Let’s Hope This Sends a Message
Posted by MEC on February 23, 2008
Patsy Bates of Lakewood, California has been awarded $9 million as a settlement against her insurance company, Health Net Inc., which cancelled her policy in 2004 because she developed breast cancer and they didn’t want to pay her medical bills.
That’s a good start. Whoever made the decision to cancel her policy should be charged with attempted manslaughter, too, because her cancer treatments stopped when the bills went unpaid.Fortunately, a state-funded program enabled Ms. Bates to continue the treatment. If she hadn’t lived in a state that had such a program, she’d be dead.
This detail tells us just how broken our system is:
The award came a day after the Los Angeles city attorney sued Health Net, claiming it illegally canceled the coverage of about 1,600 patients. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo also said the company illegally ran an incentive program in which it paid bonuses to an administrator for meeting targets of policy cancelations.
The next time you hear somebody say that our for-profit health care system is better than a government-run system like Canada’s, tell them about Patsy Bates. Ask them whether people should die to protect corporate profits.
One Response to “Let’s Hope This Sends a Message”
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jeffrey dach md said
The 800 Pound Gorilla in the Health Insurance Industry
A simple solution to end this health insurance abuse is have the states regulate the health insurance industry just like a public utility is regulated. This will rein in the obscene profits made by the insurance industry taking advantage of the vulnerability of sick Americans.
How does one deal with an eight hundred pound Gorilla that misbehaves and denies coverage for your medical bills?
Patsy Bates found out when a California court awarded her 9 million dollars for damages.
Her insurance carrier, Health Net cancelled coverage just when she needed breast cancer treatment.
Her lawyer, William Shernoff, not only read the book, he wrote the book: “Fight Back and Win: How to Get HMOs and Health Insurance to Pay Up”.
Bravo for LA City Attorney Delgadillo and New York City Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for going after the health insurance industry for fraudulent practices such as cancellation for pre-existing conditions and underpayment for out-of-network doctor bills.
To read more:
Making Your Health Insurance Company Pay Up by Jeffrey Dach MD
Jeffrey Dach MD
my web site