Via ShutterstockCalifornians living and working in wildfire-prone areas are familiar with the challenges of finding insurance for their homes and businesses, but all homeowners and businesses could soon feel their pain if the dominos in California’s fragile insurance market continue to fall in an unbalanced way.
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: With nearly five decades of advocacy under his belt, there are only a handful of people who have lobbied in Sacramento longer than John Norwood. A lawyer as well as a lobbyist, Norwood has earned a reputation as a hard worker and a straight shooter. We asked him about the changes he’s seen, and the biggest challenges facing California.
A view of downtown Los Angeles seen from the Hollywood hills. (Photo: logoboom, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Perhaps the greatest financial risk faced by Californians today has nothing to do with rising interest rates or a looming recession. Rather, it is the loss of access to products they rely upon to protect their most valuable assets: auto, homeowners and commercial insurance.
Homes destroyed during the Thomas fire in Ventura, 2018. (Photo: Joseph Sohm, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Increasingly, California residents have been left with no choice but to accept the California FAIR Plan, the insurer of last resort, and the typically higher rates that come with it. The FAIR Plan provides basic fire insurance coverage when traditional insurance is not available, often for properties that other insurers decline to cover because they are considered high-risk.
The 2020 Silverado Fire burns toward homes in Orange County, northeast of Irvine. (Photo: markmandersonfilms, via Shutterstock)Sarah Mapel bought her dream home in Santa Cruz County’s Boulder Creek neighborhood in 2018. Later, she purchased fire insurance through the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) plan, a state-mandated program for consumers unable to acquire such insurance due to high-risk factors. “It was quite expensive,” she said.
Illustration of the elements of medicine and the law. (Illustration: vchal, via Shutterstock)The latest chapter in a decades-long battle between physicians and lawyers is unfolding through compromise in Sacramento and so far, almost everyone involved has come aboard. The political battle revolves around California’s Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) which limits the amount of money patients can receive if injured by a physician in connection with medical treatment.
A Los Angeles police officer inspects the damage of a car crash. (Photo: Matt Gush, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Imagine paying the insurance premiums on your home for years, thinking you’re protecting yourself against disaster. Then, horribly, one day your house burns to the ground in a catastrophic fire. Only then do you find out the shocking news that your insurance policy will pay the cost to replace your home – but only up to the value of what the home was worth in 1967, back when Lyndon Johnson was President.
California made national headlines this week with an aggressive push toward achieving Universal Healthcare in the state. John Howard and Tim Foster of Capitol Weekly sit down with Anthony Wright of Health Access California to hear his insights on these major developments in California healthcare policy, and learn what to expect next.
A brush fire approaches residences in Pacific Palisades in May, 2021. (Photo: BrittanyNY, via Shutterstock)OPINION: As hints of fall weather begin, California residents remain mindful that the risks from Diablo and Santa Ana wind-driven wildfires are still to come. Unfortunately, with California’s riskiest months still approaching, consumers in 2021 must also be aware of a new threat in wildfire planning.
An ophthalmologist performs eye surgery on a patient. (Photo: PRESSLAB, via Shutterstock)OPINION: “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up!” proclaims an elderly woman in a 1980’s commercial for LifeCall, a home system that summoned emergency care, but became the subject of derision and perhaps a bit of schadenfreude over time, spawning parodies. Of course, it might seem funny until it’s you or a loved one, perhaps the victim of a fall due to poor eyesight.