Consumer Watchdog | Patients

Suit Alleges California Lets Insurers Deny Treatment For Autistic Kids

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:23:00 PDT

A nonprofit consumer group has filed a lawsuit against state regulators alleging they allow insurance companies to deny necessary but expensive treatment for autistic children in violation of state law. Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog filed the lawsuit against the California Department of Managed Health Care Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Autism Patients' Treatment Is Denied Illegally, Group Says

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:24:00 PDT

Consumer Watchdog asks a judge to order the state Department of Managed Health Care to enforce the law and require insurers to serve autistic members. The agency says it's doing its job.

"Californians, including those stricken with autism and their parents and caregivers, expect regulators to enforce the law, not to side with insurance companies seeking to boost their profits by denying patients the care they need," said Harvey Rosenfield, founder of the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog and author of the landmark automobile insurance reform initiative Proposition 103.

Group Sues Calif. Regulators Over Autism Care

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:00:00 PDT

Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica group that monitors insurance practices, has asked the court to order the Department of Managed Health Care to require insurers to provide autistic children with treatments ordered by their doctors. The group also wants the department to turn over records showing the agency's violations in this area.

State Sued Over Handling of Autism Complaints

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:02:59 PDT

LOS ANGELES, CA -- California regulators are being challenged in court for siding with insurance companies, rather than patients, over some costly autism therapies. In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, consumer advocates complain that the Department of Managed Health Care broke state law by precluding expert doctors from deciding whether an insurer must provide treatments for autism.

Schwarzenegger Administration Sued for Allowing Health Insurance Companies to Deny Autism Care

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:27:24 PDT

Santa Monica, CA -- The mother of an autistic child joined Consumer Watchdog and its attorneys today to announce a lawsuit against the California Department of Managed Health Care (“DMHC”), the Schwarzenegger Administration agency responsible for regulating many of California’s health insurers. The suit alleges that the DMHC has wrongfully allowed insurance companies to refuse to pay for autism treatments, resulting in the denial of critically needed, medically necessary treatment for autistic children.

State Agency Sued Over New Policy On Autism

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:20:00 PDT

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.

Is Congress deaf? Or does insurers' money just speak louder?

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:37:00 PDT

Congress is taking a holiday week off, heading home to wave flags and eat hot dogs. Some listening is in order, too. The latest national poll tells us that a whopping 70-plus percent of Americans want a health reform choice that lets them snub the giant insurance conglomerates that miserably abuse their customers.

State Panel Critical Of Stem Cell Institute -- Commission Offers Structural Changes

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 10:32:00 PDT

John Simpson of the Santa Monica group Consumer Watchdog said many of the recommended changes could be implemented without delay. One example would be setting up a program to discipline board members who regularly miss meetings.

State Stem Cell Board Needs Overhaul, Group Says

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:21:04 PDT

To reduce potential conflicts of interest in the state's $3 billion stem cell research program, a government watchdog group called Friday for an overhaul of the program's governing board. The recommendations drew praise from John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog, who had sought such changes. "This is a thoughtful and thorough analysis from a bipartisan group with no ax to grind," he said.

Little Hoover: Reform Calif. Stem Cell Agency

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:17:00 PDT

California’s good-government agency approved a series of recommendations to reform the operation and governance of the state’s stem cell research funding organization. “This is a thoughtful and thorough analysis from a bipartisan group with no ax to grind,” John Simpson, a frequent critic of CIRM’s policies and stem cell project director for Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica, said in a prepared statement. “CIRM’s management and board should listen to its advice.”

Marie Csete Resigns as CIRM Chief Scientific Officer, 15 Months Into the Job

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:42:50 PDT

Marie Csete will resign Aug. 1 as the chief scientific officer of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine after 15 months in the $310,000-a-year post, Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit group that monitors developments at the state stem cell agency, reported on Wednesday.

State's Good Government Agency Calls for Reforms At Stem Cell Agency

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:11:00 PDT

Key 'Little Hoover' Recommendations Follow Consumer Watchdog's Proposals

Santa Monica, CA -- California’s good government agency, The Little Hoover Commission, today called for management and structural reforms at the state stem cell agency after an eight-month study. Key Commission recommendations follow many proposals made by Consumer Watchdog in testimony to the panel last November.

Chief Scientific Officer Resigns from S.F.-Based State Stem Cell Agency

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:09:40 PDT

The chief scientific officer at California's stem-cell agency has announced that she will step down from her position in a little over a month. John Simpson of Consumer Watchdog says Csete's resignation "speaks volumes about CIRM's management... One doesn't walk away from a $310,000 a year job at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) without a very good reason."

