Category Archives: Government

Texas to Require Insurers to Justify “Unreasonable” Premium Increases

Written On August 24, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Will Texas really start to crack down on insurance company abuses, or is this just more empty talk from the Texas Department of Insurance? An article in the Dallas Morning News this week quotes state officials as saying they will now question “unreasonable” rate hikes from insurance companies. This change is being forced on the [...]

Posted in Government, Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Insurance Information

TxDOT Debuts New Travel Information Line

Written On August 18, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The Texas Department of Transportation has just set up a travel hotline to give drivers real-time information on traffic conditions throughout the state. The phone number is 800-452-9292. The system is based on interactive voice response, in which the caller asks questions, and the automated system responds.
This is an excellent idea, and I look forward to [...]

Posted in Government, Vehicle Law or News

Medicare’s Private Eyes Let Fraud Cases Get Cold

Written On August 10, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The government is doing a poor job of policing the Medicare system for fraud. According to an article in the Houston Chronicle, Medicare investigators routinely take months before referring fraud cases to law enforcement, and in that length of time the cases can go cold — with records destroyed, witnesses lost, etc. Taxpayers are getting [...]

Posted in Government, Medicare, Uncategorized

Featured Link – Disability.gov

Written On August 9, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The federal government has an excellent resource at Disability.gov for anyone seeking more information about disabilities or the laws and regulations applicable to disabilities. The site is pretty much a redo of the old DisabilityInfo.com, which I have mentioned before. Here is the site’s description:
About Us
Disability.gov is an award-winning federal Web site that contains disability-related [...]

Posted in Disability, Government, Medical and Health Resources

A Tougher Car Safety Agency is Needed

Written On August 3, 2010 By Bob Kraft

A tougher National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is what’s been called for in an editorial that ran in the New York Times a few days ago. The editorial is worth reading, and I certainly agree with the newspaper. Here are excerpts:
The United States has done a fairly good job so far of policing the safety of [...]

Posted in Government, Product Liability or Medical Devices, Vehicle Law or News

94 Arrested in Medicare Scams Totaling $251 Million

Written On July 20, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Almost 100 people were arrested last week for defrauding Medicare. I’m sure this is just a drop in the bucket of Medicare scams across the country. Everyone knows that Medicare poses perhaps the greatest risk to our country’s fiscal survival, and if we could root out more of these crooks it would certainly help our [...]

Posted in Government, Medicare

Grants Aim to Reduce Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

Written On June 18, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The Wall Street Journal reports that the federal government is ready to begin $25 million in grants, as promised by President Obama, that seek to reduce medical malpractice claims by a variety of methods. Here are excerpts from the article:
During last year’s health debate, Republicans criticized the president for not addressing the rising cost of [...]

Posted in Government, Medical Malpractice

Watered Down Vehicle Safety Bills Reflect Influence of Automakers

Written On June 8, 2010 By Bob Kraft

New auto safety bills have been introduced in the House and Senate. These bills are basically good for consumers, but they are considerably weaker than previous versions. This is due to negotiations with the auto manufacturers. The story is reported in the Washington Post, and here are excerpts:
Automakers have reached a series of compromises with [...]

Posted in Government, Product Liability or Medical Devices, Vehicle Law or News

Featured Link – DisasterAssistance.gov

Written On June 8, 2010 By Bob Kraft

DisasterAssistance.gov is a site established by the federal government to help victims of, obviously, disasters. It really does have very helpful information for anyone who has suffered, and is especially relevant during this time of terrible difficulty in the Gulf of Mexico. Texas has thus far escaped damage from the BP oil leak, but the [...]

Posted in Featured Link, Government

Featured Link – Money and Politics

Written On June 1, 2010 By Bob Kraft

MAPLight.org is all about the influence of money in politics today. That’s a connection I find frightening and disgusting. The site’s subhead is Connect the Dots Between Money and Votes. That pretty much says it all, and there’s a lot of good information here. Check it out if you wonder why politicians vote for or [...]

