Healthcare

Stem-cell Research Blasted from New Angle;

May 8, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Patient advocates call funding hand-out to firms at expense of poor</h3><p class="source">The New Standard</p> <p>A new controversy is gripping stem-cell science as California funds efforts with what critics consider little regard for ensuring the products of publicly funded research will benefit the public as a whole.</p>

Insurance Companies Sued by Dropped Policyholders

April 28, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">City News Service</p> <p>Patients then get dumped for inconsistencies -- not fraud, as is required by the law, according to The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a consumer watchdog group that is supporting the litigation.</p>

Lawsuits Claim Health Insurance Companies Illegally Canceled Policies

April 27, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">NBC-TV4 Los Angeles</p> <p>"This is a national problem," said FTCR's Jerry Flanagan. "Insurance companies sell you a policy and then they break their promises and they cherry-pick and only insure those that are healthy. Dare you get sick, your coverage is revoked. This makes a mockery of health insurance."</p>

Sherry and Dan Orestuk

April 19, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Junk Insurance, $18.5K in Medical Bills, Forces Them to Leave State In Search of Affordable Insurance</h3>

Health-insurer mergers’ murky effects;

April 17, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Insurers' consolidation not clearly linked to cost woes</h3><p class="source">MarketWatch/Dow Jones </p> <p>Still, health insurers wield more influence through their market position than hospitals when it comes to setting terms, said Jerry Flanagan, health-care policy director for the Foundation for Taxpayers and Consumer Rights, a nonprofit, public-interest advocacy group in Los Angeles.</p>

Forget Liability Caps, Focus On Accreditation

April 15, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p> Insurance companies set premium rates based on the stock market, not caps. When the market is bad and investment returns are low, insurance companies cover their losses by increasing premiums, but rarely reduce them when the market improves. A report published by the Foundation for Taxpayers and Consumer Rights evaluated how the caps system worked in California. It stated that despite introducing a caps system called MICRA (Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act) in 1975, premium rates showed a 450-percent increase in the 13 years following its enactment. </p>

County health budget in crisis

April 13, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">San Gabriel Valley Tribune (California)</p> <p>"The pressure to squeeze out $300 million in savings could pinch patients unless the county proceeds with extreme caution," said Jerry Flanagan, health-care policy director at The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights in Santa Monica.</p>

Health plan to cut deficit;

April 13, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Focus of L.A. County proposal on standardizing care</h3><p class="source">The Daily News of Los Angeles</p> <p>"The pressure to squeeze out $300 million (annually) in savings could pinch patients unless the county proceeds with extreme caution," said Jerry Flanagan, health care policy director at The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights in Santa Monica. "Cutting services in the name of 'cost savings' can end up costing the county much more in the long run." </p>

Universal Solution?

April 10, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Mass. hospitals welcome bill to cover nearly all</h3><p class="source">Modern Healthcare</p> <p>Insurers are excited about the individual mandate because it creates a law that makes the uninsured purchase health plans or face a penalty, said Jerry Flanagan, healthcare policy director for consumer group the Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights. Flanagan said if adopted nationally the largely for-profit insurance industry would be able to gouge the uninsured.</p>

‘Hummer in every pot’ healthcare

April 8, 2006  ·  Jamie Court

<p class="source">The Los Angeles Times</p> <p>If California wants genuine universal health insurance, it is going to have to do the hard work of restraining the healthcare system's waste, inefficiency and profiteering. But that would entail angering interest groups that finance politicians' elections. The uninsured and underinsured don't attend fundraisers or make political contributions. And, of course, politicians' own health coverage is paid by taxpayers. No wonder they don't understand the problem in making a working family choose between rent and insurance. </p>

‘Hummer in every pot’ healthcare

April 8, 2006  ·  Jamie Court

<p class="source">The Los Angeles Times</p> <p>If California wants genuine universal health insurance, it is going to have to do the hard work of restraining the healthcare system's waste, inefficiency and profiteering. But that would entail angering interest groups that finance politicians' elections. The uninsured and underinsured don't attend fundraisers or make political contributions. And, of course, politicians' own health coverage is paid by taxpayers. No wonder they don't understand the problem in making a working family choose between rent and insurance.</p>

Analysis: Mass. adopts pay for performance

April 7, 2006  ·  Jerry Flanagan

<p class="source">UPI - United Press International</p> <p>Pay-for-performance systems can play a needed watchdog role, but also must be carefully crafted to avoid giving healthcare providers the wrong incentives, Jerry Flanagan with FTCR said. "When the government provides a stream of money, you should also have a checking system to ensure that it's used efficiently and in the patients' best interest."</p>