Tuesday, October 19, 2004
NY AG Spitzer Widens Investigation of Insurance Price Rigging
This is one great specific example of the myth of capitalism (that is, we pretend the US is a capitalist nation when it is not). You'll notice others anywhere there is manipulation of the so-called free market:
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The insurance controversy became public last week, when Mr. Spitzer sued Marsh & McLennan, the world's biggest commercial insurance broker, accusing the broker of rigging bids from insurance companies and fixing prices for corporate customers in exchange for fees from the insurance companies.Full NYTimes article (in GuvWurld News Archive, links to original).
Three insurance companies have entered guilty pleas to rigging bids, and more criminal charges are expected, perhaps as early as this week.
Such bid-rigging schemes, investigators contend, have indirectly increased the costs of everything from houses to toothpaste as corporations pass along the expense. The bid rigging was discovered, Mr. Spitzer said last week, during an investigation into incentive fees insurers pay to insurance brokers.
But there are other potential conflicts of interest in insurance that may have a more direct impact on consumers. Investigators in New York and California are now examining whether brokers and consultants are demanding extra fees for favored treatment in the sale of employee benefits like group life and disability coverage.
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