Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/7134
SACRAMENTO (AP) — California's insurance regulator said Monday his office has found more than 700 violations by the state's largest for-profit health insurer, including late payment of claims, giving misleading infor- mation to consumers and failing to cooperate with regulators. Anthem Blue Cross faces a maximum $10,000 penalty for each violation, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said. His office said the violations occurred between 2006 and 2009. Kristin Binns, a spokeswoman for the insurer, said the company takes the allegations seri- ously, though she noted they represent a fraction of the company's millions of claims. The Los Angeles- based company, a sub- sidiary of Indianapolis- based WellPoint Inc., has been criticized recently by Poizner, state and fed- eral lawmakers, and Obama administration officials for proposing rate hikes as high as 39 percent. The company put those increases on hold until May 1. Poizner said he was fil- ing official accusations with the state's Office of Administrative Hearing alleging the policy han- dling violations. That will trigger hearings on whether the insurer should be fined. Weather forecast 8B Cloudy with light rain 50/43 N EWS D AILY DAILY 50¢ TUESDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2010 A Voice for Children Battle For RF Breaking news at: www.redbluffdailynews.com N EWS D AILY RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 See Inside SPORTS 1B American Profile 7 5 8 5 5 1 6 9 0 0 1 9 STOP THE PAIN FROM NEUROPATHY, SHINGLES, ARTHRITIS, AND POST SURGERY. DR. SWAIM'S PAIN CREAM NOW AVAILABLE IN OUR OFFICE AT 2530 SR MARY COLUMBA DR. RED BLUFF, CA 96080 (530) 527-7584 Smog Inspection $ 29 95 (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) Pass or FREE retest 195 S. Main St. Red Bluff 530 527-9841 COMPLETE AUTO REPAIR + cert. Dave Hencratt for Sheriff/Coroner ★ Tri Tip Dinner $ 15 00 Paid for by the committee to elect Dave Hencratt for Sheriff/Coroner February 26th, 2010, 6pm Red Bluff Community Center Auction & Silent Auction • Door Prizes Music by: Chad Bushnell Ticket available at: Crossroads Feed 595 Antelope Blvd. or call 526-5675 Paid Political Advertisement Red Bluff Sunrise Rotary Club Crab & Tri-Tip Feed Saturday, February 27, 2010 Red Bluff Community Center Tickets: $30 in advance Call 200-2831 or 366-2149 $35 at the door Doors Open 6pm Dinner starts 6:30pm Auction to follow College to halt bus service to Redding Campus By TANG LOR DN Staff Writer Come fall students in Tehama County who ride the Shasta College bus to get to the Redding main campus will have to find other means to get there. At the end of this spring semester, Shasta College will no longer provide transporta- tion from Red Bluff. The bus makes stops in Cottonwood, Anderson and south Redding. Students in those areas also will be affected. It is upsetting to see that Shasta College will no longer provide transportation, said David Span, a teacher at eScholar Academy in Red Bluff. One of Span's students rides the bus to attend classes in the nursing program, a program that is not offered at the Tehama campus. She has relied on the bus to get to class for the last four years and has no other way to get to Redding, Span said. "Everyday she gets on at 6:45 in the morning and comes back at 5 o'clock," he said. "It's just not right. She can't just drive up and back." The Shasta College Board of Trustees made the decision to cease bus operation to outer areas in July 2004. Once extended campuses were com- pleted, those campuses would serve students in the outer area, Shasta College President Gary Lewis said. The Tehama County Campus on Diamond Road in Red Bluff was opened to students for the fall 2009 semester. By not providing transporta- tion to outer areas, the hope is that more students will attend classes at the extended campus- es, Lewis said. The more stu- dents who enroll and attend Rising star Daily News photo by Geoff Johnson Stacy Stone, 14, practices guitar at her Red Bluff home. Stone will be opening for Sarah Evans on March 3 at the Redding Convention Center. By GEOFF JOHNSON DN Staff Writer REDDING — Red Bluff music fans may see a familiar face on stage at the Sarah Evans concert March 3. Red Bluff Union High School student Stacy Stone, 14, is slated to open for Evans. Stone began practicing in earnest four years ago, largely inspired by country singer Gretchen Wilson. The first time she sang in public, during a fifth grade spaghetti feed, Stone covered Wilson's song Red- neck Woman. In the song, Wilson both cele- brates and pokes fun at country Museum awaits funding for needed repairs By JULIE ZEEB DN Staff Writer Without the money to do the repairs, the Kelly-Griggs House Museum is at a standstill — the wall on the south side cannot be fixed before the foundation. "The main push for us right now is the south wall," Museum Association Board President Sharon Wilson said. "Nothing else can hap- pen until it's done, but it's like all the other things, we want to keep it going." Having used all 50,000 in grant money from the McConnell Foundation per- forming the first few of the 14 foundation repair phases necessary, the group is hop- ing for help from the com- Daily News photo by Julie Zeeb Kelly-Griggs House Museum directors take a look at the south wall of the Victorian house. Legislature takes steps on deficit SACRAMENTO (AP) — California lawmakers began voting Monday on a Democratic package of bills aimed at trimming the state's $20 billion deficit by about $5 billion. The Assembly and Senate took up legislation that would reduce some government services and the state employee payroll. Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D- Los Angeles, said voting was likely to be completed Tuesday. Among other provisions, the package would change the way the state allocates the taxes it collects on gaso- line. It also would give local transit agencies more authority to raise taxes and would allow the state to enforce tax collections from Internet retailers. It's unclear if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would sign the whole package, which is being voted on with- out Republican support. Democrats acknowledged that their plan does not achieve the savings the governor sought when he called lawmakers into an emergency legislative session to tackle the state's fiscal crisis. He called on lawmakers to start cutting education and social service programs, which make up the bulk of state spending. Democrats are waiting to see if tax revenue contin- ues to come in ahead of projections and if federal aid increases, as they have requested. ''We want to take time with some of these deci- sions,'' Bass said. ''The idea that we would just take this time right now and whack education and health and human services — obviously, people would not be will- ing to do that.'' Some of the cuts lawmakers agreed to include cut- ting state government payroll by 5 percent, cutting inmate health care costs and continue a 3 percent cut for developmental centers. The Senate passed most of the package on Monday but had not taken up a complicated shift in the way the state taxes gasoline. In essence, the governor's plan is to lower the overall amount drivers pay in gasoline taxes but direct more of that money to the state general fund and away from public transit. Democrats don't want to lower gas taxes so they can preserve funding for transit agencies. The Senate also had not voted on the governor's pro- posal to impose a surcharge on residential and com- mercial insurance policies as a way to help pay for the state's response to wildfires, earthquakes and other dis- asters. The administration says the fee would cost the average homeowner $12 a year and would bring in Regulator finds Blue Cross violations See BUS, page 7A See STAR, page 7A See DEFICIT, page 7A See REPAIRS, page 7A See BLUE, page 7A