When healthcare coverage is insurance in name only
February 8, 2010
The L'Esperances are your typical American family. They work hard. They try to get ahead. They don't ask anyone for help.
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Consumer watchdog agency may get lost in the shuffle
February 2, 2010
President Obama's focus, we're now told, is on jobs, jobs, jobs. That's nifty, but it doesn't bode well for other big-ticket policy goals, such as creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to safeguard us from abusive bank practices.
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Chiropractic visits lead to higher premium
January 31, 2010
As the prospects for meaningful healthcare reform grow murkier by the day, it's helpful to remember why we started this discussion in the first place.
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Getting hung up on basic phone rate increases
January 27, 2010
AT&T customers saw their monthly rate for basic residential phone service jump 22% this month to $16.45. The increase followed a 23% rate hike last year.
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David Lazarus: Why doesn't cash fly on many airlines?
January 24, 2010
Beginning Feb. 1, your money's no good on American Airlines.
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Chase bank seems a bit too loose with clients' data
January 20, 2010
West Hills resident Victoria Afonina works as a computer programmer for a major supermarket chain, so she knows probably better than most people how vulnerable her personal information is once it gets out into the open.
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Aetna reinstates customer who made $64 error
January 17, 2010
Los Angeles resident Stacey Owens found out after a recent doctor's visit that her health insurer, Aetna, had canceled her coverage, ostensibly because she'd missed a monthly payment.
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A scam that hits the jackpot for stupidity offers valuable lessons
January 13, 2010
These guys have to be some of the dumbest scammers ever. But their ploy is so brazen -- and so potentially attractive in these tough economic times -- you could just see it succeeding.
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Banks take revenge for new consumer rules
January 6, 2010
Happy new year. Now pay up.
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A year of progress on consumer issues
December 27, 2009
This year was a total drag for consumers. Many of us lost our jobs, homes were foreclosed upon, medical bills piled up, recession-weary families scraped by month to month.
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A year of progress on consumer issues
December 27, 2009
This year was a total drag for consumers. Many of us lost our jobs, homes were foreclosed upon, medical bills piled up, recession-weary families scraped by month to month.
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Tales of woe ring true in L.A. jewelry district
December 23, 2009
I knew things would be bad even before I set out this week to see how jewelry stores were faring this holiday season.
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Time to privatize the Postal Service?
December 20, 2009
There's been a lot of talk about a public option for health insurance. But what about the public option for mail?
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Blue Shield drops plan to shrink grace period on missed premium payments
December 18, 2009
Blue Shield of California has dropped plans to reduce the amount of time customers are given to pay their health insurance premiums before coverage is canceled. The decision came after I reported Wednesday that individual policyholders had been informed that Blue Shield was going to take away a key benefit even as millions of people grapple with the loss of jobs and homes and as lawmakers debate making the healthcare system more accessible.
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Blue Shield of California gets tough over late payments
December 16, 2009
Amid a national debate on how to make the healthcare system friendlier and more accessible, and as millions of people grapple with the loss of jobs and homes, what does insurance heavyweight Blue Shield of California do?
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Veteran health administrator backs public option
December 11, 2009
As the head of a Los Angeles nonprofit organization that bills itself as "the nation's largest public health plan," Howard Kahn knows a thing or two about public options for health insurance.
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We can't be neutral on net neutrality
August 30, 2009
The new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Julius Genachowski, didn't pussyfoot around last week when he was asked to explain the Obama administration's stance on net neutrality.
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Blue Shield hits health insurance policyholder with 54% rate hike
June 14, 2009
Los Angeles resident Ruta Miller, 44, prides herself on keeping fit. "I'm super-healthy," she told me. "I exercise all the time. I eat well. I haven't even had a cold in I don't know how long."
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Consumer advocates hope watchdog agencies get more bite
December 28, 2008
You'll be safer in 2009. At least that's the expectation of consumer watchdogs who believe the changing of the guard at the White House in a few weeks will mark the beginning of a new era in protecting people from stuff that can hurt you.
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Employer-based health insurance plans no longer work
December 10, 2008
It seems clear that change is coming to the U.S. healthcare system. President-elect Barack Obama wants it. Congress wants it. Even the insurance industry says the time is ripe to do things differently.
