Consensus Commentaries

US government's war on prescription drugs
The US government is prosecuting a new war on drugs: prescription drugs. The FDA is shutting down storefront pharmacies that import cheap drugs from Canada like they're crack houses.

To Really Reform Healthcare, Democrats Should Take Their Cue From Garamendi
Democrats talked a good game when it came to healthcare reform at their convention in Boston last week. But talk is cheap. They need to follow the lead of one of their own -- California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi -- and play hardball.

Health insurance firms must undergo changes
I don't accept this and neither should you. All Americans need to start caring about what health insurance companies are getting away with. The "I don't care" attitude is simply not acceptable.

Rejecting WellPoint deal
I am grateful for Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi's rejection of the acquisition of WellPoint by Anthem Inc. Where is the governor with his promise to cut the cost of doing business?

REDRESS WHEN WRONGED? FORGET ABOUT IT
What right do all government officials have that the taxpayers who pay their salaries don't? After two recent rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, the answer is the right to sue your health maintenance organization or health insurer for damages.

Health Care: Getting better, but still sick
California needs broad-based cost controls. That includes not only access to affordable prescription drugs, but also bulk purchasing of drugs. The state needs to regulate the health insurance industry's boundless administrative costs and curtail its callous pursuit of limitless profits.

Arnold should terminate this predator
If Gov. Schwarzenegger wants to really take on a predator-like foe, he should muscle up against the state's health care delivery system.

Another Predator for Governor to Terminate
In a new report, "Crisis and Opportunity: Forging a Universal Health Care Consensus," the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights sets forth three model cost-control laws and a model ballot initiative. The laws address the immediate crisis: affordability.

L.A. Could Cut Drug Costs With Bulk Buys
The ban on negotiating bulk-rate prices in the federal plan benefits only the powerful drug companies, not the taxpayers. Los Angeles can take the lead by approving the proposed plan and showing the nation how to get a better deal for seniors and others who need more affordable prescription drugs.

Terminate high health costs
Some folks are all aflutter at the political biceps being flexed by our governor as he travels up and down the state pressuring legislators to rubber stamp his every proposal, and threatening serious electoral consequences if they don\'t knuckle under.

Arnold needs to terminate rapid rise in health care costs
Gov. Schwarzenegger, instead of breaking bread with insurers, should take a real look at the suffering the people of this state are enduring. Let him "terminate" that.

Curb medical costs
Despite the Times' Dec. 7 editorial against Senate Bill 2, we believe the Legislature made a good start toward health care reform when it passed the bill. It will provide health care for 1 million more working people.

Rejecting WellPoint deal

Who will profit from Medicare reform?
Pharmaceutical companies can charge whatever they like for drugs because the government is prohibited from buying drugs through bulk purchases. Bulk purchasing is the reason prescription drugs are sold at one-third of their price in Canada.

State Must Take All Its Medicine for Flawed Health Plan to Work
If California is to become a national model for establishing employer-based health coverage, the Legislature must rein in costs so that employers and employees -- who pay 20% of the cost -- can actually afford the product they're being required to buy.

A Revolution Looking for a Leader and a Way
As a policy, lower costs, higher quality and universal access go hand in hand. The more patients who are insured, the lower the cost for everyone. An insurance pool that covers all risks means each pays less.

Insurance Reform? Consider the Source
What the HMOs want the public to forget is that 12% to 33% of every premium dollar they collect is eaten up by their increasing profits and overhead. Who is responsible for runaway costs if not the companies charging them?

The Universal Approach: Affordability is basic in health-care reform
The truth is that no solution will work unless it deals with the public's main concern -- affordability. That means taking a hard look at exorbitant HMO and drug company profits.

Universal Coverage Will Take Universal Sacrifice
Universal health-care reform is back in vogue, but it will take sacrifice by every stakeholder in health care to achieve it.

State must take lead on health care
The recent Capitol Hill burials for a Medicare prescription drug benefit and HMO reform signal that California must take matters into its own hands. Gov. Gray Davis should convene a special session of the Legislature to lead nationally on a crisis of new

Will Society Allow Baby Boomers' Health Care Savings to Go Bust?
Children born in the wake of World War II could now be facing the battle of their lives, simply affording their health care.

Commentary; Let a Public Board Set Health-Care Rates; Manage hospitals like utilities.
The only way to ensure access to Los Angeles County's emergency rooms and hospitals is by employing the same model that Angelenos use to protect their electricity and water costs and Marylanders use to maintain their hospitals: public utility regulation.

HMOs Stalk Patients' Rights;
California HMOs are slyly attacking the new patients' rights laws touted by Gov. Gray Davis as the toughest in the nation. The industry can't be allowed to undermine the two pillars of HMO patients' rights it has targeted effective state regulation and

Insurance: You Pay, They Bait and Switch. Health-care plans are beginning to feel like scams in California.
The revelation that health insurers will be levying surcharges of as much as $400 per day for the best hospitals shows the degree to which insurance is fast becoming a bait-and-switch scam.

Healthy Profits Don't Equal Good Health
If the California Public Employees' Retirement System--the Goliath of buyers--can get stepped on, then without new controls the little guys--small businesses and individual purchasers--will be crushed.