November 15, 2011
By: Carrie Van Brunt-Wiley
The advocacy organization Consumer Watchdog last week submitted paperwork with the state in order to organize a campaign to get a question on next year's ballot that would require California health insurance companies to get state approval for any rate increases.
The proposal would be an expansion of the state's existing Proposition 103 regulations, which were approved in 1988 for auto and homeowners insurance rates.
As currently written, executives would be legally required to provide justification for higher health insurance rates they propose. They could also be charged with perjury if the information they give is untruthful.
Once the group's petition is cleared, it will need to obtain more than 500,000 signatures in order to appear on the November 2012 ballot. The proposal is similar to a number of proposed bills which have failed to make it through the state legislature in recent years.
The auto insurance portion of Proposition 103 has made a significant impact during the years it has been in effect. The Consumer Federation of America said in its first 20 years it saved drivers more than $62 billion.
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