Consumer Watchdog’s President and Chairman of the Board is an award-winning and nationally recognized consumer advocate. Capitol Weekly, naming Jamie to its “Top 100” list of unelected movers and shakers in California politics, wrote, “Court has made a career of battling all comers in the interest of the public, and his take-no-prisoners approach has earned him plenty of enemies.” Jamie’s latest book is The Progressive’s Guide To Raising Hell: How To Win Grassroots Campaigns, Pass Ballot Box Laws And Get The Change You Voted For (Chelsea Green, 2010).
“Americans angry about the state of their government might find in Court’s persuasive manifesto a cause for action,” Publishers Weekly writes. “With great accessibility and a fired-up attitude, Court brings his lessons in empowerment to the people.” He is also the author of Corporateering: How Corporate Power Steals Your Freedom And What You Can Do About It (Tarcher Putnam, 2003) and co-author of Making A Killing: HMOs and the Threat To Your Health (Common Courage Press, 1999). Jamie has led dozens of major corporate and political campaigns to reform insurers, banks, technology companies, oil companies, utilities and political practices. He helped to pioneer the HMO patients’ rights movement in the United States, sponsoring successful laws in California and aiding them elsewhere, and was an early champion of many of the most important consumer protections in the federal Affordable Care Act years before they were enacted. In recent years, he has led the campaign to hold California oil refiners accountable for price gouging at the pump which resulted in the toughest oil refinery regulation in America.
A frequent media commentator and op-ed contributor, Jamie is a high-profile and stalwart defender of consumers’ rights. The Los Angeles Times calls him “a tireless consumer advocate.” The Wall Street Journal writes, “He’s notorious for his dramatic, sharp-tongued attacks on the health- and auto-insurance industries, and on any politician who takes their campaign cash.” His public interest career began as an advocate for the homeless and as a community organizer. Jamie’s Alma mater is Pomona College, where he graduated with a BA in History in 1989.
CONTRA COSTA TIMES Signaling a more responsive attitude in its dealings with upset consumers, Kaiser Permanente Thursday announced a settlement with consumer…
Jan 23, 2003
Enron. Tyco. Arthur Andersen. These companies have turned “corporate” into a four-letter word as headline after headline reveals shocking stories of executives…
Jan 1, 2003The San Diego Union Tribune Unfortunately for the public, the doctor running the chamber, Sen. Bill Frist, typifies the GOP's new health-care…
Dec 27, 2002San Diego Union Tribune Unfortunately for the public, the doctor running the chamber, Sen. Bill Frist, typifies the GOP's new health-care strategy:…
Dec 27, 2002Doctor To Turn House Over To Industry Interests Unfortunately for the public, the doctor running the house, Senator Bill Frist, typifies the…
Dec 23, 2002American Health Line The Los Angeles Times today features opinion pieces by Ronald Brownstein, a Times columnist, and Jamie Court, executive director…
Dec 9, 2002The Los Angeles Times Universal health-care reform is back in vogue, but it will take sacrifice by every stakeholder in health care…
Dec 9, 2002Mainers Lacking Adequate Access to Prescription Drugs, Health Care Patients & Activists Call Collins' Statements On Reform Misleading Nationally recognized consumer advocate…
Sep 25, 2002The last days of the legislative session are notorious for eleventh-hour backroom deals and greased lightning legislation that can clear every rules…
Aug 29, 2002The San Diego Union-Tribune The recent Capitol Hill burials for a Medicare prescription drug benefit and HMO reform signal that California must…
Aug 20, 2002Testimony of Jamie Court In an age where expanding patients' rights has become a national demand, HR 4600 would dramatically contract patients'…
Jul 17, 2002COMMITTEE: HOUSE ENERGY AND COMMERCE, SUBCOMMITTEE: HEALTHFederal Document Clearing House In an age where expanding patients' rights has become a national demand,…
Jul 17, 2002The only way to ensure access to Los Angeles County's emergency rooms and hospitals is by employing the same model that Angelenos…
Jul 7, 2002The industry must not be allowed to wiggle its way out of accountability to the ailing.The Los Angeles Times California HMOs are…
Jun 10, 2002The industry must not be allowed to wiggle its way out of accountability to the ailing. California HMOs are slyly attacking the…
Jun 10, 2002American Health Line Health insurance in California is "fast becoming a bait-and-switch scam" in which consumers choose a health plan and insurers…
May 9, 2002Health-care plans are beginning to feel like scams in California.The Los Angeles Times The revelation that health insurers will be levying surcharges…
May 8, 2002