INSURANCE SCAM

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The former Vice President for Public Policy and External Affairs at WellPoint, Elizabeth Fowler, is currently the Senior Counsel to Max Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and leading opponent of the "public option" in healthcare reform. (Wikipedia)

Nation's Largest Insurer Lobbies Against Health Care Reform, Then Cuts Workers’ Benefits… WellPoint CEO Pocketed $10 Million Last Year
WellPoint health insurance company, which has encouraged its employees to lobby against health care reform, is now cutting their benefits.
The insurance giant plans to raise deductibles and premiums for some of its employee health benefits. "Your cost per paycheck will probably increase," said a memo to Wellpoint employees that was obtained by Bloomberg News.
The company blamed the recession for the cuts. "Like many employers in today's economic environment, we are looking at all aspects of our business," including benefits, "and making adjustments to ensure we can continue to operate competitively in the future," wrote Chief Human Resources Officer Randy Brown.
WellPoint's CEO, Angela Brady, made nearly $10 million in 2008.
WellPoint illegally pressured California employees this summer to fight health care reform, according to Consumer Watchdog. "Regrettably, the congressional legislation, as currently passed by four of the five key committees in Congress, does not meet our definition of responsible and sustainable reform," said the company's Anthem Blue Cross unit in a company e-mail. The proposals would hurt the company by "causing tens of millions of Americans to lose their private coverage and end up in a government-run plan."
A House investigation found that WellPoint also rewarded employees for finding ways to drop policyholders who developed expensive conditions -- a practice known as rescission. LinkHere

WellPoint Subsidiary Fights Maine Over Big Rate Hike

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Maine, a subsidiary of WellPoint, the nation's largest insurer, wanted the state to approve an average rate hike...
The filing states that with the rate increase, Anthem's 12,000 policyholders in Maine "would have paid an additional $12 million in annual premium for the same level of benefits."
Oral arguments are expected in November. An Anthem spokesman has not yet responded to a request for comment from the Huffington Post. LinkHere

Dawn Smith, Brain Tumor Victim: How Her Story Became Rallying Cry For Health Care Reform Supporters

The past few years of Dawn Smith's life have been a medical nightmare turned around only when her story became a rallying cry for health care reform.
Four years ago, the Georgia native was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor. Her problems were as much bureaucratic as medical -- Smith's insurer, CIGNA, declined to cover the costs associated with going to an out-of-network epilepsy center. Without more innovative testing and treatment, she was left with crippling head pains.
Her saving grace was her political symbolism. After months of reaching out fruitlessly to her representatives in Washington, the progressive action group MoveOn.org sent word of her story to its massive email list. Pressured to act, CIGNA agreed days later to cover tests for Smith at the fabled Cleveland Clinic.
It was a much-needed break. But it didn't fully get rid of the red tape. Last week, Smith received a call from a CIGNA representative telling her that the co-pay on her anti-epileptic medicine was being jacked up by more than $3,000 a year. "I was knocked to the floor," she told the Huffington Post. "When they told me I'd have to get another medicine -- in this matter-of-fact-type tone -- I just started crying."
With no personal income to cover her costs, Smith once again was saved through the intervention of a third party. Hours after reporters began questioning CIGNA's latest move, the insurance company brought the drug price back to its original level. The mistake, it said, was made by Smith's doctor who misfiled the prescription. "I think that it is fair to say that we were unaware of the issue until we started to hear about it through Twitter and blogs," said Christopher Curran, a CIGNA spokesperson.
"We have been in contact with both Ms. Smith and her physician and have corrected the inaccuracy. Customer service and satisfaction is important to us, we remain committed to working with our customers and physicians to ensure they receive the highest level of service."
LinkHere

Civil Rights Groups Get Into Health Care Fight, Target Dems

WASHINGTON — African-American, Latino and civil rights groups have launched an ad campaign aimed at pressuring moderate Democratic senators to support health care legislation that allows the government to sell insurance in competition with private industry.
The ads feature a recognizable civil rights symbol – a public bus – to send the group's message that "there needs to be room for all of us on the bus."
The ads began Monday on television, in print and online in English and Spanish in four states: Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina and Florida. They target three Democrats – Sens. Blanche Lincoln, Mary Landrieu and Kay Hagan – and one Republican, Sen. George LeMieux (leh-MYOO').
Money for the ads is being raised by PowerPAC. The groups plan to spend $250,000 to $500,000 on the ads. LinkHere