Well, it's been just over a week since the end of the Steve Poizner era at the Insurance Commissioner's office, and it didn't take long to see the changes. Right of the gate, Jones has come out fighting the massive insurance premium hikes:
Commissioner Dave Jones has already urged Blue Shield of California to refrain from raising rates for the third time in five months. The increases would drive up consumers' bills as much as 59% cumulatively.
On Tuesday, Jones notified Aetna Inc., Anthem Blue Cross and PacifiCare that he also is focusing on them. The insurers did not respond immediately to Jones' request. (LA Times)
While Poizner never officially took insurance company money for the gig, it did manage to find its way into his ballot measure accounts. Pretty funny how that goes. And while he did occasionally go after the massive increases, his policy against them was more talk than anything else. I think there are a lot of California consumers that would like to see a little more action from Jones than his predecessor. Knowing Dave Jones, I'd be shocked if we didn't see just that.
