Every single one.
Blue Cross in California has been routinely cancelling the coverage of women who (horrors!) become pregnant, or people who (heaven forfend!) get sick and need medical care.
Kudos to NCEve and others who have been diarying steadily and conscientiously about the health care scadal that is our current insurance system. The yo-yo (You're on your own) policies of our government, not limited to republican or democratic leaders, alas, is that if you get sick you are screwed.
More below the appendectomy...
Blue Cross in CA (which is apparently a devision of Wellpoint), has just gotten a hefty fine for routinely cancelling coverage, per an AP story today. Not surprising is that the fine is a drop in the bucket for them, or that they are appealing the fine, since they probably recognize a huge pending liability.
What was really shocking to me, is that in a random sampling, there was not one single case where the denial of coverage was found to be justified.
The investigation found that Blue Cross used computer programs and a dedicated department to cancel the policies of pregnant women and the chronically ill regardless of whether they lied on their applications about pre-existing medical conditions - a standard required by state law.
Regulators examined 90 randomly selected policy cancellations, out of about 1,000 a year in California, and found violations in each one. Blue Cross already is appealing a $200,000 fine the department imposed in September for rescinding one person's policy, the first in an individual rescission case.
AP, 2007, emphasis added.
Absolutely f--king incredible. Not only are they fine-tooth combing policies of anyone who files a claim looking for a basis for dropping your coverage: Did you "lie" (meaning not mention on your policy application) about athlete's foot? or a toothache? or a reactive depression 10 years ago sucessfully treated and never recurring?; and not only are they routinely denying almost every claim submitted at least once, and driving you and your physician's office crazy, but they are routinely dropping coverage for pregnant or sick people for no reason other apparently that they are filing claims at all. And they have a department dedicated to this activity--it's probably called the F--ck the Consumer Profit Center. Why is this not considered a criminal conspiracy and seriously prosecuted? Just a f--king coincidance that of 90 randomly selected policy cancellations not a single bloody one was justifiable? Bullhockey.
There should be something a lot more serious than a fine happening here. The cold-blooded illegitimate sons of snakes who have conspired to drop coverage and deny care they were getting paid to provide should spend some time in a federal pen--maybe that would convince them that a contract to cover care is a contract that has teeth on both sides. Sellers of snake oil individual insurance policies, which elected "leaders" like Romney and Bush want to make the standard for coverage in the US, should be dragged kicking and screaming out into the light like the abortions of compassion, good sense and business ethics that they are. It is time for the American people to say enough.