Money to Burn
by Liza Gross, Environmental Health News, East Bay Express
Facing growing concerns over the health risks of flame retardants in household products, the chemical industry spent at least $23.2 million over the past five years to lobby California officials and donate to campaigns in a successful effort to defeat legislation. Read More ›
Lobbying price tag: A quarter billion dollars by year’s end
by Cindy Baker, Capitol Weekly
Lobbyists have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season. The powerful interests that employ lobbyists spent nearly quarter of a billion dollars – $217 million from Jan. 1 through Sept. 30 – to persuade government to meet their clients’ needs. The amount is a record. Read More ›
Sutter Health sued over theft of computer containing patient data
by Darrell Smith, Sacramento Bee
Sutter Health is being sued for negligence and other allegations in the mid-October theft of a computer from Sutter Medical Foundation headquarters that held information on more than 4 million of its patients.
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Low job placement rates put for-profit colleges at risk
by Erica Perez, California Watch
New figures show two California campuses owned by for-profit education firm Career Education Corp. appear to have placed fewer than 65 percent of graduates in jobs – the minimum job placement rate required by the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools. Read More ›
Premium Hikes Report May Be Kindling for California Initiative
by George Lauer, California Healthline
…significant increases in health insurance premiums over the past seven years will provide fodder for a recently launched campaign in California to let voters decide whether the state should have the authority to reject health insurance rate increases. Read More ›
CFC Blog Post: The Need for Internet Privacy
by Zack Kaldveer, Consumer Federation of California, Privacy Revolt
The fact is, there’s been a virtual explosion in data collection, data analysis and use of behavioral marketing on the internet without the requisite privacy protections to go along with it. Billions of dollars at stake, and your private information is the currency. Read More ›
Internet privacy: a contradiction in terms?
by Beth Givens, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, San Diego Union-Tribune
In closing, effective online privacy protection requires a multipronged approach involving policymakers, industry, nonprofits and consumers. It must not be lost to bogus arguments and unfounded myths. Read More ›
Anthem Blue Cross sued over higher medical insurance deductibles
by Duke Helfand, Los Angeles Times
Consumer Watchdog says California’s largest for-profit health insurance company used ‘bait and switch’ tactics to raise deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for some customers May 1. Read More ›
Cell Phone Providers Urged to Stop Collecting Data on Customers’ Movements
by Zack Kaldveer, Consumer Federation of California, Privacy Revolt
…no one wants to feel as if a government agent is following you wherever you go – be it a friend’s house, a place of worship, or a therapist’s office – and certainly innocent Americans shouldn’t have to feel that way. Read More ›
California group files health insurance regulation initiative
by Torey Van Oot, Capitol Weekley
The proposed initiative would also prohibit insurers from considering a lapse in coverage when determining rates or premiums for auto, health or homeowners’ policies. Read More ›
Is GPS tracking too ‘1984’?
by Editorial, Los Angeles Times
Should the police be allowed to affix an electronic tracking device to a suspect’s car without a warrant and follow his every movement for a month? That was the question at an oral argument at the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Read More ›
State cuts prescription drug monitoring amid spike in pain pill deaths
by Christina Jewett, California Watch
While federal authorities are calling the spike in prescription painkiller deaths an epidemic, California is dismantling a system that the White House identifies as a promising method to tackle the problem. Read More ›
Billionaire Sponsors Zombie Insurance Initiative
by Richard Holober, Executive Director, Consumer Federation of California
But like a zombie that is killed, only to walk the earth again, Mercury Insurance Chairman George Joseph just donated $8.2 million to bring Prop 17 back from the grave for the 2012 ballot. Read More ›