Harvey Rosenfield
Encyclopedia
Harvey Rosenfield is an American
lawyer
, author
and consumer advocate
. In 1985, he founded Consumer Watchdog
, a nationally recognized, nonpartisan
nonprofit public interest group
. He now serves as the group's counsel
.
He is best known for drafting, and organizing the campaign for, Proposition 103, a ballot proposal that rolled back automobile insurance rates in California
. The Consumer Federation of America estimates that Proposition 103 has saved California consumers $63 billion since 1988.
Today, Rosenfield's consumer advocacy work focuses on insurance company overcharges, patient protection, cell phone problems and consumer rights.
. His father was an accountant
and his mother, a painter and poet. At Randolph High School in 1970, he was involved in his first grass roots campaign: the "Smoke Out." The campaign encouraged community members to give up smoking for a day and donate the monetary equivalent of a pack of cigarettes to a scholarship fund. Rosenfield's high school guidance counselor, Art Mullaney, originated the idea and Rosenfield attributes his "success to [Mullaney] and a few people like him" who mentored Rosenfield. The group raised $4500 and attracted the attention of the American Cancer Society
, which used the "smokeout" theme in its "Great American Smokeout" campaign, beginning in 1977.
In 1970 Rosenfield attended Amherst College
and studied psychology, though he later decided to pursue studies in law. After graduating magna cum laud in 1974, Rosenfield moved to Washington, D.C.
to intern with Massachusetts Congressman Michael Harrington
. In the fall of 1974, he began a joint degree in law and international affairs at Georgetown University
.
at Public Citizen
, a Washington D.C. citizen advocacy group. And in 1979, after graduating from Georgetown, Rosenfield began working full time for Nader's Public Citizen Congress Watch
as an energy lobbyist opposing nuclear power
. In the wake of the 1979 oil crisis, Congress was considering a fossil fuels and nuclear strategy for energy independence, and Rosenfield fought for alternative energy sources and environmental conservation.
Nader asked Rosenfield to go to California and help organize the California Public Interest Research Group (CalPIRG) in 1981. As program director, he lobbied on a variety of issues including utility and campaign finance reform and public access to government. The goal was to "bring Nader style advocacy to the West Coast."
Rosenfield resigned from CalPIRG in 1985. But later that year, Nader asked him to campaign against Proposition 51, an insurance industry backed initiative on the California ballot that limited damage claims on lawsuits, which the industry claimed were responsible for skyrocketing insurance rates.
(formerly the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights). Proposition 51 passed, but Rosenfield continued to work for insurance rate reductions at his newly formed public interest group
. After researching the issue, Rosenfield believed insurance regulation was the only solution to rising rates. In response, Rosenfield drafted new insurance reform legislation, which insurance industry lobbyists killed in the state capitol.
To bring attention to his cause, Rosenfield used grassroots publicity stunts like having guards accompany him while he delivered the signatures that got Proposition 103 on the ballot. As well, he attempted to deliver truckloads of cow manure to the headquarters Farmers Insurance of Los Angeles. Rosenfield often referred to insurance companies as "outlaws" during the campaign. These stunts, many 18-hour days, canvassers knocking on 1 million doors, and the high profile endorsement of his mentor, Ralph Nader, helped Voter Revolt pass the initiative in November 1988. The win was seen as a huge blow to the insurance industry. After Proposition 103 passed, Rosenfield told the Wall Street Journal that he gotten inquiries from public interest groups "in at least 30 other states expressing interest in launching Proposition 103-style initiatives."
Since then, Rosenfield, and his colleagues at Consumer Watchdog
defended Proposition 103 from insurance industry attacks and ensured the proposition's implementation. In 2008, the Consumer Federation for America estimated that Proposition 103 had saved consumers over $63 billion dollars since 1988.
to spearhead the effort. In 1996, the group worked to have the nation's first patients' bill of rights proposition placed on the California ballot. However, Proposition 216 failed to pass, garnering only 38.7% of the vote.