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Medical pricing makes the head spin
September 7, 2008
It began with a dizzy spell. Before long, though, what really had my head spinning was the inscrutable way that healthcare providers and insurers put a dollar value on medical services -- and how that leaves patients unable to determine a fair price for any treatment.
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Medical pricing makes the head spin
September 7, 2008
It began with a dizzy spell. Before long, though, what really had my head spinning was the inscrutable way that healthcare providers and insurers put a dollar value on medical services -- and how that leaves patients unable to determine a fair price for any treatment.
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Laboring harder, slipping behind
August 31, 2008
Every day is Labor Day for Ruben Rangel.
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Answers, not IOUs, for Social Security
August 24, 2008
Whatever happened to Social Security?
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On Rodeo Drive, the economy's booming
August 20, 2008
Steve Thorne, 54, watched approvingly as his girlfriend tried on a pair of boots at the Jimmy Choo boutique on Rodeo Drive last week.
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Caution is the right reaction to chemical
August 13, 2008
Maybe you've seen the ad showing an empty shopping cart in the middle of the desert. "Soon, many common, everyday products could disappear from grocery store shelves all across California," it warns.
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Give the doctor a checkup before ordering a house call
August 10, 2008
He refers to himself as Dr. House Call. In glossy brochures mailed recently to thousands of well-to-do households from Malibu to Brentwood, he said he was seeking to be a "caring, old-fashioned Marcus Welby kind of good doctor without the office hassles."
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Carcinogen worries stick to food packaging
July 30, 2008
The next time you make some microwave popcorn or cook a frozen pizza, consider this: The packaging of many of these products contains a chemical that the Environmental Protection Agency considers potentially carcinogenic and wants businesses to voluntarily stop using by 2015.
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'Smart meters' may soon be outdated
April 20, 2008
California's three biggest utilities are charging customers nearly $4.6 billion to install millions of "smart meters" at homes and businesses. These newfangled meters, the utilities promise, will revolutionize energy usage by giving consumers far greater control over how much they pay for power.
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Too much contact at this Reunion
April 16, 2008
The name of the game for social-networking websites such as MySpace and Facebook is to draw as many users as possible into the fold. Typically that's done by creating a community and features so irresistible that people feel they just have to join.
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Mortgage payoff on steroids
April 9, 2008
When Stockton resident Kevin Byrd refinanced his mortgage a couple of years ago, he figured he'd need the full 30 years to pay off more than $300,000 in debt.
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ZIP Code still a factor in auto insurance
April 6, 2008
A lot of drivers probably thought they were finally getting a break when then-California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi announced in 2005 that he was requiring insurers to stop using ZIP Codes as a main factor in determining car-insurance rates.
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Cellphones may do a number on Cuba
April 2, 2008
The Cuban government made headlines worldwide when it announced the other day that its citizens would finally have unrestricted access to cellphones, ushering in a new era in telecommunications for the economically challenged island.
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Things are looking up -- at the pawn shop
March 23, 2008
The economy is tanking, banks are scrambling for cover, the Fed is repeatedly cutting interest rates . . . and business is booming at pawn shop Crown City Loan & Jewelry in Old Pasadena.
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Cellphones to keep track of your purchases -- and you
March 16, 2008
You might not know it, but as of January it became illegal in California for companies to require workers to have devices implanted under their skin that would reveal their whereabouts at all times.
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Curbing our need for oil
March 12, 2008
With oil prices at record highs and gas heading to the $4-a-gallon level, I was set to come roaring out of the gate today with a proposal that all vehicles be slapped with a conservation-promoting surcharge based on mileage, with proceeds going to public-transit projects.
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Renters priced out of L.A.
March 9, 2008
Deanna Corbin, 46, would live in Los Angeles if she could. But she can't, at least not with a modicum of space and safety, not on her $38,000 salary as an administrative secretary.
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Cost is the real drug threat
March 5, 2008
In his weekend radio address, President Bush warned of rogue pharmacists making potentially dangerous prescription drugs readily available online.
