Healthcare

House-call hopes;

December 8, 2005 · Consumer Watchdog

<h3>A Medicare pilot program aims to cut medical costs and visits to the hospital</h3>The Orange County Register Patient advocates praised the voluntary program but also cautioned that patients should receive the care they need, even if it's expensive. "If the appropriate treatment is to keep them out of the hospital, that's fine," said Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica. But he added that finance should take a back seat to health. "The incentive should be to treat the person."

False Accounting: How Medical Malpractice Insurance Companies Inflate Losses to Justify Sudden Surges in Rates and Tort Reform

December 7, 2005 · Jamie Court

FTCR notes that many insurers have falsely characterized loss data in statements to lawmakers, news media and the public, and cautions that lawmakers and regulators should not rely upon the insurance industry's current loss projections, because those figures are not…

Frist votes aid HCA’s business interests;

December 4, 2005 · Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Review of 10 years in Senate shows pattern of favoring firm</h3>The Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee) Frist has said he gave the order this summer to sell his shares in HCA to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, but Carmen Balber, a consumer advocate with the California-based Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights, said Frist's decision failed to ease her concerns. She said, "The senator is incapable of totally erasing his ties to that company because his father and brother founded it and because the family fortune is tied up in HCA stock."

US Medicare HMO/PBM political funds slammed

November 11, 2005 · Consumer Watchdog

Pharma Marketletter "Under the current program, seniors and taxpayers will pay too much for prescription drugs by being forced to subsidize HMO and drug company profits," stated FTCR spokesman David Fink, who called on Congress to "untie the hands of the federal government and allow the Medicare program to use its market clout to negotiate cheaper drugs."

Family fights an HMO for 4-year-old’s life

November 5, 2005 · Consumer Watchdog

The San Francisco Chronicle "When you have to fly a patient out to the East Coast, it is the fundamental HMO no-no,'' says Jamie Court, a Santa Monica-based health care advocate and co-author of "Making a Killing,'' a book on the health care system. "It is the M.O. of health care providers to deny access to expensive treatments. They give you the runaround and hope you go away.''

How Many Doctors Should Be Blamed?;

October 23, 2005 · Consumer Watchdog

<h3>A mother whose daughter died after Kaiser physicians missed her cancer is fighting to change a law that let the HMO report only one of the practitioners to the state.</h3>Los Angeles Times Some are not reassured by this. "The medical board hasn't had a great record of being aggressive about consumer complaints," said Jerry Flanagan of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a Santa Monica advocacy group active on health issues. "There's a sense the Medical Board is too close to physicians."

Financial Nightmare Of Hidden Hospital Fees

October 11, 2005 · Consumer Watchdog

KGO-TV7 (ABC) San Francisco Jamie Court, consumer activist: "If you have doctors and nurses on the payroll in the building and they go to the emergency room, one floor down, that isn't worth $12,000."

Taxpayer group asks Schwarzenegger to return insurance donation

October 11, 2005 · Consumer Watchdog

Associated Press Schwarzenegger is campaigning for measures on the Nov. 8 special election ballot that he says will save taxpayers money, yet vetoed a bill that would have saved taxpayers millions of dollars, said Doug Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. The governor has come under fire in the past for accepting contributions from groups with business before the state, including the pharmaceutical, energy and insurance industries.

105K for a Veto (Give it Back, Gov)

October 10, 2005 · Doug Heller

For weeks, Arnold sat with SB 399 on his desk. The bill would have ended a taxpayer subsidy of the insurance industry in which government health programs pay the medical costs of car accidents...

A Radical Healthcare Solution

October 6, 2005 · Consumer Watchdog

Los Angeles Times It shouldn't be surprising that solutions once dismissed out of hand are suddenly getting a closer look. The most appealing is a single-payer system, which would replace today's jigsaw puzzle of private insurance, public programs and nothing with a government-run healthcare program. In California, that option is being pushed by state Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), who says she senses growing, albeit still insufficient, support around the state after three years of proselytizing.

No Disclosure

October 5, 2005 · Carmen Balber

When he campaigned for governor, Arnold promised to bring sunshine to Sacramento and embrace full disclosure by politicians. But the ads for the gov's initiative agenda don't even disclose what...

Frist Addresses Sale of Stock in Family’s Healthcare Company;

September 27, 2005 · Consumer Watchdog

<h3>The Senate majority leader's divestment before a price drop faces two federal probes. SEC Chairman Cox will not take part in the inquiry.</h3>Los Angeles Times Frist said that his only objective in selling was "to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest." Last year, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a Santa Monica watchdog group, complained to the Senate Select Committee on Ethics that because the Senate votes on legislation that could enrich HCA, Frist should not hold its shares. The committee dismissed the complaint, saying there was no conflict under Senate rules.

Fairness for Injured Patients

Medical Board of California Announces Maternal Mortality Task Force

Patient Voices