Insurance

Insurance Chief Candidates Like Night and Day;

October 5, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>MONEY, EXPERIENCE DIFFER IN RACE PITTING POLITICO VS. ENTREPRENEUR</h3><p class="source">The Sacramento Bee (California)</p> <p>The candidates back Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi's decision to prohibit auto insurers from basing rates mainly on a driver's residential ZIP code, rather than a driving record. Doug Heller with FTCR noted, however, that in the Assembly, Bustamante supported unsuccessful legislation, backed by a campaign donor, that would have reduced premiums for good driving records and given greater weight to ZIP codes.</p>

Cautious stem-cell outlook;

October 5, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>INSTITUTE REPORT SAYS USABLE TREATMENTS ARE YEARS AWAY</h3><p class="source">San Jose Mercury News (California)</p> <p>The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a Santa Monica-based group that has been critical of the institute in the past, said the agency's plan "shows refreshing honesty" about how long it will take to make stem-cell treatments.</p>

U.S. government to scrutinize U. Wisconsin stem cell patents

October 5, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The Daily Cardinal - University Wire</p> <p>The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, which owns the patents that control the five stem cell lines grown at UW-Madison and the methods used to propagate the cells, is allegedly restricting research in other states, according to the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a California-based organization.</p>

Patents for stem cells get new look;

October 4, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Agency's assessment could affect research OK'd by state voters</h3><p class="source">The Sacramento Bee (California)</p> <p>The nonprofit groups -- the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, of Santa Monica, and the New York-based Public Patent Foundation -- maintain that the patents should not have been issued in the first place. They asserted, in a complaint that was filed in July, that UW researcher James Thomson simply modified techniques used earlier to isolate embryonic stem cells in other mammal species.</p>

CUSTOMS TO STOP SEIZING LOW-COST IMPORTED DRUGS

October 4, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)</p> <p>"The U.S. should be importing Canadian drug policy, not Canadian drugs, so seniors don't have to cross the border or rely on fly-by-night Internet pharmacies to buy their prescription drugs," said Jerry Flanagan of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.</p>

U.S. to allow drugs mailed from Canada;

October 4, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>Customs vows to stop confiscating small shipments.</h3><p class="source">Orlando Sentinel (Florida)</p> <p>Jerry Flanagan of FTCR said the government still has not done anything about the underlying problem: the high price of U.S. drugs. His group thinks the federal government should adopt a Canadian-style approach to drug-cost management and negotiate with the drug industry to buy U.S. medicines in bulk. "If Congress and the Bush administration were serious about lowering prescription-drug costs, they would adopt policies that allow American people to buy cheaper drugs at the stores in their own neighborhoods. We certainly think people should have the option of buying from Canada, but the point is, they shouldn't have to."</p>

Federal agency to re-examine U.S. stem cell patents

October 3, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">The San Jose Mercury News (California)</p> <p>Patent examiners said in recent rulings that the claims by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) and the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) raise substantial new questions about whether the patents are valid. "We take that as a positive thing," said John Simpson of the California-based FTCR. "We obviously would like to see them completely revoked because the way they are being asserted right now is an impediment to research."</p>

Prescription Drugs From Canada Not the Solution: U.S. Should Import Canadian Drug Policy

October 3, 2006  ·  Jerry Flanagan

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U.S. Agency to Review Wisconsin Stem Cell Patents

October 3, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Bloomberg News</p> <p>The patents will be reassessed because there's "a substantial likelihood" that previous research by other scientists could supersede the Wisconsin claims, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said in a statement on its website.</p>

Low-cost insurance programs in slow lane

October 1, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source">Inside Bay Area (California)</p> <p>Agents who submit an application for a high-risk policy to the assigned risk program can earn a hefty commission since the premiums are higher than policies written for good drivers, said Doug Heller, executive director of the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. "But part of the deal is that they are obligated to provide drivers (with low-cost insurance) who simply cannot afford to buy insurance in the regular private market," he said. </p>

Driving without a net;

October 1, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<h3>State offers uninsured motorists inexpensive options - but few sign up</h3><p class="source">Inside Bay Area (California)</p> <p>"I think the biggest problem is that people don't know about the (low-cost auto insurance) program," said Doug Heller, executive director of the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. While enrollment in the low-cost program could be higher, Heller pointed out that it has put more insured drivers on the road. That has led to a reduction in taxpayer funds billed to Medi-Cal to cover hospital care related to auto accidents caused by uninsured drivers.</p>

DMV giving notice to motorists with lapsed policies

October 1, 2006  ·  Consumer Watchdog

<p class="source"> Inside Bay Area (California) </p> <p> "Now people are going to be getting reminded by the DMV that they've got a problem with their registration because of an insurance lapse. I think that will spur people to get it," said Doug Heller, executive director of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights. Heller and Speier would like to see the DMV include information about the low-cost auto insurance program in the notices that are sent out. </p>