Chuck Todd was sure proud of the fact that he got President Obama to apologize for some financially-secure folks losing their junk insurance policies last week -- in fact, he was so confident in his righteousness that he later expressed shock that it took so much effort, on his part, to lead Obama to apologize.
When, though, has Chuck ever asked the corporate, for-profit health insurance companies dominating the finance of health care in this country if they should apologize for their bad behavior? If Chuck would like some horror stories to fuel his concern trolling, this diary may be of some use.
Let's first look at how Humana has been torturing the seniors of Minnesota with denials and Kafka-esque bureaucracy.
Elderly Minnesotans across the state say Humana Insurance Co. is delaying payments and just not paying their claims.
“I did not think I should have to fight Humana for coverage each time I received my medical supplies,” 74-year-old Allen Ulrich of Fairfax said in an affidavit given to the Minnesota attorney general’s office.
“I am concerned that if these practices continue, Humana will take advantage of other vulnerable senior citizens that are not able to stand up for themselves,” Marie Brewster-Christy, 70, of Grand Rapids said.
And Mary Ann Anderson, 71, of Granite Falls added: “Even after Humana corrected some of my claims, it continued to bill me incorrectly for others.”
The three examples are among 27 that Attorney General Lori Swanson sent to federal officials Friday asking that action be taken against Humana to help Medicare patients.
Do you think using the word 'torture' is hyperbole to describe the behavior of Humana in Minnesota. If you do, I challenge you to read further, and consider what it's like to be a sick senior citizen fighting day and night with a massive corporation -- 1-800 call after 1-800 call, representative after representative, hold music after more hold music.
In New York Mills, Brenda Boyne of Elders’ Home and Heritage Manor tells a similar story.
In one case, Boyne said, Humana blamed another company for denying payment. Later, she said, she discovered that the other company was a Human subsidiary.
“I am exasperated by the time I have spent appealing Humana’s wrongful denials,” Boyne said.
Anderson, the 71-year-old Granite Falls woman, told of paying a $10 co-pay every time she saw her health-care provider in 2010. The next year, without a change in her plan, Humana said she owed $30 for each visit.
Humana would not pay a $698 ultrasound bill when Anderson experienced lightheadedness and other issues because the procedure “was not reasonable or necessary.”
After the attorney general’s office became involved, Anderson said, “Humana admitted that based on the medical record, this ultrasound was reasonable and necessary and paid this claim.”
But, wait, there's more -- United Healthcare -- the same company whose subsidiary is in charge of fixing the HealthCare.Gov Web site -- also recently made life hell for one of its members: Kristina Anderson, a 25-year old victim of rare ovarian cancer.
Anderson signed up for insurance coverage with UnitedHealthcare on June 18. Her coverage became effective July 3.
A week later, doctors found an ovarian cyst and told her it might be cancerous. The doctor said Anderson needed surgery to remove it. Days before that surgery, Anderson called a UnitedHealthcare representative and asked if her surgery would be covered.
Anderson said she was flat-out denied over the phone because of a clause in her policy that allows UnitedHealthcare to deny coverage of a reproductive cancer within the first six months of insurance coverage. Scottsdale Healthcare also called the insurer on Anderson's behalf and was told the same thing, Anderson said.
Did UnitedHealthcare just admit its mistake and treat this young woman already under great distress with her cancer diagnosis? Of course not -- well, not until the media got involved.
When Call 12 for Action intervened, UnitedHealthcare said that the six-month reproductive clause did not apply to Anderson's case. The spokeswoman then said Anderson had not called the insurer and had ignored requests for more information.
But Anderson denies that. "That's not what happened," Anderson said.
Call 12 for Action went back to Randolph and asked her to review the transcript of Anderson's July 8 phone call.
UnitedHealthcare then admitted Anderson did in fact call, asking if the surgery would be covered, but Randolph said that she never mentioned the word "cancer." Had the mass on her ovaries been benign, it wouldn't be covered, but all cancers are covered by UnitedHealthcare, even for policyholders who have the six-month reproductive waiting period.
That last, very important point was not communicated to Anderson. During her phone call to UnitedHealthcare, Anderson likely didn't mention "cancer" because at the time, she didn't know she had it. Doctors discovered it after examining the mass they removed from her ovaries.
Either way, UnitedHeathcare insists it never officially denied Anderson coverage. The insurer paid Anderson's medical bills totaling nearly $20,000.
So, right, UnitedHealthcare wouldn't agree to pay for this cancer, because the patient didn't call it cancer, because the patient didn't know it was cancer until after going through a horribly-invasive surgery that was necessary to save this young woman's life, but had it not been cancer, UnitedHealthcare would have fully been in its insane six-month waiting policy rights to deny the surgery, which yes...it's ok, pause and take a deep breath.
Luckily, under 'Obamacare 2014', UnitedHealthcare won't be allowed to continue these insane games, in which the patient always loses.
So, Chuck, why aren't you demanding an apology from these insurers who literally put patients -- already traumatized by illness -- through living hell to get claims paid and have the security of knowing they won't be going bankrupt in order to have the privilege of staying alive?
Obamacare is so much more than a Web site, and if it does anything to discipline the barbaric and cruel behavior of these corporate insurers, it's worth going to the mat to fight for, each and every day.