In 1998, the group proposed additional HMO patient's rights legislation. To bring attention to the issue, the group dumped a truck load of pinto beans at an HMO industry conference to emphasize Consumer Watchdog's opposition to HMO "bean counters" overriding doctors' decisions. Most of the legislative package later passed with the help of the California Nurses Association in November 1998.
As a result, California has the strongest HMO patient protection laws in America. Many of the provisions of California's bill were included in the national U.S. Patients' Bill of Rights
act, which passed Congress in 2001.
in 2001. Rosenfield talks about the situation in the 2005 documentary, The Smartest Guys in the Room.
to repeal a key provision of Proposition 103. Rosenfield "argued that the measure would have allowed Mercury and other companies to impose surcharges of as much as $1,000 on drivers who have not had continuous coverage." To raise awareness of the fact that an insurance company was trying to hide its sponsorship of Proposition 17, and its CEO was afraid to debate the merits of the proposal in public, the group sent a man in a chicken suit to legislative hearings on the measure. The group was outspent 12-to-1, but the measure was defeated on June 8, 2010.
Jamie Court
Ralph Nader
John Simpson
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and consumer advocate
Consumer protection
Consumer protection laws designed to ensure fair trade competition and the free flow of truthful information in the marketplace. The laws are designed to prevent businesses that engage in fraud or specified unfair practices from gaining an advantage over competitors and may provide additional...
. In 1985, he founded Consumer Watchdog
Consumer Watchdog
Consumer Watchdog is a division of Business & Enterprise Solutions Botswana Ltd, a privately owned company registered in Botswana and based in Gaborone....
, a nationally recognized, nonpartisan
Nonpartisan
In political science, nonpartisan denotes an election, event, organization or person in which there is no formally declared association with a political party affiliation....
nonprofit public interest group
Public interest
The public interest refers to the "common well-being" or "general welfare." The public interest is central to policy debates, politics, democracy and the nature of government itself...
. He now serves as the group's counsel
Counsel
A counsel or a counselor gives advice, more particularly in legal matters.-U.K. and Ireland:The legal system in England uses the term counsel as an approximate synonym for a barrister-at-law, and may apply it to mean either a single person who pleads a cause, or collectively, the body of barristers...
.
He is best known for drafting, and organizing the campaign for, Proposition 103, a ballot proposal that rolled back automobile insurance rates in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The Consumer Federation of America estimates that Proposition 103 has saved California consumers $63 billion since 1988.
Today, Rosenfield's consumer advocacy work focuses on insurance company overcharges, patient protection, cell phone problems and consumer rights.
Early life and education
Rosenfield was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1952 and grew up in the middle-class suburb of RandolphRandolph, Massachusetts
The Town of Randolph is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 32,112. Randolph adopted a new charter effective January 2010 providing for a council-manager form of government instead of the traditional town meeting...
. His father was an accountant
Accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...
and his mother, a painter and poet. At Randolph High School in 1970, he was involved in his first grass roots campaign: the "Smoke Out." The campaign encouraged community members to give up smoking for a day and donate the monetary equivalent of a pack of cigarettes to a scholarship fund. Rosenfield's high school guidance counselor, Art Mullaney, originated the idea and Rosenfield attributes his "success to [Mullaney] and a few people like him" who mentored Rosenfield. The group raised $4500 and attracted the attention of the American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
, which used the "smokeout" theme in its "Great American Smokeout" campaign, beginning in 1977.
In 1970 Rosenfield attended Amherst College
Amherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
and studied psychology, though he later decided to pursue studies in law. After graduating magna cum laud in 1974, Rosenfield moved to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to intern with Massachusetts Congressman Michael Harrington
Michael Harrington
Edward Michael "Mike" Harrington was an American democratic socialist, writer, political activist, professor of political science, radio commentator and founder of the Democratic Socialists of America.-Personal life:...
. In the fall of 1974, he began a joint degree in law and international affairs at Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
.
