WellPoint, the nation's largest health insurer and parent company of Blue Cross of California, announced a 20 percent profit increase as evidence mounts that the company is engaging in widespread and illegal cancellations of coverage. According to the Los Angeles Times, Blue Cross employees admitted in depositions that they reviewed 1,500 policies a week and targeted patients with certain diseases for retroactive cancellations.
In a recent press release, WellPoint disclosed that its profits for the first quarter of 2006 had increased in part because the company paid less in medical claims.
Lawsuits filed throughout California in March allege that Blue Cross of California and WellPoint have created a "retroaction review department" whose sole purpose is to terminate policies for patients who had previously been given approval for medical treatments. An undetermined number of patients -- who had been enrolled in policies and paid premiums -- have been told that their coverage is retroactively canceled when they seek medical treatment because of a purported discrepancy with information provided in their enrollment form.
According to the LA Times, Wellpoint Spokesman Robert Alaniz said he could not comment because Wellpoint has not seen the suit.
