Please follow me below for a recount of the past twelve hours and how I came to know the phrase:
Insurance Audit
I do not have a transcript of Howard Deans exact remarks and what I have posted are from what I remember listening to during the ceremony. If an exact transcript or video of the ceremony is made then I will of course post it.
Today I had the honor of seeing the 2010 graduation ceremony at Hofstra University. It was a beautiful day out on long island and as the president of Hofstra said that in his nine years as president it was the first graduation that was under the sun and not rain or clouds.
It wasn't my graduation. I was merely a guest invited to attend because my girlfriends sister was graduating. An unexpected pleasure occured when I learned that not only would I get to hear senator Schumer speak at the ceremony but I would get to hear one of my heros Dr Howard Dean. I had not heard Dean speak since the 2003 elections and it made me feel a bit nostalgic.
He was being given an honorary doctorate and delivered perhaps the most heartfelt speech of the three hour celebration. He talked about the power of electing Barack Obama to the oval office and that it was our generation, those between the ages of 18 and 35 that had voted for the first time in greater numbers than those over 65. Ever. It was a serious statement about the gradual shift in political demographic of our country.
Dr Dean thanked us all for the effort but had a warning that made me pay even greater attention to his words. He told us not to be lulled into a false sense of accomplishment. That our victory was not nearly complete that we could cease to stop paying attention. The special interests are not going away.
I was moved. It was refreshing to hear Dr Dean speak again to tell these students graduating that we must not be complacent in our goverment. That it is incumbent upon us to act and do the best we can.
When the pictures were done and we finished helping my girlfriends sister move it was time to paaaaaarty! The whole family drove to one of her friends off campus house where they had set up a wonderful barbacue. Over drinks, hotdogs, veggie burgers, and some spicy wings we talked about politics.
We were discussing the new health insurance reform law and I pointed out how lucky there were that they would be able to keep her daughters on her family plan until they were 26. I lost my health insurance a few months ago and am turning 27 in about a week so it really never was going to apply to me.
She looked at me with a withering look. Her eyebrows slightly arched and she said.
"Have you heard about the insurance audit?"
"What I replied? This woman was in her early 50s, a special needs teacher of over 20 years and a great source of inspiration for myself in pursuit of my career to teach disabled children.
"The insurance audit."
I've been a member of Blue Cross Blue Shield for 29 years now and they are subjecting me to an insurance audit because I want to keep my daughters on my family plan.
"They sent me a letter saying that I needed to supply them with fresh copies of
Birth Certificate. (long not short)
Marriage License.
Front Page of the last three years of her tax returns with the income blanked out.
Proof of Employment for the last several years
A Copy of both her daughters college schedules
Both their college transcripts
Proof that their daughters had been covered by the family plan on March 1st 2010.
That is insane. Why are not the records already on file sufficent?
Now I asked her if she could supply me with a copy of this letter. She said of course that that several of her friends who had receieved the exact same thing were outraged. Some of them wanted to protest even having to be subjected to something as odious as this.
Her advice was do the paper work and save your families insurance. Worry about fighting it later.
I was taken aback. That no matter how much you try and regulate this industry they do everything in their power to try and stop people from having the care they need. Profits are everything. Why can't they do a decent human thing and cover people who are still in school and do not yet have the financial means to pay for insurance themselves. They are evil and are conducting this insurance audit in hopes that people will not be able to provide all the paper work needed. I do not know if there is a deadline on submitting all the paper work.
Blue Cross Blue Shield should not be allowed to get away with this. If Blue Cross Blue Shield is already conducting insurance audits it begs to question if WellPoint, Aetna or some of the other major players are following the same playbook. This is something that people need to know about. If we are able to write regulations on top of the new law then a ban on insurance audits to find out that your under 26 year old children are "eliable" to stay on needs to be outlawed.
I will post the letter when I get it from her hopefully tomorrow or when my girlfriend graduates grad school on thursday.
They must not be able to undermind one of the only truely great things to come out of HIR. Recissions is alive and well in the form of audits.
I'm trying Howard..really trying.