HEALTHCARE:

Measure targeting bad doctors moves ahead
Fort Worth Star Telegram 02/19/03

AUSTIN--State regulators would have more power to crack down on bad doctors under a bill approved Tuesday by a legislative panel.

Senate Bill 104 would allow the State Board of Medical Examiners to immediately suspend the licenses of doctors who have been convicted of a violent crime and bar a person whose medical license has been revoked in another state from practicing in Texas.

The bill would require the board to give priority to complaints involving sexual misconduct and establish an expert panel to review cases involving misconduct.

Lisa McGiffert, a senior policy analyst with Consumers Union in Austin, faulted the bill for not making complaint information about doctors and hospitals available to the public.

She said it is difficult for the public to assess the board's effectiveness if complaint information remains confidential.

The board should also make it easier for the public to obtain information about disciplinary orders, she said.

Consumers Union Urges Court of Appeals to Release 350 Million Decision
AScribe Newswire 02/04/03

AUSTIN, Texas -- Consumers Union called on the Third Court of Appeals today to issue its ruling on the 1998 merger of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois. The decision will determine whether the merged Illinois Blues company will pay $350 million in charitable health care dollars to a Texas nonprofit foundation.

"In times of budget shortfalls, the state cannot meet all of the health care needs of its residents. Yet here is $350 million, languishing in the court for the past three years, that could have gone to a health care foundation to benefit needy Texans," said Lisa McGiffert, a senior policy analyst with CU's Southwest Regional Office. Consumers Union supports a motion filed by Attorney General Greg Abbott last week asking the Third Court of Appeals to expedite the release of its decision, McGiffert said.