’ servers because each point of contact renews the data retention window.

Changes By Poizner Earlier This Year Led to Rate Hikes And New Proposal Will Lead to Even Higher Rates for Individuals, Businesses
San Francisco, CA -- California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has come under attack from consumer advocates for a proposal to deregulate insurance rates and allow insurance companies to raise rates on homeowners, motorists and business policyholders.  The Poizner plan, which faces a public hearing in San Francisco today, would allow insurers to defy important insurance reforms established under Proposition 103 that have saved Californians nearly $600 million on their insurance premiums in 2008 alone.

Rules Would Apply to All Ballot Measure Funds Controlled by Elected Officials
Santa Monica, CA -- Political reform advocates at Consumer Watchdog urged members of the California Fair Political Practices Commission to approve a regulation considered today that would require candidates to disclose how money raised for ballot measures will be spent.

Santa Monica, CA -- Less than 15% of U.S. voters support, and 53% oppose, a proposal pushed by health insurers requiring every American to provide proof of private health insurance or face tax penalties or other fines, according to a new poll. The poll, commissioned by Consumer Watchdog, also found that by just under a two-to-one margin voters favor requiring a return on taxpayer-funded research that leads to new medical treatments or prescription drugs.

Draft Report Accepts Industry Call for Ban on Temperature-Compensating Device, Denies Consumers Would Benefit From Any Remedy
Santa Monica, CA -- A California Energy Commission (CEC) draft report on the "hot fuel" ripoff proves beyond doubt that consumers are unfairly treated at the pump, yet fails to recommend that the ripoff be fixed through temperature compensation devices at the pump, said Consumer Watchdog.

Santa Monica, CA -- The nationally recognized Consumer Watchdog urged President-elect Obama to oppose the health insurance industry's self-serving plan detailed today requiring every American to buy junk insurance policies or face tax penalties or other fines. The plan would not limit what insurers can charge or reduce health insurance profit and overhead—the fastest growing component of health care spending. As a candidate, President-elect Obama opposed such mandatory purchase requirements.

Santa Monica, CA -- The nationally recognized Consumer Watchdog sent a letter today to President-elect Obama urging him to fulfill his campaign pledge to make health care affordable and available by allowing any American to join Medicare, regardless of age.  The group warned Obama that a proposal pushed by health insurance companies to require all Americans to buy private health insurance policies "amounts only to a government-funded customer delivery system for the fragmented, wasteful private insurance market."