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Consumer Watchdog filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the state agency that oversees HMOs, accusing it of violating state law by siding with insurance companies in denying treatment for children with autism. The suit accuses the department of changing its policies, forcing parents to appeal insurance denials through an internal grievance process rather than letting an independent panel of doctors make treatment decisions. "We want the department to follow the law. Doctors - not insurance companies and government lawyers - decide what care kids should get," said Jerry Flanagan, Consumer Watchdog's director of health policy.

The final approval today of the merger of HMO giants WellPoint Health Networks and Anthem Inc. by the Georgia insurance commissioner is "a 9-figure Christmas gift for company executives at a time when patients have to fight for basic health care coverage," according to Jerry Flanagan of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR).

The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights has filed a taxpayer lawsuit on behalf of all California taxpayers calling upon California Controller Steve Wesley and the Board of Equalization to collect hundreds of millions of dollars in gross premiums taxes unpaid by Wellpoint subsidiary Blue Cross of California during the last eight years.

Following the Schwarzenegger Administration's approval this morning of the pending buy-out of Blue Cross of California's parent company, WellPoint, by Anthem,...

As California regulators review the impact on the California health care system of the proposed merger of Blue Cross of California's parent company, WellPoint...

At public hearings today on the buy-out of Blue Cross of California's parent-company, WellPoint Health Networks, by Anthem Inc., patients and taxpayers called on legislators and regulators to derail the deal and investigate Blue Cross' special tax status that has allowed the company to avoid paying about $500 million dollars in gross premium taxes since 1994.

Blue Cross of California, whose parent company WellPoint has yet to receive approval for its pending merger with Anthem Inc., has avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in annual gross premium taxes