Consumer Watchdog | Politics

Justice Is Probing Google's Book Deal

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:15:00 PDT

The Justice Department on Thursday said it had launched a formal antitrust investigation into the proposed settlement over the Google Inc. project to scan millions of books into a digital format. In recent months, a number of parties have objected to the settlement, including Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica, the American Library Assn. and the Internet Archive, a nonprofit organization that seeks to digitize public domain books and make them freely available online. Many of the objections involve concerns that Google would create a monopoly on digital books.

DOJ letter shows Google anti-trust probe is serious

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:41:00 PDT

The U.S. Justice Department is serious about probing the Google Books settlement for possible anti-trust violations. Consumer Watchdog was one of the first organizations to ask the department to investigate.

Suit Alleges California Lets Insurers Deny Treatment For Autistic Kids

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:23:00 PDT

A nonprofit consumer group has filed a lawsuit against state regulators alleging they allow insurance companies to deny necessary but expensive treatment for autistic children in violation of state law. Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog filed the lawsuit against the California Department of Managed Health Care Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Mercury General Using Guise Of Benevolence To Assault Prop. 103

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 09:17:00 PDT

...one should wonder why Mercury, which is already one of the leading insurers in the state, would spend heavily to make its home market more competitive. I'm inclined to think the company has something else on its mind, and I'd bet that giving customers a break isn't it. Forewarned is forearmed: Hang on to your wallets.

Is Congress deaf? Or does insurers' money just speak louder?

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:37:00 PDT

Congress is taking a holiday week off, heading home to wave flags and eat hot dogs. Some listening is in order, too. The latest national poll tells us that a whopping 70-plus percent of Americans want a health reform choice that lets them snub the giant insurance conglomerates that miserably abuse their customers.

Thanks for the bailout, suckers

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:54:00 PDT

The big banks just launched a supposedly 'grass-roots' campaign to try and rehabilitate their image.

Said Americans United for Change today: “What are they going to call it? The ‘Thanks for the Bailout, Suckers - Now Quit Whining’ Tour?”

Consumers Urge DC Council to Make Insurers Accountable In Court For Unfairly Delaying, Denying Insurance Claims

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:28:54 PDT

Washington, D.C. -- Insurance policyholders whose legitimate insurance claims were low-balled, delayed or denied by their insurance companies testified before the D.C. Council yesterday in support of legislation that would allow consumers to hold their insurer accountable in court. Consumer Watchdog joined policyholders, advocacy organizations and attorneys for insurance consumers to call on the committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs to forward legislation swiftly to the full council.

Groups to Congress: Don't Sacrifice Patient Safety to Lower Health Costs

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:18:30 PDT

Health Reform Should Reduce Medical Errors, Not Immunize Negligent Providers for Mistakes that Maim and Kill Innocent Patients

Washington, D.C. –- Congress should not confuse lowering health care costs with limiting patient safety, said a letter from consumer and patient advocates sent to Congress today. The groups urged a focus on reducing medical errors in health reform legislation, not limits on liability for negligent medical providers, as a means to both save lives and lower the costs of medical mistakes.

Consumer Watchdog To Obama: No "Cash For Clunkers" Without Compensation For GM Victims

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:31:00 PDT

Washington, DC -- Consumer Watchdog called upon President Obama to prioritize the purchase of an insurance policy for victims of defective GM vehicles in the company’s bankruptcy given his support for the “cash-for-clunkers” program.

CIGNA exec puts wind in health care reform sails

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:32:00 PDT

Nebraska's Democratic United States Senator Ben Nelson is one of the holdouts on national health care reform. He had a hard time resisting the testimony of the former CIGNA executive who went to Congress today to tell of the industry's less than honest practices.

More red flags flying on Mass. health care plan

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:40:00 PDT

Massachusetts, where all citizens must prove they have health insurance or pay a $1,000 average fine, continues to scale back health coverage for the lowest-income residents who receive state subsidies for private insurance...

Hill Mulls Online Privacy Rules -- And Which Agency Would Oversee

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:33:00 PDT

Consumer groups want rules requiring a standard disclosure and opt-in form, a ban on tracking information on a consumer's health, sexual orientation and financial condition and a "do-not-track" registry that would enable people to declare they don't want to be tracked, according to a written statement from the Consumer Federation of America. That group, the Center for Digital Democracy, Consumer Watchdog and the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse have agreed on the principles and are urging policymakers to adopt them. Allowing industry to self-regulate won't work, they say, because most companies rely on "opt-out" mechanisms that are hidden from consumers. And the FTC's principles for behavioral advertising "don't provide a basis for action to stop abuses," the statement said.

