California can’t stop unreasonable insurance rate hike, says insurance commissioner
by Doug Heller, California Progress Report
Anthem Blue Cross plans to go ahead with a 10.6% annual avergage insurance rate hike on small business owners, despite the fact that an examination by the California Insurance Commissioner found it to be unreasonable and unsupportable. Read More ›
Online college courses to grant credentials, for a fee
by Nick Anderson, Washington Post
Providers of free online college courses are experimenting with academic security measures that will enable students who successfully complete the courses to obtain credentials, for a small fee, that convey some of the cachet of a premier university. Read More ›
California officials investigate whether Kaiser violated patient privacy laws
by Kenny Goldberg, KPBS.org
Kaiser Permanente is in hot water with state regulators over the mishandling of nearly 300,000 patient records. Officials are investigating whether Kaiser violated patient privacy laws. Read More ›
Banks’ mortgage settlement draws skepticism
by Carolyn Said, San Francisco Chronicle
Consumer advocates questioned the effectiveness of an $8.5 billion settlement to resolve charges that 10 major banks mishandled foreclosures and loan modifications, saying details remain murky and that the amount of money will be minimal once distributed among millions of people. Read More ›
State: Anthem Blue Cross rates for small business ‘unreasonable’
by Chad Terhune, Los Angeles Times
CA insurance commissioner said an 11% increase for small businesses by Anthem Blue Cross is unreasonable because they overstated costs and improperly added fees related to the federal healthcare law. Read More ›
Feds approve California health care changes – with conditions
by Linda Leu, California Progress Report
In a major step forward for health reform implementation, last week the federal government gave the go-ahead for eight more states to start their insurance exchanges. Along with California, the states of Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Vermont and Utah received conditional approval to move forward with state based exchanges, while Arkansas received approval for a federal partnership exchange. Read More ›
Six states enforce Facebook privacy rights for employees
California joined five other states in prohibiting employers from demanding social media passwords from employees. Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware proposed similar legislation in their jurisdictions. Read More ›
CFC-supported auto body repair regulations approved
The regulations were sought by CFC and other groups to protect consumers from physical and financial harm caused by defective or inferior aftermarket parts and to enhance insurer accountability in the claims process. Read More ›
10 things you’ll pay more for in 2013
From food to mail services, taxes, and baseball tickets, here’s what you’ll be shelling out more cash for this year. Read More ›
A Battle within the CPUC: Cell Phone Privacy Vote
The California Public Utilities Commission is now scheduled to vote on January 16, on opposing Commissioners’ proposals to either take steps to protect consumers’ telecom privacy or to stay with outdated rules that were put in place before cell phones and data-mining applications existed. Read More ›
Could Californians get a college degree for $10,000?
by Laurel Rosenhall, Sacramento Bee
With the cost of going to college already more than $30,000 a year at many California campuses, is it possible to earn a bachelor’s degree for just $10,000? Read More ›
Mixed bag of rates for PG&E customers to start 2013
by Mark Glover, Sacramento Bee
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said that residential customers will see a significant decline in natural gas rates and a modest increase in electric rates to kick off 2013. Read More ›
Sandy Hook scammers coming out of woodwork
It seems almost unimaginable that someone would try to take advantage of the Newtown school tragedy to defraud consumers, but evidently scam artists are willing to stoop to a new low. Read More ›