To exemplify just why all of us glass half-empty folks are less than sanguine about the health insurance bill will actually result in real reform, look at what they're doing in California, (via Calitics).
Amid a national debate on how to make the healthcare system friendlier and more accessible, and as millions of people grapple with the loss of jobs and homes, what does insurance heavyweight Blue Shield of California do?
It decides to take a key benefit away.
The company has notified individual policyholders that their coverage could be immediately dropped if they miss a single payment -- or so it seems.
Blue Shield says in a letter to customers that they can reapply for insurance, but with potentially higher premiums and stricter conditions.
This represents a significant change from Blue Shield's former practice of giving customers two special grace periods annually to make up for missed payments without any change to coverage or premiums.
Sure, we trust the insurance companies to be good team players and follow the rules in a "reformed" system.
Update: Good news for California's BSBC customers--all the attention to this boneheaded moved made BSBC reverse the decision, and go back to their old policy.