Rockefeller, Cantwell Fight Gas Pricing Fraud

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.) today joined Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) in urging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to fully utilize its authority to make sure that American consumers are paying a fair price for gas. Gas prices have spiked recently, hurting families from coast to coast and threatening economic recovery.

Rockefeller Urges Insurance Commissioners to Preserve the Strong Consumer Protections in the Health Care Reform Law

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, sent a letter today to the President of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) urging state insurance regulators to oppose giving health insurance agents and brokers a special exemption from an important pro-consumer provision of the health care reform law. The letter provides a detailed analysis of why exempting agent and broker commissions from the law’s “minimum medical loss ratio” requirements could cost individuals and businesses more than a billion dollars in lost rebates and premiums reductions. The National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) and Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty are lobbying NAIC members to endorse this special agent and broker exemption at the NAIC’s upcoming meeting in Austin, Texas.

Rockefeller Op-Ed Asks NFL to Show Good Faith Effort to Break Labor Impasse

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today encouraged National Football League (NFL) Commissioner Roger Goodell to find a way to give the NFL Player’s Association more information on the league’s finances. In a Washington Post op-ed published today, the senator said this gesture could help avert a strike. Today’s column comes amid new reports of stalled collective bargaining negotiations between team owners and NFL players.