DC Dispatch: Health insurance cancellations

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:21:14 PDT

Most of us don't sit around waiting to catch our health insurance company in the act of being evil. And 99.99% of Americans did not tune in to the congressional hearing I attended on Tuesday when

Health Insurers Refuse To Limit Rescission Of Coverage

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:48:00 PDT

Lawmakers Ask Three Executives If They'll Stop Dropping Honest Customers. All Say No.

"This could reshape the debate," said Jerry Flanagan, a patient advocate with Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog. "When health insurance companies go under oath and admit they are canceling innocent patients when they get sick, it makes it very difficult for lawmakers to pass a law that requires every American to buy a policy or face a tax fine. It opens the way for a public option to hold the companies in check."

DC Dispatch: Reining in mortgage, bank account and credit card abuses

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:13:00 PDT

The administration releases its financial reform plan in just a few minutes (download it here.) The devil will, of course, be in the details, but it’s a good start on one crucial piece for consumers - making financial products safer...

HMO execs' 'Seven Dwarfs' moment

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:43:00 PDT

Democrats in Congress who want strong reform should strive for a repeat of yesterday's fireworks. It's time to put the health insurance executives on the spot and give patients who have been victimized by company policies a spotlight.

DC Dispatch: Busting the banks - a real voice for reform

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:51:00 PDT

It’s time the financial industry stopped calling the shots in Washington. That’s why Consumer Watchdog has joined a broad coalition of reformers -- calling on Congress and the administration to rein in Wall Street greed and protect the financial future of real Americans...

Largest U.S. Health Insurer Rewarded Employees That Cancelled Coverage Of Sick Patients -- Consumer Watchdog Calls On Congress To Ban Bonuses For Canceling, Delaying Or Denying Medical Care

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:27:00 PDT

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Consumer Watchdog called on Congress to ban any health insurance employee from receiving bonuses for canceling, delaying, or denying necessary medical care to patients based on new evidence made public today. The evidence released by the House subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations shows that WellPoint, the nation's largest health insurer, rewarded employees for canceling coverage of sick patients. Employees earned high points on "performance reviews" for retroactively canceling policies -- a practice known as "rescission."

Woman Whose Health Insurance Was Cancelled by Blue Cross/WellPoint After She Got Sick Urges Congress to Protect Innocent Patients

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:26:12 PDT

Congress Should Not Let Insurers Continue to Cheat Consumers in Health Care Reform

Washington D.C. -- Wittney Horton of Los Angeles, whose own insurance was cancelled after she sought routine medical care, appeared today before the House subcommittee on Government Oversight and Investigations to urge lawmakers to stop insurance companies from canceling or downgrading insurance coverage when patients get sick.

No Solidarity For Labor

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:02:16 PDT

SEIU head Andrew Stern dismisses the idea that the infighting is derailing labor's progress in Washington. It's a sign of union strength, he argues, that discussions on card check continue. "No other bill could have withstood this kind of opposition and still survived," he says. Still, labor supporters like Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group, are worried. "Any time you have labor fighting, it gives politicians an excuse to buy big business' argument," he says.

Mandating Health Insurance Purchase is Not Reform

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:32:33 PDT

“Requiring Americans to buy insurance coverage from insurers who face no legal accountability will only lock them into the same problems plaguing consumers today,” Consumer Watchdog protested in a letter it recently sent to key members of Congress. Amen to that. According to the California-based non-profit organization, health insurers routinely stick it those who pay for their products in a variety of ways...

'Blue Dogs' stand in circle, pull 'trigger' over health care option

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:39:00 PDT

The 50 or so moderate/conservative House Democrats called Blue Dogs announced last week that they all support the health insurance industry's proposal to essentially kill any option to private health insurance. The Blue Dog "plan" was little more a cut-and-paste of insurance industry desires. But the backlash was fast, and not-so-united Blue Dogs started backing way, way off from the group's position.

Google Says It Loves Competition

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:23:00 PDT

With Justice Department scrutiny over the Google Books Settlement only the the leading edge of antitrust regulators’ attention to Google, the company has launched a dog-and-pony show dedicated to combating the impression that more control is needed. In a presentation (PDF) acquired by Consumer Watchdog, Google public affairs lead Adam Kovacevich argued that Google is anything but anti-competitive. Its success comes from “learning by doing,” the presentation says.

Doctors' lobby attack on health reform seeks malpractice caps in Obamacare

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 04:25:00 PDT

The American Medical Association has proven again that the greed of the medical insurance complex is the chief obstacle to health care reform in America.

Google Polishes Competition Charm Offensive

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:35:00 PDT

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- Google continued to lay the groundwork Wednesday for an antitrust defense in the event that the federal government decides to take a formal look at its core business. Inside a conference room in Google's San Francisco office, executives ran through essentially the same presentation leaked last month by the consumer activist group Consumer Watchdog, focusing most of their efforts on trying to paint a picture of Google as just one part of a large Internet ecosystem, as opposed to a dominant search giant.