They'll let you die for 1/100th of a penny.

[Scuba]

Another example of why for-profit health insurance doesn't work. I worked for 32 years in healthcare administration and I'll guarantee you they would not have cancelled her policy had she been in good health.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/ns/msnbc_tv-countdown_with_keith_olbermann/#38139003

In this case, the media served as a lever against the "profits first" approach, but it took this lady three hours on the phone to get her insurance re-instated after it was inappropriately cancelled. Three hours doesn't sound like much, but when you're receiving chemotherapy treatments it's a lifetime.

Health insurance companies have abandoned the concept of "sharing risk" in favor of profits. The health insurance industry takes a third of our healthcare dollars, and adds NO VALUE to the process of delivering care.

We need single-payer, national coverage for all citizens.

[formercia]

1. Bean counters are a curse

They're trained to squeeze blood out of a turnip.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

2. And they praised the workers who found the 1/100th of a penny

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jun/17/business/fi-rescind17

Blue Cross praised employees who dropped sick policyholders, lawmaker says
Workers received high marks on performance reviews after policies were rescinded, documents show.
The health insurer denies the practice is a factor in evaluations.

Lisa Girion
June 17, 2009

skip

An investigation by the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations showed that health insurers WellPoint Inc., UnitedHealth Group and Assurant Inc. canceled the coverage of more than 20,000 people, allowing the companies to avoid paying more than $300 million in medical claims over a five-year period.

It also found that policyholders with breast cancer, lymphoma and more than 1,000 other conditions were targeted for rescission and that employees were praised in performance reviews for terminating the policies of customers with expensive illnesses.

The article above just reminds me why I was and am so disusted that HCR entrenched the hidious corporations who had such immoral and unethical practices as to actually TARGET people with conditions like breast cancer and lymphoma.

It's also worth nothing that rescission STAYS as an acceptable practice under HCR for "fraud". Fraud was always the umbrella they used, so what's going to be diffferent? Perhaps some kind of review process, but what happens to the consumer in the meantime? Does the coverage for treatment stay in place?


I've said before, your health insurance application should be your name, your address and your SS number.
One insurance coverage with 2 rates - individual and family.

[RC]

3. I posted a question elsewhere on another subject that applies here.

"By law, BP's sole reason for existence is to make money and any law, promise or supposed "moral obligation" that impedes or hinders the making of as large a profit as possible will be disregarded as long as the penalties are less than the profit generated by violating the law, breaking their promises or otherwise behaving immorally."

How does this NOT apply to health insurance companies?
Isn't this the reason the rest of the world went to some kind of single payer?


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8707750