Healthcare

$5 million settlement over Kaiser kidney unit;

August 11, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>HMO agrees to pay record fine, make charitable donation</h3><p class="source">THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE</p> <p>Some Kaiser critics questioned the size of the fine, which they considered modest for a company that reported $8.5 billion in revenue in the most recent quarter. "This doesn't send a message to Kaiser," said Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "Kaiser probably spends a couple million on coffee every year."</p>

Transparency has its limits;

August 7, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Questions arise about why the transparency-preaching Blues association is getting quiet about its members' fiscal results</h3><p class="source">Modern Healthcare</p> <p>Critics say that to avoid further fueling the fire, some Blues plans appear to be clamping down on the amount and type of information disseminated about them or otherwise finding ways to divert public attention away from their business practices and burgeoning bottom lines. "These guys know how to play 'hide the ball' in the healthcare system,'' said Jerry Flanagan, an advocate with the Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights. "They're all for disclosure as long as the information being disclosed isn't theirs.''</p>

Schwarzenegger’s reforms seen as influenced by cash

July 31, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Modern Healthcare</p> <p>WellPoint isn't the only company chipping in to aid with Schwarzenegger's re-election campaign. PacifiCare Health Systems has made a total of $83,500 in contributions both before and after the state managed-care department approved its $9.2 billion merger with UnitedHealth Group in December 2005, and drugmakers have chipped in $1.08 million since 2003.</p>

Governor outlines medical plans;

July 25, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Schwarzenegger at summit puts focus on technology; Angelides dismisses meeting as a tardy campaign ploy</h3><p class="source">Contra Costa Times (California)</p> <p>Jerry Flanagan of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights said the governor ignored the "900-pound gorilla in the room" because he has received $775,200 from insurance companies and HMOs and $1.08 million from drug companies since 2003.</p>

Time is money… for doctors & patients;

July 25, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>More often, canceling an appointment at the last minute or failing to show up will cost you</h3><p class="source">Delaware News Journal</p> <p>Fines on top of rising health insurance costs are unfair, said Jerry Flanagan, health care policy director at the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "Patients often have to miss doctor appointments for things that aren't their fault," he said, "like the baby sitter not showing up, the car breaking down or the boss saying you've gotta come in early."</p>

Stem Cell Battle Gestates Outside the Beltway

July 24, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The New Standard</p> <p>FTCR's John Simpson said that while patents are a routine part of the commercialization of treatments, WARF's control was "too far upstream" in the research process. The scope of WARF's patent rights, he said, means that researchers may have to obtain costly licenses at the most-basic stages in the development of potential cures. FTCR also speculates that under WARF's patent controls, even non-profit researchers would need WARF's approval to develop stem-cell-based cures, and that WARF would also control scientists' ability to exchange cell lines among themselves to advance research.</p>

Healthcare in Need of Major Surgery

July 16, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Jamie Court of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, which has campaigned for healthcare reforms that always get derailed, says it's largely because of the great lobbying power of a filthy rich healthcare industry that likes things as they are. "It just shows how crazy the patchwork maze of programs is," said Court. "These are people who worked their whole lives, and she's not entitled to healthcare. She's got to get divorced to get it."</p>

Loyal to royalties;

July 13, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Don't weaken rules on stem cell licensing</h3><p class="source">Sacramento Bee</p> <p>CIRM needs to stay true to the promise of Proposition 71, which voters approved by a wide margin. The text of the law is very clear on what the public should expect. Funding, the law said, would go to scientific and medical research "that will significantly reduce state health care costs in the future" and provide "an opportunity for the state to benefit from royalties, patents and licensing fees that result from the research."</p>

You Can Lower Your Doctor Bill — Just Ask

July 6, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">BackStage Magazine</p> <p>According to the California Patient's Guide of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a California-based nonprofit education and advocacy group, "Everything is negotiable -- with the HMO, the HMO doctor, the HMO hospital.... You're paying the bills, not only as a consumer, but also as a taxpayer who helps fund the medical system."</p>

PBS’ NOW Show on Junk Health Care

July 2, 2006  ·  Jerry Flanagan

<h3>Watch the PBS' NOW Show on Junk Health Care, "Payment Due," Featuring Dana Christensen and FTCR Advocates</h3> <p>   </p> ... <p>   </p>

Botched Surgery Leaves Nurse Disabled, Unable To Work

June 29, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Dana Stinson - Seal Beach, CA</h3>

Wisconsin and California locked in stem-cell struggle

June 18, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Wisconsin State Journal</p> <p>The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a nonprofit watchdog group in California, called on CIRM to challenge WARF's patents in court. "It would truly be a shame if a research organization in Wisconsin threw up a blockade to vital, publicly funded research in California," John Simpson, stem-cell project director for the group, wrote in a letter to WARF.</p>