Consumer Watchdog News

Both Sides of California’s Health Rate Initiative Make Prop. 103 Comparison

Opponents of Proposition 45 on the upcoming California ballot like to draw a comparison with Proposition 103, the state’s primary auto insurance law. So do its backers. Prop. 45 seems to have slipped in the polls. A Field Poll in …

Consumer Watchdog in California Barks at Farmers

Consumer Watchdog has petitioned Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones a public hearing on the new program private passenger auto filings of Farmers Specialty Insurance Co. The Consumer Watchdog petition seeks to compel Farmers and its affiliates to comply with Proposition 103’s …

Malpractice Award Battle Could End Up On California Ballot

Supporters of raising California’s award limit for medical malpractice suits hope to put the issue before voters and are gathering signatures to do so. The Los Angeles Times reported lawyers and consumer groups are getting signatures for a ballot measure …

California’s Consumer Watchdog Slammed For Using ‘Brain Dead’ Teen

An advocacy group is facing sharp criticism for trying to raise money using the case of a 13-year-old California girl who was declared brain dead. Consumer Watchdog’s recent fundraising appeal to supporters generated condemnation from an attorney for the family …

Groups Attack Watchdog Effort to Raise Medical Malpractice Bar in California

Under a measure being pursued for next year’s ballot by Consumer Watchdog California voters will have the opportunity to boost the cap on medical negligence lawsuits, but opponents of the measure on Friday said doing so will add billions-of-dollars in …

Suit Claims Blue Cross Of California Discriminates In HIV Cases

Blue Cross of California is being sued over a new program that bars AIDS patients from using local pharmacies to get their medications. The group Consumer Watchdog sued the insurer last week in San Diego on behalf of a patient, …

Californians Lump Props. 32 and 33; a Referendum on the ‘B’ Word

The “B” word may have been the most lethal weapon against an automobile insurance portable persistency initiative put to Californians, the second such initiative in the last two years to be defeated. California’s Proposition 33, the 2012 Automobile Insurance Discount …

Former Southern California Auto Club Agent Sues Insurer for ‘Illegal Practice’

A former insurance agent has filed a class action lawsuit in Southern California against Auto Club over what she alleges is an “illegal commission scheme” that penalizes agents who sell policies to people who previously did not have insurance. It …

Prop. 33 Proponents: Ballot Writers Don’t Understand Insurance Industry

As proponents of California Proposition 33 await a hearing on a lawsuit they filed to change some wording in voter guide statements for the upcoming November election, they’re hoping to avoid the damage that could be done by language they …

Consumer Watchdog Failure Could Help Auto Discount Initiative

Santa Monica, Calif.-based Consumer Watchdog’s proposed ballot measure to require health insurance companies to get approval before raising their rates narrowly missed qualifying for November’s ballot by Thursday’s deadline – Consumer Watchdog got 109 percent of the signatures necessary to …