[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California

The scrutiny on the inefficient, iniquitous individual insurance market continues, with David Lazarus' column in the Los Angeles Times.

We've explored before how women get discriminated against in the individual insurance market. They have to pay significant surcharges for maternity coverage. A recent NY Times story spotlighted how a C-section can be classified as a pre-existing condition that leads to higher premiums or a denial of coverage.

But now the California insurance marketplace had come full circle: Lazarus reports that three insurers: Aetna, Blue Cross, and now Blue Shield are charging men and women differently, and others are now looking to go there as well.

Where does it stop? As Lazarus says:

“But parsing rates according to gender is a relatively new phenomenon. If women are more expensive than men to insure, and middle-aged women are significantly more expensive than middle-aged men, what about, say, older women with red hair? After all, they have fairer skin and thus are more susceptible to skin cancer.

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

I admit it. I'm really up in arms about SB 1096. See, I really value my privacy, and want to ensure the privacy of my fellow Californians. particularly Californians with the following conditions: Diabetes, Osteoporosis, Asthma, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Cancer, Gastric disorder, Hypertension, Thyroid disorder, Organ transplantation, Chronic eye disorder, Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, Renal disorders, Parkinson's disease, Seizures, Multiple sclerosis, Depression, Schizophrenia, Bipolar disorder, Anxiety disorders, Attention deficit disorder. Phew, that was a mouthful!

But David Lazarus, the consumer reporter at the LA Times (for now), notes another drawback of this bill that I neglected to mention:

The reality, critics say, is that this is an effort by pharmaceutical companies to help ensure that patients stick with expensive name-brand drugs and not stray toward cheaper generic alternatives. (LAT 6/11/08)

read more »

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Robert Cruickshank

Last fall I took the LA Times to task for framing the state budget crisis as a problem of "automatic" spending, and not being sufficiently attentive to the structural revenue shortfall that is the true cause of the budget problem.

While the LA Times has shown some improvement - George Skelton's column yesterday is mostly if not completely on target and the incomparable David Lazarus always has some good insights - the rest of the state's media seems slower to follow.

Take, for example, Sunday's Sac Bee column from Daniel Weintraub, California Budget 101: What went wrong, when. Weintraub's column purports to be a "a fuller explanation of the dimensions of the problem" - but winds up repeating the same discredited arguments, namely that this is primarily a spending problem:

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Robert Cruickshank

Last fall I took the LA Times to task for framing the state budget crisis as a problem of "automatic" spending, and not being sufficiently attentive to the structural revenue shortfall that is the true cause of the budget problem.

While the LA Times has shown some improvement - George Skelton's column yesterday is mostly if not completely on target and the incomparable David Lazarus always has some good insights - the rest of the state's media seems slower to follow.

Take, for example, Sunday's Sac Bee column from Daniel Weintraub, California Budget 101: What went wrong, when. Weintraub's column purports to be a "a fuller explanation of the dimensions of the problem" - but winds up repeating the same discredited arguments, namely that this is primarily a spending problem:

by Robert in Monterey [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Recipients of awards from the Consumer Federation of California for 2008 from left to right, Senate President pro Tem Elect Darrell Steinberg, California Progress Report publisher Frank D. Russo, former Assemblymember and State Senate candidate Hannah-Beth Jackson, CFC founder and former President of the California Federation of Labor Albin Gruhn with attendant, Assemblymember Mark Leno, and Assembly Judiciary Chair Dave Jones. Not pictured, Senator Alan Lowenthal. Photo by Russell Collins Stiger

By Frank D. Russo

I was deeply honored to receive the Consumer Federation of California’s 2008 Consumer Journalist Award on behalf of the California Progress Report in a ceremony in the basement of the state Capitol cafeteria. Others honored by the CFC, a consumer organization founded in 1960, included a number of my heroes, and the audience of over 100 included many distinguished guests and representatives of organizations I cherish. I joked that over half of the crowd had written articles for the California Progress Report—which in fact was accurate.

What makes this award particularly memorable to me is that the CFC last bestowed this award on former Chronicle consumer reporter David Lazarus, who now writes for the Los Angeles Times. I consider Lazarus a giant in the field of business and consumer reporting.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Robert Cruickshank

David Lazarus is showing to Southern Californians what Bay Area readers already knew: the man really understands the problems facing working Californians, and is not afraid to write about them directly and engagingly. In January he took on Prop 13 and called for it to be revamped, if not scrapped. Today he has shifted his focus to the struggles renters face in LA.

As any of us who have lived in the area realize, rents are nearly unaffordable in the urban center of LA - the place where it's easiest to live without a car. Lazarus opens his column with the story of a single mother who makes $38K as an admin assistant and who can only afford a rental way out in Lancaster. This is a familiar story to me - I know a LOT of Californians who make a similar commute. And as oil prices soar toward $4/gal, it is becoming more difficult for working Californians to get around.