-------------------- Nori Posts: 109 | From Virginia | Registered: Mar 2006
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Michelle M
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7200
posted
The cheek of insurance companies.
Blue Cross, in particular.
I am uninsurable due to having had lyme (despite the fact it can be "cured" rapidly??), also cited in various denial letters is migraines and MS (although MS was a misdiagnosis for lyme).
Insurance companies more and more will NOT insure anyone who has had anything more serious than a cold.
(Except of course through employers, in which case they HAVE to insure.)
Insurance companies are thieves.
Michelle
Posts: 3193 | From Northern California | Registered: Apr 2005
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
copying this here so i can read it; i did notice WE CAN COMMENT ON ARTICLE ALSO!!
Medical history on notice
BLUE CROSS HOPES TO USE DOCTORS' INFORMATION IN INSURANCE CANCELLATIONS
By Lisa Girion Los Angeles Times Article Launched: 02/12/2008 01:37:21 AM PST
California's largest for-profit health insurer is asking physicians to look for conditions it can use to cancel their new patients' medical coverage.
Blue Cross of California is sending physicians copies of health insurance applications filled out by new patients, along with a letter advising them that the company has a right to drop members who fail to disclose "material medical history," including "pre-existing pregnancies."
"Any condition not listed on the application that is discovered to be pre-existing should be reported to Blue Cross immediately," the letters say.
The Los Angeles Times obtained a copy of a letter that was aimed at physicians in large medical groups.
The letter wasn't received well by physicians.
"We're outraged that they are asking doctors to violate the sacred trust of patients to rat them out for medical information that patients would expect their doctors to handle with the utmost secrecy and confidentiality," said Dr. Richard Frankenstein, president of the California Medical Association.
Patients "will stop telling their doctors anything they think might be a problem for their insurance and they don't think matters for their current health situation," he said. "But they didn't go to medical school, and there are all kinds of obscure things that could be very helpful to a doctor."
WellPoint Inc., the Indianapolis-based company that operates Blue Cross of California, said Monday that it was sending the letters in an effort to hold down costs.
"Enrolling an applicant who did not disclose their true condition (and the condition is chronic or acute), will quickly drive increased utilization of services, which drives up costs for all members," WellPoint spokeswoman Shannon Troughton said in an e-mail.
"Blue Cross feels it is our responsibility to assure all records are accurate and up to date for HMO providers," she said. "We send these letters to identify members early on in the process who may not have been honest in their application."
Blue Cross is one of several California insurers that have come under fire for issuing policies without checking applications and then canceling coverage after individuals incur major medical costs. The practice of canceling coverage, known in the industry as rescission, is under scrutiny by state regulators, lawmakers and the courts.
Patients in a raft of lawsuits accuse the insurers of canceling coverage over honest mistakes and minor inconsistencies on applications that they contend are purposely confusing.
Victims of cancer and other serious medical problems often are unable to get coverage once their insurance has been rescinded.
Suddenly swamped by medical debt, some people have lost homes and businesses.
Insurers say the cancellations are an important weapon against fraud and occur rarely.
Physician groups and doctors who got the letter said they never had received anything like it.
Also unfamiliar with such letters was Don Crane, executive director of the California Association of Physician Groups, which represents many large HMO-style medical groups.
"I have not heard any dialogue on this business of underwriting or ferreting out existing" conditions, Crane said.
But WellPoint's Troughton said this was nothing new. "This is something that has been in place for several years and to date we have not received any calls or letters of concern for this service," she said.
It was important, Troughton added, "to note that participation in this outreach effort is voluntary on the part of the physicians." **************************************
The letters went out to physicians who care for Blue Cross' share of the state's estimated 3 million people with individual policies.
The medical association sent a letter to state regulators Friday urging them to order Blue Cross to stop asking doctors for the patient information, saying it was "deeply disturbing, unlawful, and interferes with the physician-patient relationship."
Blue Cross doesn't always cancel patients over disclosure issues, Troughton noted. Sometimes it might offer them another plan, she said.
Lynne Randolph, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Managed Health Care, said the agency would review the letter.
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Why do we allow health insurance companies to legally steal our... This is easy enough. The doctors under the patient confidentiality... �Read More
Comments Why do we allow health insurance companies to legally steal our money? We give health insurance companies approximately $1,000 per month per person.
If one million people give $1,000 dollars to insurance companies, then the insurance companies are earning $1,000,000,000 or one billion per month.
How many millions of people in the US are giving the insurance companies over $1,000 per month? Health insurance companies are making billions monthly!
If insurance companies receive billions monthly, then why won't the insurance companies pay for our health care needs????
How often do you go to the doctor? Is it worth $12,000 per year?
If not, then we need to get rid of the middle men or health insurance companies and start using our own money to pay for our own health care.
We need to quit enriching the insurance companies at our expense.
If parents invested $12,000 per year per child until their child was 24 years old, then at age 24 their child would have at least $288,000 dollars not including interest or the amount gained if invested in the stock market.
Why not enrich ourselves rather than the insurance companies?
At least we would be able to pay for our own health care costs and we wouldn't have to fight with insurance companies over every penny spent.
Tell me again why we are giving this money to insurance companies? So they can pay for what?
Posted by:
2/12/2008 10:20 PM 29124.2 Report as Violation
Avg 5.00, 1 vote .....yes, go & vote!!! ***************
Comments
This is easy enough. The doctors under the patient confidentiality law do not need to comply.
The AMA needs to make a stand and decide if they are going to side with the patient or side with the insurance companies.
For too long, the AMA has bent over backwards to diagnosing and limiting their care at the whim of insurance companies, but if they simply stopped, and let the patients rebel by suing and submitting complaints to the state then the insurance companies have to amend their so-called "holding down costs" and appeal to the people.
You have to figure insurance companies are legalized crime units and there hasn't ever been an insurance company that has been bereft with problems like bankruptcy or needing financial bail-outs from the Federal government.
They make financial gains every time someone healthy doesn't use their health benefits...and there are a lot of them living in this state since the average age is low.
So I hope for the sake of the public, the state of California jumps on Blue Cross and severely penalizes them.
Posted by: R
2/12/2008 9:27 AM 29124.1 Report as Violation
Avg 5.00, 2 votes
Why do we allow health insurance companies to legally steal our money? We give health insurance companies approximately $1,000 per month per person. If one million people give $1,000 dollars to insurance companies, then the insurance companies are earning $1,000,000,000 or one billion per month. How many millions of people in the US are giving the insurance companies over $1,000 per month? Health insurance companies are making billions monthly!
If insurance companies receive billions monthly, then why won't the insurance companies pay for our health care needs????
How often do you go to the doctor? Is it worth $12,000 per year? If not, then we need to get rid of the middle men or health insurance companies and start using our own money to pay for our own health care. We need to quit enriching the insurance companies at our expense.
If parents invested $12,000 per year per child until their child was 24 years old, then at age 24 their child would have at least $288,000 dollars not including interest or the amount gained if invested in the stock market. Why not enrich ourselves rather than the insurance companies? At least we would be able to pay for our own health care costs and we wouldn't have to fight with insurance companies over every penny spent.
Tell me again why we are giving this money to insurance companies? So they can pay for what?
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