Insurance

The Green Haze is Lifting

July 26, 2007  ·  Carmen Balber

<font face="verdana,sans-serif" size="2">Californians are beginning to see through the haze of the <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_6467055?IADID">governor's green smoke machine</a>. <br/> <br/> A statewide poll by the Public...</font>

Stem cell patent skeptics also filed: Pair made claims like those under scrutiny

July 26, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin)</p> <p>The scientists' past patent applications are not relevant to whether WARF's patents are valid, said John M. Simpson, stem cell project director at the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a consumer watchdog group in Santa Monica, Calif. Simpson's group a year ago requested re-examination of WARF's patents with the Public Patent Foundation, a New York group that targets the patent system. "There's a consensus view among scientists that this was an obvious development. I think that's why, without particularly much trouble, we got stem cell scientists to file affidavits to that effect," Simpson said.</p>

Stem cell board aims for speed;

July 20, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Backers say 'enemies' are hoping for missteps</h3><p class="source">San Francisco Business Times</p> <p>CIRM's citizen boards are pressing forward on grant awards quickly and yet, they say, transparently and cautiously. "They're talking here really about the major shot they're going to get at building things," said John Simpson, stem cell project director with the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a watchdog group based in Santa Monica. "It's a big amount of money, and they're trying to come up with the rules so they're fair."</p>

Lawmaker wants documents behind “flex-fuel” program;

July 20, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>CONTRACTS BENEFITED GOVERNOR'S ALLY GM</h3><p class="source">San Jose Mercury News, (California)</p> <p>The Foundation for Taxpayers and Consumers Rights, a Santa Monica-based watchdog group, asked for an audit Thursday morning, saying they believed it was needed to determine why the contract requirements and policy changes took place. "I hope that the governor's office does respond in full to the senator's public records act request," said Carmen Balber, of the foundation. "I'm not necessarily hopeful that the governor's office is going to be completely open since it deals with governor's connections with the donor and the contracts awarded to the donor. I think the option of an audit has to remain on the table depending on the response."</p>

Low-Cost Auto Insurance Coming?

July 17, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

Yuba-Sutter residents who struggle to pay for car insurance may soon find it more affordable, state officials said. Local drivers may soon be able to enroll in the state's Low Cost Automobile Insurance Program, which provides low-cost insurance for less than $400 per year, provided people meet certain income guidelines. The state insurance department has proposed adding 11 counties, including Yuba and Sutter, to the program.

Did insurer money kill bill?

July 13, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Capitol Alert (Sacramento Bee)</p> <p>The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights contends that a compilation of campaign contributions from the firms "helps explain why the Senate Health Committee supported a proposal requiring employees to pay for private coverage but refused to pass a bill to regulate what insurers can charge for the policies."</p>

Coventry Health Care to Buy Florida Health Plan

July 9, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Washington Post</p> <p>Coventry Health Care, a Bethesda-based managed-care provider, has agreed to acquire privately held Florida Health Plan Administrators for about $685 million in cash, according to a Coventry statement.</p>

L.A. County secrecy policy is assailed;

July 6, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Open-government supporters decry move to keep memos on settlements confidential.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>"If this is private, we have no idea what kind of deals they're making on the taxpayer dime, whether or not they're legitimate or whether or not they're squeezing the weak or giving money to the powerful," said Doug Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "Just because they may be the only ones who have been doing it right doesn't mean they should start doing it wrong."</p>

Schwarzenegger ‘blocked own green policy’

July 4, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Independent (London)</p> <p>Consumer groups and Democrat leaders have been quick to express their disappointment. "The Governor has made his name across the world as the jolly green governor, and now we have the regulators saying his inner circle has pressured them to go slow because the big industries don't want us to go too quickly," said Jamie Court, of the Foundation for Taxpayers and Consumer Rights.</p>

First, Dump Dunmoyer

July 3, 2007  ·  Judy Dugan

<font face="verdana,sans-serif" size="2">rnold may think that naming a veteran air quality official like Mary Nichols to head his Air Resources Board will quiet things down. But any new appointee is bound to fail unless the Gov first...</font>

Health insurer cited in policy cancellations;

July 3, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>BC Life mishandled more than half the cases reviewed by the state. Critics say regulators have not done enough.</h3><p class="source">Los Angeles Times</p> <p>Others were critical of what they said was the report's focus on process rather than substance. "It is sort of like giving a bank robber a speeding ticket for driving too fast in the getaway car," said Jerry Flanagan, a patient advocate with the Foundation for Consumer and Taxpayer Rights. "The real question is, what will they do next and are they looking at the underlying crime as opposed to a misdemeanor?"</p>

4 Scientists Support Challenge to Wisconsin’s Stem-Cell Patents

July 2, 2007  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Chronicle of Higher Education</p> <p>In papers filed on Friday, the scientists supported the groups' contention that the work by the Wisconsin scientist James A. Thomson in isolating and perpetuating human embryonic stem cells was not novel enough to deserve a patent. The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, in California, and the Public Patent Foundation, in New York City, said in their filings and in a news release issued on Monday that the work for which Mr. Thomson was awarded patents was "obvious."</p>