Blue Cross is under fire once again and it's about time...again.
A lawsuit filed in California recently against Blue Cross, claims that premium paying members are being dropped like bad meat from their health plans due to 'irregularities'in their original applications.
Not only are these members plans being canceled, they're being cancelled retroactively leaving many, who have had treatments costing upwards in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, in financial straights, often leading to their losing their homes along with their life savings.
So you have to ask yourself this? How safe is my health coverage?
Having personally been denied coverage through Blue Cross due to having taken two different prescription, Wellbutrin (an antidepressant also used to help smokers quit smoking) and Previcid (an antacid commonly prescribed by doctors for heartburn), neither of which are any type of heroic life saving medicines, I know the difficulties many of these people face.
Having never suffered from any major illness in my life I was flabbergasted when the denial letter showed up.
Who knew that too much spicey food could turn into such a fiasco? Had I known then what I know now I would have bought another bottle of tums and called it a day.
What it really boils down to is profit.
Blue Cross falls under the wing of WellPoint, Inc. who, in their latest financial report, boasted a 20% increase in their first quarter profits.
Well, even if you're a math dork, it's not hard to figure out that if you can pick and choose what health benefits you'll pay out and what you won't as far as independant healthcare coverage goes it's easy to report an increase in profit.
Duh!
Hopefully this will add fuel to Senator Sheila Kuehl's SB 840, a bill that would introduce a universal health plan for every resident in California.
One of the largest grassroots organizations Health Care For All is rallying folks to get involved and be a part of the solution rather than letting the big money making mongers get fatter.
The simple fact is, if you ever find yourself in the situation where you are without health care due to employment change or lay off and apply to a company such as Blue Cross, every doctors file will be scrutinized under a microscope. Every medicine, ache and pain, filled prescription may just become your own prescription for disaster.
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