Laura Moe — Marin, California
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Healthcare
Healthcare and patient-safety coverage — medical negligence, prescription drug prices, and your right to quality, affordable care.
California considers UnitedHealth Group’s proposal to buy competitor
<p class="source">St. Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN)</p>
<p>Jerry Flanagan, health care director with the taxpayer foundation, said he is concerned that the merger will result in less choice for patients, lower payments for doctors and hospitals, and more waste in the health care system if regulators do not set conditions for the merger.</p>
Bob Cuddy — Livermore, California
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UnitedHealth to buy PacifiCare in deal worth $8.1 Billion
<p class="source">USA TODAY</p>
<p>The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights (FTCR), the group that led the fight in California over WellPoint, has launched an attack on the proposed marriage between UnitedHealth Group and PacifiCare. "Health insurers claim mergers provide better and more cost-effective care," says Jerry Flanagan of FTCR. "But history shows just the opposite occurs."</p>
Merger of health insurers planned;
<h3>UnitedHealth Group is set to purchase PacifiCare in an $8.1 billion deal.</h3><p class="source">Sacramento Bee</p>
<p>Creating the nation's second-largest health insurer "will result in less choice for patients, lower payments for doctors and hospitals, and more waste in the health care system," said Jerry Flanagan of the Foundation for Consumer and Taxpayer Rights.</p>
UnitedHealth makes offer for PacifiCare in huge health care deal
<p class="source">Associated Press</p>
<p>"HMO goliaths like WellPoint and Aetna and a merged UnitedHealth and PacifiCare are so big they don't have to compete, and threaten patient care," said Jerry Flanagan of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, which has been critical of HMOs.</p>
Hospital price lists trickle in;
<h3>About 60% meet state's deadline for service charges</h3><p class="source">San Francisco Chronicle</p>
<p>"We need to have strict oversight and require standardization of rates," said Jerry Flanagan, health advocate for the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. Flanagan said the sticker prices charged by hospitals, which are generally paid only by people without health insurance, are too high and bear little relation to underlying costs.</p>
Consumer Group Challenges AMA on Drug Ads
<p class="source">Consumer Affairs</p>
<p>"The AMA's feigned concern for the fate of patients targeted by drug advertising makes about as much sense as a pusher enrolling his customers in drug-addicts anonymous," said Jerry Flanagan of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR).</p>
Canada May Ban U.S. Drug Sales When Supply Falls
<p class="source">The Wall Street Journal</p>
<p>The evolving situation in Canada has prompted an outcry from U.S. consumer groups who believe low-income Americans, including senior citizens, could lose access to affordable medication. "Americans are only buying drugs from Canada because President Bush and Congress, with their cozy ties to the pharmaceutical industry, refuse to support a prescription-drug bulk-purchasing plan," David Fink, consumer advocate with the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, said in a statement.</p>
CANADA MAY CUT EXPORT OF DRUGS;
<h3>S. FLORIDIANS VOICE CONCERN</h3><p class="source">Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)</p>
<p>"Americans are only buying drugs from Canada because President Bush and Congress, with their cozy ties to the pharmaceutical industry, refuse to support a prescription drug bulk purchasing plan," said David Fink, consumer advocate with the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "Seniors and other patients shouldn't have to rely on other countries to get the drugs they need."</p>
Canada to Ban Prescription Drug Exports
<h3>U.S. Seniors Left With No Alternative</h3>
U.S. Patients’ Access to Canadian Drug Discounts Threatened
<h3>Canada Plans to Rein In Internet Drug Sales</h3>