Posted in Government, Political and/or Judicial

FDA May Disclose More Details on Drug and Food Safety

Written On May 21, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The Food and Drug Administration proposed this week to disclose more information about safety problems with the drugs and devices it rejects. This is the latest step in the agency’s efforts to combat criticism that it has become too secretive in its dealings with drug makers and food processors. There is good reason for some [...]

Posted in Government, Prescription Drug Claims

Texas Agencies Promise Reform After Alleged Abuse at Veterans Nursing Homes

Written On May 19, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Three state agencies have pledged to improve responses to abuse allegations at nursing homes, after legislators raised pointed questions about safety and management at two state-owned facilities for veterans. That is the story published recently in the Dallas Morning News. Here are excerpts:
One of the main changes is for the state agency in charge of [...]

Posted in Government, Medical Malpractice, Veterans Benefits

VA Limits Surgeries at Some Hospitals After Deaths

Written On May 13, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Because of an alarming report of deaths during or after surgeries at one VA hospital in Illinois, the Veterans Affairs Department is limiting the types of surgeries performed at some of its hospitals.
The VA has now given each hospital a “surgical complexity” level. Because of that, hospitals in at least five states will now perform [...]

Posted in Government, Medical Malpractice, Veterans Benefits

Graduated Driver Licenses for Teenagers

Written On May 10, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Graduated driver licenses (GDL) are ones that confer greater freedoms on drivers as they age through their teen years. Texas has graduated drivers licenses now.
An act pending before Congress would compel all states to adopt fairly strict standards for graduated driver licenses, stricter than the current standards in Texas. The rest of this post is [...]

Posted in Government, Political and/or Judicial, Vehicle Law or News

Texas Lags Behind Most States in Disciplining Doctors

Written On April 14, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The Texas Medical Board is less likely than those in other states to revoke doctors’ licenses or take other serious disciplinary action, according to a report released this month by the consumer organization Public Citizen.
Texas ranked 38th among boards in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in taking serious disciplinary action against doctors [...]

Posted in Government, Medical Malpractice

Featured Link – Consumers Guide to the Health Reform Bill

Written On March 22, 2010 By Bob Kraft

This summary of the health care reform bill passed by the House yesterday is very readable. I can’t vouch for the accuracy of all the information here, but I didn’t notice any glaring errors. It’s a good starting point for those who want more information about the effect on them of this historic legislation. The [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Featured Link, Government, Health Insurance, Insurance Information, Political and/or Judicial

State Farm Plans Second Rate Hike in Eight Months for Home Policies

Written On March 18, 2010 By Bob Kraft

State Farm Insurance told the state last week that it intends to raise its homeowners rate 4.5 percent statewide starting May 1, only eight months after the company boosted rates 8.8 percent, as reported by the Dallas Morning News. I have written many times about the ridiculous laws and regulations in Texas that have kept [...]

Posted in Government, Insurance Information

Winslow: Texas Must Stop Protecting Public Safety on the Cheap

Written On March 15, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram published a guest column by Texas Watch Executive Director Alex Winslow discussing the Toyota safety debacle and how the comapny should have to face an impartial judge and citizen jury – not an underfunded and over-lobbied government bureaucracy.  Check it out.

Do you hear that sound? It is the ringing of alarm bells [...]

Posted in Government, Product Liability or Medical Devices, Vehicle Law or News

Obama Health Proposal Could Reduce Texas Insurance Premiums

Written On February 26, 2010 By Bob Kraft

It may come as a surprise to those not familiar with Texas politics that Texas does not review most increases in health insurance premiums. Not unless the premium increase is for more than 50% annually. Everything else is fair game. An insurance company can increase premiums 49% per year every year and that would be [...]

Posted in Government, Health Insurance, Insurance Company or Government Misconduct

Soaring Premiums Show Need for Health Care Reform

Written On February 18, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary, has written an opinion piece in the Atlanta Journal Constitution in which she says the recent proposed rate increase by Wellpoint and Blue Cross is evidence that fast reform is needed in this country’s health care system. Here are excerpts from the article:
Earlier this month, [...]

Posted in Government, Health Insurance