Insurance Industry Creates Fake “Grass Roots” Group

If you notice your insurance rates going up in the next few months, the culprit might be the insurance industry’s multi-million dollar sleaze campaign in Washington State. The money has to come from somewhere; and that would be You The Consumer.

The Washington state legislature has passed a law that allows people to sue their insurance company for triple damages if the company denies a valid claim. And the insurance industry is spending millions to trick voters into repealing this law.

It’s bad enough that the insurance industry is trying to buy their way out of doing their jobs. But the way they're going about it is even sleazier. Since they're the ones who wanted this issue to be on the ballot, you'd think the initiative that they got on the ballot (it’s called R-67) would require a Yes vote. However, it’s well known that the “No” side of an initiative has the advantage. If voters aren't totally clear on what an initiative means, they tend to vote No on it.

So the initiative is worded in such a way that it’s asking the voters if they want to keep this insurance law that’s already been passed. The insurance industry put their own initiative on the ballot so they could ask the voters to vote No on it. Pretty slick, huh?

Not surprisingly, the four insurance companies that have generated the most complaints are the largest contributors to the “No on-R-67” campaign.

Sen. Brian Weinstein, D-Mercer Island, the law’s main sponsor, said: "The complaints brought against them are just the tip of the iceberg. It seems to me $6 million is a fantastic investment if they can stop this from becoming law and continue to delay and deny claims."

The cloying smothering TV ads against R-67 are financed by a “grass roots” (i.e. Astroturf) group calling itself “Consumers Against Higher Insurance Rates.” As you've probably guessed, “Consumers Against Higher Insurance Rates” is comprised of — insurance companies. Slippery scumbags.

If you live in Washington State — or if you're within broadcasting range of a Washington TV station — you’ve gotta be sick to death of these TV ads. They're even worse than those fake-folksy Harry and Louise ads that blighted the airwaves when Clinton tried to expand health coverage.

Hopefully Washington’s voters will be smart enough to see through the smoke and mirrors.