Supporters of a proposed California initiative that would give the Insurance Commissioner the power to approve health insurance rates have filed signatures to qualify the measure for a place on the November 6, 2012 ballot. The initiative needs 504,760 valid signatures to qualify. County clerks now are counting the filed signatures. Under the initiative, rate approval statutes similar to those enacted by Proposition 103 in 1988 for most property and casualty insurance would be made applicable to health insurance according to a post at www.jdsupra.com

The initiative also would affect automobile and homeowners insurance. For health insurance, as well as automobile and homeowners insurance, the initiative would prohibit insurers from using the absence of prior insurance coverage or a person’s credit history as a rating factor or a criterion for determining insurance eligibility.