Healthcare

HMO INDUSTRY: AAHP URGES MEMBERS TO CONSIDER CHANGE

November 29, 1999  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">American Health Line</p> <p>A memo from the head of the American Association of Health Plans (AAHP) states that health insurers have "themselves to blame" for the public backlash against managed care</p>

California Consumer Advocate Mounts Full-Court Press On Managed Care

November 29, 1999  ·  Jamie Court

<p class="source">Modern Healthcare</p> <p>If HMOs weren't beleaguered enough by patient reforms being pushed through Congress, they should be little cheered that one of managed care's biggest gadflies is now a published author. Jamie Court, director of the Santa Monica, California-based Consu</p>

Making A Killing: HMOs and the Threat to Your Health — Book Review

November 22, 1999  ·  Consumer Watchdog

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Huntington Beach, Calif.-Based Firm Offers Online Shopping for Surgery

November 17, 1999  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Orange County Register</p> <p>HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA -- You'll soon be able to put your plastic surgery out to bid on the Internet. Health Website Medicine Online will allow a consumer to post a request for plastic surgery, vision correction or foot surgery at: www.medicineonline.com</p>

Wall Street: Does Market Power Improve Care Quality?

November 12, 1999  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">American Health Line</p> <p>An op-ed in today's Los Angeles Times applauds the "extraordinary" move by UnitedHealth Group allowing doctors to make "medical necessity decisions," calling it "a tribute to the growing HMO accountability movement and the shift on Wall Street that it</p>

State Office to Help California Patients Maneuver Through Complicated System

November 11, 1999  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Associated Press</p> <p>Health care experts said the state's new patient rights office should handle complaints about HMOs, put out an annual HMO report card and fight for California residents' health care rights. <br>Assemblyman Martin Gallegos, D-Baldwin Park, was co-author</p>

Quality Is Now A Factor In HMO Care

November 11, 1999  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Opinion Editorial by Jamie Court and Frank Smith</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>This week's extraordinary announcement by the UnitedHealth Group that it will let practicing physicians make medical necessity decisions is a tribute to the growing HMO accountability movement and the shift on Wall Street that it has provoked.</p>

Making a Killing: HMOs and the Threat to Your Health

November 10, 1999  ·  Jamie Court

If a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) is your family’s medical provider, just hope you never face a medical crisis. This compelling book tells story after...

Clinton Praises HMO’s Move

November 10, 1999  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Orlando Sentinel</p> <p>United Healthcare Corp.'s groundbreaking decision to give doctors final authority over patient care won high praise from President Clinton on Tuesday and will likely give the health insurer a key marketing edge with consumers.</p>

Big H.M.O. to Give Decisions on Care Back to Doctors

November 9, 1999  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">New York Times</p> <p>The United Health Group said yesterday that it was returning decision-making power over patient care to physicians, breaking with a longstanding element of managed care that has infuriated many doctors and frustrated their patients.</p>

Band-Aids Suggested for Ailing Health Care

November 9, 1999  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Riverside Press-Enterprise</p> <p>Recent trends within the health-care industry may help avert a collapse of the medical-group system and a mass disruption of patient care: New legislation. Gov. Davis on Sept. 27 signed a sweeping package of HMO reform bills, including one that sets fis</p>

Key Health Plan Halts Reviews of Doctor Decisions

November 9, 1999  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Action by United HealthCare, Which Covers 800,000 Californians, Would Eliminate Pre-Authorizations For Patients</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>In a dramatic sign that health plans are moving away from the tight controls and bottom-line incentives that have characterized much of managed care over the last decade, the nation's second-largest health insurer said Monday that it will quit interfering</p>