Healthcare

Health Law Changes Rules For Docs With In-House Imaging Machines

August 23, 2010 · Jamie Court

By Journalist Person, PERIODICALS WEEKLY Physicians Must Disclose If They Own CT, MRI or PET Scanners Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, a national consumer advocacy group based in Santa Monica, Calif., said the new disclosure requirement may eventually lead patients to think hard about the financial relationship their doctor has. But in the short term, he said, the law will have little impact. "People will still defer to the white coat."

The Hospital ER As Main Selling Point : Facilities Market Wait Times – And Prompt Concerns

July 29, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

Despite years of concern about crowded emergency rooms, many California hospitals have embarked on aggressively courting patients to their ERs – a nascent campaign that has raised concerns among healthcare advocates and providers. “It’s a good business decision if they’re targeting insured patients,” said Judy Dugan, director of research for Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica-based advocacy group. “But it’s the opposite of what the healthcare system needs.” Dugan noted that many patients are charged co-payments and other fees they would not incur if they visited their primary care physician or an urgent care clinic.

Insurers Want The Calls To Go Through

July 20, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

Health-care Overhaul May Threaten Popular Disease Management Programs Even supporters of disease management programs worry that the rules being drafted will prove too loose, prompting insurers to lump in all sorts of programs that are at best unproven and at worst actually administrative in nature. "You cannot trust the insurance industry to police itself. You have to watch them like a hawk," said Judy Dugan, research director of the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog. At a minimum, said Dugan, disease management programs run by insurers should be accredited by an independent organization.

For Heart Surgery, Head for the Border?

July 20, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

Walker saved almost $100,000 on his heart surgery. But Judy Dugan of Consumer Watchdog say there's no way to know how safe these procedures are. Judy Dugan: I mean, the medical facilities can look gorgeous, the doctor's credentials can look good, but really, you can't tell. Dugan agrees that the choice is up to consumers, but as domestic health care costs continue to climb and companies try to save money, that might soon change.

Insurers Shift Focus to Health Reform Rules

July 12, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

Carmen Balber, director of the Washington office for Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group that has been highly critical of the insurance industry and is closely tracking implementation of the health reform law, concurred. "This regulation was one of the most concrete steps that Congress took to rein in costs for consumers," she said. "The idea here was to ensure that insurers spend more on patient care and less on overhead and profit."

If insurers will cancel you for a penny, what won’t they do to kill health reform?

July 8, 2010 · Judy Dugan

A Colorado woman who's in the middle of intensive chemotherapy for leukemia gets laid off. Bad enough, but at least she can afford to keep her insurance through COBRA continuation. But she's unknowingly a penny short--actually, less than a half-penny short--on her first COBRA insurance bill. Then comes the letter saying her health insurance "has not been reinstated with your insurance carrier(s)." And when she calls (in the middle of a day of chemo), the phone rep demands immediate payment of the penny.

UCSF Head Has Millions in Medical, Drug Stocks

July 1, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

Days after selling her tobacco stock and donating the proceeds to an anti-smoking program at UCSF, Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann, chancellor of the public medical school and hospital system, is facing new questions about her investments. This time it's about companies that sell prescription drugs and medical supplies. "The potential conflict is that the official in charge of the institution could push plans and research that directly benefit her financially," said Doug Heller, executive director of Consumer Watchdog, a consumer rights group based in Santa Monica.

Healthcare Reform Raises the Stakes in California Insurance Commissioner Election

May 26, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

The prospect of broad new powers has attracted two Democrats, two Republicans and four minor-party candidates to the June 8 primary. All four candidates have pledged not to take campaign contributions from the insurance industry, which has not endorsed anyone in either of the two primaries. Nor has any candidate yet been endorsed by major consumer advocates, such as Proposition 103 author Harvey Rosenfield.

Boomers Struggling to Stay Afloat

April 30, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

Their retirement dreams gone, a growing number of local baby boomers are simply trying to survive as jobs, money and health insurance disappear "One thousand dollars a month is not uncommon for people in their 50s," said Jerry Flanagan, a health advocate for the Consumer Watchdog group in Santa Monica. "Insurance companies charge more based on your age and they charge more based on health conditions. All of those add up."

The story inside United Healthcare’s jumping profits

April 21, 2010 · Judy Dugan

Wall Street was moderately pleased today that the <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2024387820100420">first-quarter profits </a>of United Healthcare, the biggest health care company in the U.S., jumped 21 percent in the first quarter. By definition, that means the rest of us shouldn't be, because every dollar spent on overhead--including profit--is a dollar less spent on making us healthier. That's the Catch 22 of our whole for-profit health care system--insurers will do whatever it takes to keep Wall Street happy even when we're all required to buy their product.

If only actuaries and regulators were as cute as squirrel videos

April 20, 2010 · Judy Dugan

Did you hear the one about the actuary and the federal regulator who walked into the bar? No? Neither has anyone else. Which is why attention to the health reform law is dropping off the cliff now that all the "death panel" jokes are forgotten. Yet what's happening now, as <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/CRSReportHCRRegs.pdf">in reams of specific rules and regulations,</a> is even more important to your pocketbook and health. When you see a news story about "health reform regulations," you've got a reason to read it instead of hunting up the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6FCwN7zmfk">"squirrel love" slide show</a> again on YouTube.

Consumer Watchdog Urges Congress To Fix 10 Problem Areas In The New Health Care Law

April 13, 2010 · Consumer Watchdog

Consumer Watchdog has identified at least 10 <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/patients/articles/?storyId=3369110"> problem areas “in the new federal law</a> that, if not addressed, will be exploited by health insurers and drug companies looking to charge more for less health care.”

Fairness for Injured Patients

Medical Board of California Announces Maternal Mortality Task Force

Patient Voices