Insurance and Breast Cancer
Posted 10/17/2010
Posted in
Especially with the election coming, we are all (or, some of us, anyway) are thinking about politics and policies. In my world, we think especially about health care and that means thinking about medical insurance and access to care. I was horrified to read this short news report from latimes.com about continuing discrimination against women who have had breast cancer. I would assume, without really knowing, that similar discrimination happens to people who have been previously diagnosed with other cancers, too. As an aside, I also recently learned that the 4 largest for-profit medical insurance companies all consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition and deny coverage for new applicants based on that state.
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latimes.com/business/la-fi-wellpoint-suit-20101014,0,1295801.story
latimes.com
Anthem Blue Cross parent accused of misrepresenting cancellation
practices
Los Angeles city attorney's office says WellPoint misled the public earlier this year
when it denied reports that it targeted women with breast cancer for cancellation of
health insurance.
By Duke Helfand, Los Angeles Times
October 14, 2010
Los Angeles city prosecutors Wednesday accused the parent
company of insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross of California
of falsely stating that it had changed its procedures for
canceling the policies of patients after they become sick.
The Los Angeles city attorney's office said that WellPoint
Inc. misled the public earlier this year when it denied reports
that it targeted women with breast cancer for cancellation.
The prosecutors' action is the latest chapter in the city
attorney's ongoing case against WellPoint. It first sued the
insurer in 2008, alleging false advertising and fraud over its
practice of policy cancellations.
In an amended civil complaint filed Wednesday in Los
Angeles County Superior Court, prosecutors said WellPoint
issued three "false and misleading" press releases in April and May to burnish its corporate image as it fended off assertions about its cancellation practices in a news story and criticism from the Obama administration that followed.
The prosecutor's office contended that WellPoint continued to target women with breast cancer. It said the company also falsely stated that it had changed its procedures this year before the new federal healthcare law took effect. The law bars rescissions nationwide except in cases in which policyholders lie on
applications.
Prosecutors acknowledged that WellPoint's rescissions in California had slowed to a "trickle" but said the Indianapolis company continued to misrepresent itself.
"This is a company that seems willing to say anything — true or not — in order to maintain their profit level," said Chief Asst. City Atty. Jeffrey Isaacs.
The most recent criticism began when news service Reuters reported in April that WellPoint targetedwomen with breast cancer for cancellation. The Obama administration used the report to further criticize WellPoint, which assailed the story, calling it inaccurate and wrong. "We do not single out breast cancer or pregnancy," the company said at the time.
On Wednesday, WellPoint denied any wrongdoing. "We stand by the statements we made regarding these issues," the company said. "The city attorney's allegations are misguided, and the company will vigorously defend the new claims along with the remainder of the 2-year-old complaint."
WellPoint and its California subsidiary have faced other criticism over the canceling of policies of sick people who ring up big medical bills.
In 2008, Anthem Blue Cross agreed to pay a $10-million fine to the California Department of Managed Health Care and to offer new coverage to 1,770 former policyholders to resolve an investigation by the agency.
duke.helfand@latimes.com
Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times
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