Its time we start banging the table on this issue. If we are going to win this war we need to fight fire with fire. All information from
http://www.insurance-reform.org/mission.html
They create crises as an excuse to raise rates arbitrarily:
"Three times in the last 30 years, the insurance industry has created liability insurance "crises," making insurance unaffordable or, in some cases, unavailable at any price for many businesses, professions, homeowners and others. A crisis happened in the mid-1970s, precipitating the first wave of "tort reform" in medical malpractice insurance and product liability insurance, particularly.
A more severe crisis took place in the mid-1980s, when manufacturers, municipalities, doctors, nurse-midwives, day-care centers, non-profit groups and many other commercial customers of liability insurance were faced with insurance rate increases of 300 percent or more."
First of all why in the hell do insurance companies have Anti Trust exemptions? WHAT A RACKET!
Solutions:
· "Repeal of the Insurance Industry's Anti-Trust Exemptions. A law repealing the insurance industry's federal anti-trust exemption (McCarran-Ferguson Act) would ensure that all domestic and foreign insurers and reinsurers that do business in the United States are subject to federal anti-trust prohibitions applicable to other industries. In addition, states should repeal anti-group laws, as well as anti-rebate laws that prohibit insurance agents from offering discounts to policyholders.
· Meaningful Insurance Disclosure Laws. States must enact laws and regulations so that public officials making policy decisions and legislative choices have information on payouts, losses, income and reserves to determine the true condition of the insurance industry and how victims are faring under the present system. Congress should also set minimum disclosure standards for surplus lines and reinsurers operating in the United States.
· Strong State Authority Over Rates and the Participation of an Effective Insurance Consumer Advocate. State insurance departments must take a far more active role in controlling insurance rates. At a minimum, departments should be given more authority to approve or reject rate requests, or to advocate the rollback of insurance rates. In addition, states should establish a consumer advocate in the Insurance Commissioner's office to participate in rate hearings and to monitor insurance industry waste, inefficiencies and price-gouging.