Insurance & Big Corporations

In this section you will find resources that expose the truth about the insurance and corporate world and how their lobbying efforts affect real issues you face every day, including health care, auto insurance, homeowners insurance and how big corporations obscure and twist the truth about the civil justice system.

The Frivolous Case for Tort Law Change: Opponents of the legal system exaggerate its costs, ignore its benefits

Lawrence Chimerine and Ross Eisenbrey of the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit Washington D.C. research group, created in 1986 to broaden the discussion about economic policy, take on the insurance industry's favorite actuarial firm Tillinghast-Towers Perrin. TTP is a key proponent of the mistaken view that the tort system has large negative effects on the economy, a fact even the Congressional Budget Office believes is "grossly inflated."

• The Frivolous Case for Tort Law Change
  20 pages, 113 KB

• One-page Summary Report
  1 page, 108 KB

Tricks of the Trade: How Insurance Companies Deny, Delay, Confuse and Refuse

Insurers are increasingly using tough tactics against cash-strapped consumers to boost profits, according to a new report that investigates claims data, policies, and news accounts. The report details tactics that target policyholders, insurance companies that are engaging in these practices, and what consumers can do to prevent abuses and fight back. The current economic turmoil, which is greatly affecting the insurance sector, will likely spark insurers to use these tactics to maximize their bottom lines.

• Tricks of the Trade
  18 pages, 305 KB