Early career
In 1976, Rosenfield took a $600 internship with his future mentor, Ralph NaderRalph Nader
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
at Public Citizen
Public Citizen
Public Citizen is a non-profit, consumer rights advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a branch in Austin, Texas. Public Citizen was founded by Ralph Nader in 1971, headed for 26 years by Joan Claybrook, and is now headed by Robert Weissman.-Lobbying Efforts:Public Citizen...
, a Washington D.C. citizen advocacy group. And in 1979, after graduating from Georgetown, Rosenfield began working full time for Nader's Public Citizen Congress Watch
Congress Watch
Congress Watch is a division of Public Citizen that champions consumer interests before the U.S. Congress and serves as a government watchdog. They engage in public education and advocacy, and are focused on the following:...
as an energy lobbyist opposing nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
. In the wake of the 1979 oil crisis, Congress was considering a fossil fuels and nuclear strategy for energy independence, and Rosenfield fought for alternative energy sources and environmental conservation.
Nader asked Rosenfield to go to California and help organize the California Public Interest Research Group (CalPIRG) in 1981. As program director, he lobbied on a variety of issues including utility and campaign finance reform and public access to government. The goal was to "bring Nader style advocacy to the West Coast."
Rosenfield resigned from CalPIRG in 1985. But later that year, Nader asked him to campaign against Proposition 51, an insurance industry backed initiative on the California ballot that limited damage claims on lawsuits, which the industry claimed were responsible for skyrocketing insurance rates.
Consumer Watchdog
During the same period he was fighting against Proposition 51, Rosenfield founded Consumer WatchdogConsumer Watchdog
Consumer Watchdog is a division of Business & Enterprise Solutions Botswana Ltd, a privately owned company registered in Botswana and based in Gaborone....
(formerly the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights). Proposition 51 passed, but Rosenfield continued to work for insurance rate reductions at his newly formed public interest group
Public interest
The public interest refers to the "common well-being" or "general welfare." The public interest is central to policy debates, politics, democracy and the nature of government itself...
. After researching the issue, Rosenfield believed insurance regulation was the only solution to rising rates. In response, Rosenfield drafted new insurance reform legislation, which insurance industry lobbyists killed in the state capitol.
Proposition 103
In 1987, Rosenfield began to write a ballot box proposal and formed a campaign to sponsor it called Voter Revolt. The proposal turned into insurance reform Proposition 103 and promised voters a minimum 20% rollback in rates for property, auto and other kinds of insurance. Voter Revolt operated on a $2.9 million dollar budget, a fraction of the insurance industry's $63 million dollar lobbying and advertising effort. The insurance industry, fearing they would not be able to defeat Proposition 103, launched three competing initiative measures in an attempt to confuse voters.To bring attention to his cause, Rosenfield used grassroots publicity stunts like having guards accompany him while he delivered the signatures that got Proposition 103 on the ballot. As well, he attempted to deliver truckloads of cow manure to the headquarters Farmers Insurance of Los Angeles. Rosenfield often referred to insurance companies as "outlaws" during the campaign. These stunts, many 18-hour days, canvassers knocking on 1 million doors, and the high profile endorsement of his mentor, Ralph Nader, helped Voter Revolt pass the initiative in November 1988. The win was seen as a huge blow to the insurance industry. After Proposition 103 passed, Rosenfield told the Wall Street Journal that he gotten inquiries from public interest groups "in at least 30 other states expressing interest in launching Proposition 103-style initiatives."
Since then, Rosenfield, and his colleagues at Consumer Watchdog
Consumer Watchdog
Consumer Watchdog is a division of Business & Enterprise Solutions Botswana Ltd, a privately owned company registered in Botswana and based in Gaborone....
defended Proposition 103 from insurance industry attacks and ensured the proposition's implementation. In 2008, the Consumer Federation for America estimated that Proposition 103 had saved consumers over $63 billion dollars since 1988.
