How Low Can They Go?

From Suburban Guerilla, an alert on just how underhanded and venal insurance companies are. Here's some choice words from the LA Times story:

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 Times obtained a copy of a letter that was aimed at physicians in large medical groups.

Blue Cross' defense boils down to "we're trying to keep costs down and besides, we've been doing it for a while." Let's be blatant about it, OK?

The doctors are not amused, and neither is the California state insurance regulatory agency.

Lynne Randolph, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Managed Health Care, said the agency would review the letter. Blue Cross is fighting a $1-million fine the department imposed in March over alleged systemic problems the agency identified in the way the company rescinds coverage.

A spokesman for state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said the Insurance Department had not received any complaints about Blue Cross' letter. But because the medical association had sent a copy of its complaint to the department, the letter is "on our radar now," spokesman Byron Tucker said.

The letter is "extremely troubling on several fronts," Tucker said. "It really obliterates the line between underwriting and medical care. It is the insurer's job to underwrite their policies, not the doctors'. Doctors deliver medical care. Their job is not to underwrite policies for insurers."

Anthony Wright, executive director of HealthAccess California, a healthcare advocacy organization, said the letter had put physicians in the "disturbing" position of having to weigh their patients' interests against a directive from the company that, in many cases, pays most of their bills.

"They are playing a game of 'gotcha' where they are trying to use their doctors against their patients' health interests," Wright said. "That's about as ugly as it gets."

Let me see -- we need mandate plans that force everyone to pay money to these thugs? And is the government going to be allowed to negotiate the cost?

And why do you suppose we've never heard about what a serious problem insurance fraud is before this? Maybe it's like the voter fraud that the Bush Justice Department was so busy investigating that they didn't have time for corruption cases.