Healthcare

Health Insurers Use Pre-emptive Strike on Legislative Mandate in Florida

January 25, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> OLDWICK, N.J. -- In a pre-emptive strike on a legislative mandate, major health insurers in Florida have agreed to pay for what could be costly care for members diagnosed with cancer who participate in clinical trials. Jerry Flanagan, health care policy director for the California-based Consumer Watchdog, with offices in Washington, D.C., said it's likely legislators were threatening a mandate. Cancer patients in Florida are getting a short-term victory but "without a clear law on the books that requires this treatment, the insurance companies are free to back away from their promise in the future." </p>

Reform or no reform, insurers will weasel on “out of network” loopholes

January 19, 2010  ·  Judy Dugan

<p> The Washington Post today has <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/15/AR2010011503110.html">an eye-opening story today</a> on how a family ended up in crushing debt at an "in-network" hospital apparently jammed with out-of-network doctors. Tens of thousands of dollars later, their little boy's rare and deadly heart defect is at least semi-fixed, but the family finances are in ruins. It's a problem that won't be fixed by reforms that rely on the private insurance industry. But it's also a problem that Congress can partly cure, with or without bigger reforms. </p>

Congress Fights Healthcare Fatigue To Finish Bill

January 13, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> <strong>Under competing pressures from various lobbyists and voters more concerned about unemployment and the economy, Democrats scramble to carve out a compromise by month's end so they can move on.<br /> </strong> </p> <p> Meanwhile, consumer groups and other advocates of a "public option" are continuing to push for more oversight of the insurance industry, in anticipation that the final legislation will not include a government-run health plan to compete with commercial insurers. "With the public option apparently off the table... it is more important than ever for the House to insist on comprehensive regulation of the industry to ensure affordability and accountability for Americans who will now be required to buy private insurance," California-based Consumer Watchdog said Tuesday in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco). </p>

Patient protections are California’s to lose

January 12, 2010  ·  Judy Dugan

<p> California has been a leader in patients rights, largely in response to abuses  by HMOs that, for instance, tried to eject new mothers and babies from the hospital a few hours after giving birth, and attempted to require "drive-by mastectomies."  The federal health reform bill could <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/patients/articles/?storyId=31904">weaken or do away with</a> all that, including a right to HIV/AIDS testing. Rep. Jackie Speier of San Mateo is leading a tough fight to preserve such rights, and so is Consumer Watchdog. </p>

CDPH Won’t Discuss Distribution Of H1N1 Vaccine

January 7, 2010  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>KCRA 3 Gets Letter In Response To Public Records Request<br /> </strong><br /> SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- When the H1N1 flu pandemic began, there was a serious shortage of vaccine. "The public wants to be sure that the vaccine was distributed fairly and without favoritism. We have no evidence [of problems] in California, but when the state refuses to release information, it reduces our trust and raises suspicion," Consumer Watchdog said.<br />

Your health premiums at work, peddling influence in 50 states

December 29, 2009  ·  Judy Dugan

<p> Health insurers, hospitals and even some state-level doctor groups are gearing up for the next battle against reform, in state capitols. So, just as insurance companies used your ever-rising premium dollars to...</p>

The battle isn’t over, and consumers have a new ammo supply

December 29, 2009  ·  Judy Dugan

<p> I've been reading the <a href="http://democrats.senate.gov/reform/managers-amendment.pdf">latest amendments</a> to the <a href="http://democrats.senate.gov/reform/patient-protection-affordable-care-act.pdf">Senate health bill</a>, hunti...</p>

A Year Of Progress On Consumer Issues

December 27, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<strong>Tough For Many Consumers, It Also Brought Progress On Financial Protection, Product Safety and Healthcare Reform</strong><br />    <br /> Consumers still have to be vigilant -- and to keep pushing for a fair shake from industry-friendly policymakers. But 2009 was a year of undeniable progress for consumer interests. And that's saying something.

National Health Reform Could Jeopardize California Patient Protections

December 23, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

If California wanted to mandate benefits that exceed federal standards — including those now in place — it would have to add them back through new legislation passed in Sacramento. Moreover, California would have to pay the extra costs of any additional benefits it mandated — either by compensating individuals enrolled in the plans or by paying insurance companies directly. That could lead to a situation, critics say, in which many of the state's current consumer protections are stripped away. To get them back, "we would have to go back and fight these battles again, one by one" in the state Legislature, said Jerry Flanagan, a health care advocate for Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog.

Health Reform Could Undercut California’s Consumer Protections

December 22, 2009  ·  Jerry Flanagan

California's Democratic delegation in the House is raising concerns that the federal health reform package could derail some of the state's consumer protection laws. The delegation has <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/CompactLetter.pdf">written a letter to congressional leaders</a>. The Senate health reform bill would allow insurers to form multi-state health care compacts and nationwide plans. These policies would only be subject to the laws in the state in which the policy is issued.

Legislators Blast Interstate Health Care Proposal

December 17, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A provision in both House and Senate healthcare legislation that would allow insurers to sell healthcare interstate is coming under fire from liberal members of the House from Maine and California. A Consumer Watchdog official said 17 states that have more than 50 health benefit mandates in state law have the most to lose under the pre-emption provisions. Those states represent 54% of the U.S. population, according to Jerry Flanagan, healthcare policy director for Consumer Watchdog, in a statement released in connection with the legislators’ letter. Consumer Watchdog is also concerned about an amendment sponsored by Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., that would bar a state from opting out of any nationwide plan sold by an insurer.

WellPoint Thrives As Public Plan Takes A Dive

December 11, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> As the health-care reform debate boiled over this week, so did WellPoint's stock price. Shares of the Indianapolis-based health insurance giant surged to a 52-week high Thursday as the prospects for a new government-run "public option" health plan faded amid intense Senate debate. WellPoint rivals Cigna and UnitedHealth Group also hit 52-week highs. Critics of the insurance industry, though, say reform is already favoring WellPoint and its peers. "Everything that has happened in the past day or so has certainly been in their favor," said Judy Dugan, research director of California-based Consumer Watchdog. </p>