Says company is “putting profits before people”

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree today had tough words for the health insurance company WellPoint after published reports revealed that they investigated every woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer and canceled coverage for many of them.
 
“The idea that this company targets women with breast cancer for cancellation is outrageous,” Pingree said.  “If there was ever a story that clearly showed how these companies put profits before people, this is it.”
 
According to a report from Reuters, WellPoint, the parent company of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Maine, used “a computer algorithm that automatically targeted them and every other policyholder recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The software triggered an immediate fraud investigation, as the company searched for some pretext to drop their policies, according to government regulators and investigators.  Once the women were singled out, they say, the insurer then canceled their policies based on either erroneous or flimsy information.”
 
Congressional investigators found that WellPoint made more than $128 million in profit over five years by improperly canceling insurance policies of people who had gotten sick.
 
“The idea that these big insurance companies put a woman’s life at risk so they can fatten up their bottom line is offensive,” Pingree said.  “And it’s a perfect example of why we need the health care reform that is now law.”

The recently passed health care reform law bans the practice—called rescission—of canceling insurance after a policy holder gets sick.   Pingree said the Obama Administration needs to make sure the provision is vigorously enforced.
 
“It’s going to be up to the Administration to put these new regulations into effect, and I’m urging them to make sure the new rules have teeth to them,” she said.
 

The Reuters story can be found here.

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