HMO patients' rights
In 1994, during the Clinton healthcare debate, Rosenfield began working to reform the HMO industry. He created Californians for Quality Care and appointed Jamie CourtJamie Court
Jamie Court is an American author, political activist, lobbyist and consumer advocate. He serves as president of Consumer Watchdog, a nationally recognized, nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group....
to spearhead the effort. In 1996, the group worked to have the nation's first patients' bill of rights proposition placed on the California ballot. However, Proposition 216 failed to pass, garnering only 38.7% of the vote.
In 1998, the group proposed additional HMO patient's rights legislation. To bring attention to the issue, the group dumped a truck load of pinto beans at an HMO industry conference to emphasize Consumer Watchdog's opposition to HMO "bean counters" overriding doctors' decisions. Most of the legislative package later passed with the help of the California Nurses Association in November 1998.
As a result, California has the strongest HMO patient protection laws in America. Many of the provisions of California's bill were included in the national U.S. Patients' Bill of Rights
U.S. Patients' Bill of Rights
A Patient's Bill of Rights is a statement of the rights to which patients are entitled as recipients of medical care. Typically, a statement articulates the positive rights which doctors and hospitals ought to provide patients, thereby providing information, offering fair treatment, and granting...
act, which passed Congress in 2001.
Energy Regulation
Rosenfield co-authored Proposition 9 in 1998, a ballot initiative to block aspects of the utility deregulation laws passed by California lawmakers in 1996. Proposition 9 failed due to the $40 million dollar lobbying efforts of the utility industry. Rosenfield claimed his re-regulation efforts could have helped deter the California Energy Crisis exploited by EnronEnron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 22,000 staff and was one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper companies, with...
in 2001. Rosenfield talks about the situation in the 2005 documentary, The Smartest Guys in the Room.
Proposition 17
During 2010, Rosenfield opposed Proposition 17, a $16 million attempt by Mercury Insurance GroupMercury Insurance Group
Mercury Insurance Group is an American automobile and property insurance company founded by George Joseph in 1961. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA.-History:...
to repeal a key provision of Proposition 103. Rosenfield "argued that the measure would have allowed Mercury and other companies to impose surcharges of as much as $1,000 on drivers who have not had continuous coverage." To raise awareness of the fact that an insurance company was trying to hide its sponsorship of Proposition 17, and its CEO was afraid to debate the merits of the proposal in public, the group sent a man in a chicken suit to legislative hearings on the measure. The group was outspent 12-to-1, but the measure was defeated on June 8, 2010.
Consumer Education Foundation
Rosenfield currently serves as President of the Consumer Education Foundation. The group maintains a website called Where's Our Money? that discusses the financial crisis of 2008.Works
Rosenfield wrote Silent Violence, Silent Death: The Hidden Epidemic of Medical Malpractice in 1994. Published by Essential Books, the book outlines the extent of the medical malpractice in the United States, and how consumers can protect themselves from this threat. He has written many articles for newspapers.Awards
- Top 100 California Political Power Brokers by Capitol Weekly
- California Lawyer of the Year
- Top 100 Litigators in California by Los Angeles Daily Journal
- Honorary Degree from Amherst College
- Speaking Truth to Power by the California Nurses Association
Personal
Rosenfield lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife, author Georgia Bragg. The couple have two children.See also
Consumer WatchdogConsumer Watchdog
Consumer Watchdog is a division of Business & Enterprise Solutions Botswana Ltd, a privately owned company registered in Botswana and based in Gaborone....
Jamie Court
Jamie Court
Jamie Court is an American author, political activist, lobbyist and consumer advocate. He serves as president of Consumer Watchdog, a nationally recognized, nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group....
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
John Simpson
John Simpson (journalist/consumer advocate)
John M. Simpson is an American consumer rights advocate and former journalist. Since 2005, he has worked for Consumer Watchdog, a nonpartisan nonprofit public interest group, as the lead researcher on Inside Google, the group's effort to educate the public about Google's dominance over the...
External links
- http://www.consumerwatchdog.org - Consumer Watchdog official website
- http://www.harveyrosenfield.com/ - Harvey Rosenfield official website
- http://www.wheresourmoney.org/ - Where's Our Money? official website