Groups to Congress: Don't Sacrifice Patient Safety to Lower Health Costs

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:18:30 PDT

Health Reform Should Reduce Medical Errors, Not Immunize Negligent Providers for Mistakes that Maim and Kill Innocent Patients

Washington, D.C. –- Congress should not confuse lowering health care costs with limiting patient safety, said a letter from consumer and patient advocates sent to Congress today. The groups urged a focus on reducing medical errors in health reform legislation, not limits on liability for negligent medical providers, as a means to both save lives and lower the costs of medical mistakes.

Reaction To CIRM Science Boss Resignation

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:11:00 PDT

The resignation of the top science officer at California's stem cell research funding agency, some say, is exposing deeper management problems at the San Francisco-based agency. Says John Simpson, a frequent CIRM critic at Consumer Watchdog: "One doesn't walk away from a $310,000 a year job at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) without a very good reason. Members of CIRM's oversight board, the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee (ICOC), must demand an explanation from Chairman Bob Klein and President Alan Trounson."

Stem cell agency's chief science officer quits

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:36:00 PDT

Dr. Marie Csete has resigned as chief science officer at California's stem cell agency effective Aug. 1 after a little more than a year with the organization. I'd say her departure after such a short tenure -- and with no clear indication of where she is headed next -- speaks volumes about CIRM's management. Or should I say, mismanagement.

CIGNA exec puts wind in health care reform sails

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:32:00 PDT

Nebraska's Democratic United States Senator Ben Nelson is one of the holdouts on national health care reform. He had a hard time resisting the testimony of the former CIGNA executive who went to Congress today to tell of the industry's less than honest practices.

More red flags flying on Mass. health care plan

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:40:00 PDT

Massachusetts, where all citizens must prove they have health insurance or pay a $1,000 average fine, continues to scale back health coverage for the lowest-income residents who receive state subsidies for private insurance...

DC Dispatch: Health insurance cancellations

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:21:14 PDT

Most of us don't sit around waiting to catch our health insurance company in the act of being evil. And 99.99% of Americans did not tune in to the congressional hearing I attended on Tuesday when

Let's break a couple of rules

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 11:33:00 PDT

Yeah, I know that some things are now shunned in the consumer end of the health reform debate: Don't mention Canada because it's been demonized as some kind of socialism (and it's full of foreigners, eh?). And ditto for so-called single payer or "Medicare for All" because it's dead in D.C. Here's a blatant violation, however, for the sake of excellent myth-busting.

Health Insurers Refuse To Limit Rescission Of Coverage

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 10:48:00 PDT

Lawmakers Ask Three Executives If They'll Stop Dropping Honest Customers. All Say No.

"This could reshape the debate," said Jerry Flanagan, a patient advocate with Santa Monica-based Consumer Watchdog. "When health insurance companies go under oath and admit they are canceling innocent patients when they get sick, it makes it very difficult for lawmakers to pass a law that requires every American to buy a policy or face a tax fine. It opens the way for a public option to hold the companies in check."

HMO execs' 'Seven Dwarfs' moment

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:43:00 PDT

Democrats in Congress who want strong reform should strive for a repeat of yesterday's fireworks. It's time to put the health insurance executives on the spot and give patients who have been victimized by company policies a spotlight.

Largest U.S. Health Insurer Rewarded Employees That Cancelled Coverage Of Sick Patients -- Consumer Watchdog Calls On Congress To Ban Bonuses For Canceling, Delaying Or Denying Medical Care

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:27:00 PDT

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Consumer Watchdog called on Congress to ban any health insurance employee from receiving bonuses for canceling, delaying, or denying necessary medical care to patients based on new evidence made public today. The evidence released by the House subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations shows that WellPoint, the nation's largest health insurer, rewarded employees for canceling coverage of sick patients. Employees earned high points on "performance reviews" for retroactively canceling policies -- a practice known as "rescission."

Woman Whose Health Insurance Was Cancelled by Blue Cross/WellPoint After She Got Sick Urges Congress to Protect Innocent Patients

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:26:12 PDT

Congress Should Not Let Insurers Continue to Cheat Consumers in Health Care Reform

Washington D.C. -- Wittney Horton of Los Angeles, whose own insurance was cancelled after she sought routine medical care, appeared today before the House subcommittee on Government Oversight and Investigations to urge lawmakers to stop insurance companies from canceling or downgrading insurance coverage when patients get sick.

Health insurer rescinds policy because of chronic gravititis

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:10:00 PDT

Is evil a pre-existing condition?