Four California insurers have contributed a total of more than $12 million over five days to efforts to defeat a November ballot initiative related to health insurance rate regulation, the Los Angeles Times reports (Lifsher, Los Angeles Times, 10/20).

Proposition 45 — which is being promoted by Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones (D) and Consumer Watchdog — would give the state regulatory authority to monitor and control health care premium rates, similar to how it controls automobile and property rates (California Healthline, 10/2).

Details of Spending

According to filings with the California Secretary of State, recent spending on the campaign against Prop. 45 was led by:

• WellPoint, which gave $6 million;
• Kaiser Permanente, which gave $3.73 million;
• Blue Shield of California, which gave $2.66 million; and
• Health Net, which gave $350,000.

The recent contributions bring the total spent on efforts to defeat Prop. 45 to $55.4 million, compared with about $2.5 million raised by the measure's supporters (Los Angeles Times, 10/20).