Healthcare

Oh, the irony

August 14, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

You may remember the Civil Justice Association of California from decades of attacks on consumer rights such as <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/corporateering/articles/?storyId=17861">Proposition 64</a>, the ballot initiative that <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/corporateering/articles/?storyId=12222">let companies off the hook</a> under California's unfair competition law for any harm that is not measured in dollars, like loss of health, environmental damage or consumer deception ...

‘Death panel’ lies claim a victim — Us and our families

August 14, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> The "death panel" has killed something, all right: a benefit that families need and want, namely the right to sit down with their family doctor to discuss wrenching issues of living wills, hospice care and end-of-life care...</p>

Schiff’s Healthcare Forum: The Sound and the Fury

August 12, 2009  ·  Jerry Flanagan

<p> <a href="http://uprisingradio.org/home/?p=9389">Click here to listen to the audio of the program</a>. </p> <p> Hundreds of people, from all sides of the political spectrum showed up at the Alhambra Civic Center Library last night for a health care forum presented by Congressman Adam Schiff. The event featured several medical doctors and healthcare reform advocates including NBC4’s medical reporter, Dr. Bruce Hensel, and Jerry Flanagan, the Health Care Advocate at Consumer Watchdog. </p>

If you like the insurance you have…

August 3, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Everyone in DC keeps assuring Americans they can keep the private health insurance they have now, if they like it. Yet health insurance you "like" is about the same as having a car you like, but never drive further than the grocery store. Michael Hiltzik of the LA Times explains why, asking <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hiltzik3-2009aug03,0,6650122.column">why we're "so intent on protecting the private option,"</a> since its biggest feat is the current health care crisis. </p>

Lobbying orgies, big and small, on health reform

July 30, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> The lobbying dollars being lathered around Congress are the best reason to <a href="http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/patients/protpatact9/">click here </a>and send a message to your members of Congress, letting them know that votes as well as dollars are at stake in health reform. The whole health care industry is pouring in at least <a href="http://voices.washingtonpost.com/health-care-reform/2009/07/health_care_continues_its_inte.html">$1.4 million dollars a day</a> to preserve its profits at your expense. But it's easier to understand what's happening on a smaller scale. So let's go to McAllen, Texas. </p>

Industry Cash Flowed To Drafters of Reform — Key Senator Baucus Is a Leading Recipient

July 21, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Jerry Flanagan, a health-care analyst with Consumer Watchdog, a California-based advocacy group, said the tide of campaign contributions amounts to "a huge down payment" by companies that expect favorable policies in return. "That is the cold reality of big-money politics," he said.

Baucus Reels In Big Healthcare Donations

July 21, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Healthcare industry lobbyists have showered the Democratic U.S. senator leading reform efforts with $1.5 million in donations, records indicate. The contributions amount to "a huge down payment" by companies expecting friendly treatment, Jerry Flanagan of the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog told The Washington Post.

Health reform should prevent medical errors not accountability for malpractice

July 17, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> I’m catching up on House health care hearings this morning (watching one live and one recorded keeps things interesting) and tuned in to two debates on limiting protections for victims of medical malpractice. Rather than focus on saving money and protecting patients by preventing medical errors from occurring in the first place... </p>

Groups Can Guide Confused Patients

July 7, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Consumer Watchdog, the non-profit organization, with offices in California and Washington, D.C., looks out for patients in a number of ways. Its broad goal, the group says, is to remake a health-care system in which hospitals, doctors and insurance companies put profit before patients. It also fights for laws that protect Americans from junk health-insurance policies -- the kind that don't cover you when you get sick.

Let’s do the [lobbying] numbers

July 6, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

I love hard numbers. Like 350. That's how many high-ranking former Congressional and White House staff, many of them tied to today's key health reform committees, are working as lobbyists for the medical and insurance industries, according to an eye-opening Washington Post story published today.

Chief Scientific Officer Resigns from S.F.-Based State Stem Cell Agency

June 26, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> The chief scientific officer at California's stem-cell agency has announced that she will step down from her position in a little over a month. John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog says Csete's resignation "speaks volumes about CIRM's management... One doesn't walk away from a $310,000 a year job at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) without a very good reason." </p>

DC Dispatch: Health insurance cancellations

June 19, 2009  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Most of us don't sit around waiting to catch our health insurance company in the act of being evil. And 99.99% of Americans did not tune in to the congressional hearing I attended on Tuesday when <a...