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Housing upheaval: a tale of two homes
February 27, 2008
Just when it was looking like things couldn't get any worse in the housing market, government officials announced Tuesday that home prices had their biggest fourth-quarter drop in 17 years.
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Firms round up; we pay the price
February 17, 2008
We live in an age of supercomputer-driven, lightning-fast digital technology that can determine the time of day down to the nanosecond.
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Shadow victims of the mortgage crisis: renters
February 13, 2008
The Bush administration's announcement Tuesday that it would put the foreclosure process on hold for 30 days to rescue struggling homeowners came several weeks too late for Mike Salgado.
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Columnist roots for Microsoft. Huh??
February 2, 2008
If there's a sentiment that crops up with frequency in this column, it's that bigger is seldom better when it comes to how businesses treat consumers.
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The joke is on cellphone users
January 23, 2008
Keith Fitzgerald, a concessions manager for Los Angeles International Airport, was in the middle of a meeting last month when his cellphone suddenly emitted an unfamiliar ring. He'd received his first-ever text message.
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Up a tree over dead cat's health plan
January 16, 2008
When Sarah Harper took her cat, Pete, to Banfield, the Pet Hospital, she was encouraged to sign up for one of the company's "optimum wellness plans."
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Free news online will cost journalism dearly
December 26, 2007
I don't pretend to understand all the minutiae of the writers strike, but I do know this much: Hollywood scribes want to be compensated fairly when their work is accessed on the Internet, which is increasingly becoming a venue to watch movies and TV shows.
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Best Buy kiosks not connected to Internet
December 23, 2007
The Connecticut attorney general's office sued Best Buy in May, charging the electronics heavyweight with using deceptive in-store websites to trick customers into paying higher prices than available on the company's actual site.
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Airline descends to a new low: a death fee
December 19, 2007
We all know that some airlines nickel-and-dime you with fees -- fees for baggage, fees for food, fees for blankets and pillows. But fees for death?
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Trump's a grump about column on his 'priceless' tips
December 16, 2007
Donald Trump wasn't happy with Wednesday's column about his seminars on profiting from the foreclosure market.
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Trump spins in foreclosure game
December 12, 2007
When I heard that President Bush wants to bail out homeowners caught up in the sub-prime mortgage mess, I figured I better move fast if I want to profit from other people's misfortune.
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Southland transit is in need of big ideas
December 9, 2007
The traffic in L.A. bites -- you know that. The question is: What are we going to do about it?
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Next cell trend lets users hold the phone
November 28, 2007
First people were allowed to take their phone numbers with them whenever they switched wireless providers. Now, Verizon Wireless is handing consumers greater clout by allowing them to use their own handsets, not just Verizon's, on the carrier's network.
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Tribal question a matter of dollars
November 2, 2007
The United States Mint -- you know, the guys who make your money -- issued a news release this week declaring that $130 refunds were being offered to anyone who bought a 2004 Lewis and Clark commemorative coin that was accompanied by a handcrafted pouch produced by Ohio's Shawnee Nation United Remnant Band.
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I knew you were going to read this
October 28, 2007
I'll call her Crystal. She's 19, dark-featured and really concerned about my aura.
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Insurers taking risk out of the equation
October 26, 2007
You buy a Band-Aid. You get a scrape. You use your Band-Aid. And the next time you go to the drugstore, you're told that you have to pay more for Band-Aids. Or maybe they won't sell you another Band-Aid at all.
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Insurance claims could haunt houses
October 24, 2007
If past history is any measure, many homeowners affected by the wildfires burning throughout Southern California will find that claims they submit to insurers will result in higher rates or even dropped policies.
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Locked in a cell: Wireless users punished for canceling early
October 22, 2007
Lawndale resident Julian Torres' cellphone experience will be familiar to many wireless customers.
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Rebate check is not in the mail
September 30, 2007
Let's say you're shopping for a new cellphone. Let's say that, like me, you thought it'd be kind of cool to own one of those sleek Razr handsets. So let's say you go to T-Mobile's website and there it is, for the nifty price of $49.99.
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Press 1 if you hate talking to a device
September 9, 2007
As the man generally regarded as the father of the automated switchboard, Peter Theis knows he has a lot to answer for.
