SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept 9 - Consumers had a couple of solid victories today when the Senate approved both AB 260 (Lieu) and AB 2 (De La Torre). While the bills couldn’t have less to do with each other—AB 260 deals with mortgage reform and AB 2 will improve health insurance practices—they will both significantly improve consumer protections in the state.
According to CALPIRG Consumer Advocate Pedro Morillas, “The Senate voted today to give the Governor a second chance to reform the industry that created the economic collapse. It is a big win for consumers and for the security California’s economy.”
Mike Russo CALPIRG Healthcare advocate weighed in on the healthcare bill that passed today saying, “With health care reform dominating headlines in Washington, this time it’s California that’s leading the way. AB 2 will stop insurers from pulling the rug out from under vulnerable patients, letting Californians trust their coverage again.”
One of the last big pushes for consumer groups in the capitol is around SB 797 (Pavley), which will ban the toxic chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles, sippy cups,and food containers meant for kids 3 or younger. The bill is expected to come up in the Assembly sometime tomorrow, and consumer groups will be making an all out effort to get it passed.
For those with an aversion to paragraphs, here are the bullet points on the bills:
AB 260:
- Remove incentives for brokers to steer borrowers into a more expensive loans in return for a kickback from a bank.
- Regulate Prepayment Penalties, the product that prevented many borrowers from refinancing out of loans before the interest rates ballooned out of control.
AB 2:
- Prohibit rescission except where the insurer demonstrates that the enrollee intentionally made a material misrepresentation on their application.
- Create standard, easy to understand application questions to reduce the risk of enrollees inadvertently providing incorrect information.
- Set up an independent review process to examine all rescissions before they go into effect.
SB 797:
- Prohibit BPA above 0.1 parts per billion in bottles, cups, and food containers meant for children 3 years old or younger
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