Big 5 Health Insurers Named In Cancellation Lawsuits Contributed
$804,600 to Governor
SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Consumer
Watchdog today said that according to industry insiders the state's top HMO
regulator is considering a deal with Kaiser that would allow the company to
avoid paying for past medical bills for some patients whose coverage was
illegally cancelled when they got sick. The deal is also rumored to include
provisions designed to limit Kaiser's legal liability.
After two years of high-profile media coverage of widespread coverage
cancellations, the Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) recently
announced plans to require insurers to reinstate coverage, though no formal
orders for reinstatement have yet been issued.
Download the letter at:
http://www.ConsumerWatchdog.org/resources/KaiserSettlementLetter.pdf
In the letter, Consumer Watchdog wrote:
"We have heard disturbing rumors that the Department will soon announce
a settlement with Kaiser regarding illegal retroactive cancellations of
coverage that falls significantly short of your duty to protect patients by
allowing Kaiser to continue to refuse to pay past medical bills. What's
worse, we understand that the agreement is also aimed at limiting Kaiser's
future legal liability to patients who were left uninsured when they got
sick and needed coverage the most -- some of whom have lost their jobs and
their homes because of Kaiser's malfeasance...
"[A]ll previous rescissions carried out without a showing of willful
misrepresentation were premature at best, and therefore wrongful, and
patients must be immediately put back in the position that they were in
prior to losing coverage. Dragging patients through months of review before
reinstatement and/or full payment of past medical bills is simply further
unjust punishment.
"Your Department's failure to attend to the interest of the patients
forced them to sue for relief. Now, the insurance company defendants that
you regulate are counting on you to bail them out. This is an inappropriate
role for an agency entrusted with the protection of patients.
"This latest action marks a disturbing trend. Promised regulations are
now 18 months overdue. Several company surveys are long overdue. It is not
too late for you to put the Department back on track, but you must
personally ensure that patients come first -- even if that means upsetting
some of the Governor's largest contributors."
The state's largest 5 health insurer's, all named in lawsuits and
targeted by regulators for illegal policy cancellations, have contributed
$804,600 to Governor Schwarzenegger since 2004:
Blue Cross: $256,000
Health Net: $155,500
Kaiser: $150,000
PacifiCare: $138,500
Blue Shield: $104,600
SOURCE Consumer Watchdog
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Related links:
http://www.consumerwatchdog.org
CONTACT:
Jerry Flanagan of Consumer Watchdog,
+1-310-392-0522 ext 319
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