This is an article written by Jane Hamsher for the Huffington Post.
Federal investigators have told Reuters that WellPoint, the country's largest insurance company, is using an algorithm to identify women with breast cancer for the express purpose of dropping their coverage.
Murray Waas writes that WellPoint "specifically targeted women with breast cancer for aggressive investigation with the intent to cancel their policies":
The women all paid their premiums on time. Before they fell ill, none had any problems with their insurance. Initially, they believed their policies had been canceled by mistake.
They had no idea that WellPoint was using 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.
Wellpoint claimed that these women had made material misrepresentations in order to justify dropping their coverage, but Waas says they were dropped "based on either erroneous or flimsy information." Last week, Waas reported that AIDS patients were being similarly targeted for recision.
The version of health care bill passed by the House of Representatives would've allowed these women to apply to an "independent external third party" for review before being dropped. It also would have required Wellpoint to keep their coverage in place until the board made its determination, and policies could only be canceled in cases with "clear and convincing evidence of fraud."
Those provisions were not included in the Senate Finance Committee bill, however, which became the basis for the final health care bill signed by the President. Reuters says that Wellpoint lobbyists "helped quash proposed provisions that would have required a third party review of its or any other insurance company's decision to cancel a customer's policy."
As Marcy Wheeler reported last year, the Senate Finance Committee bill was written by former WellPoint VP Liz Fowler, who left her position at the insurance company in February 2009 expressly for the purpose of helping the committee to draft the health care bill:
And when Max Baucus did a "victory lap" after the health care bil passed, he expressly thanked Fowler for her work:
I wish to single out one person, and that one person is sitting next to me. Her name is Liz Fowler. Liz Fowler is my chief health counsel. Liz Fowler has put my health care team together. Liz Fowler worked for me many years ago, left for the private sector, and then came back when she realized she could be there at the creation of health care reform because she wanted that to be, in a certain sense, her profession lifetime goal. She put together the White Paper last November-2008-the 87-page document which became the basis, the foundation, the blueprint from which almost all health care measures in all bills on both sides of the aisle came. She is an amazing person. She is a lawyer; she is a Ph.D. She is just so decent. She is always smiling, she is always working, always available to help any Senator, any staff. I thank Liz from the bottom of my heart. In many ways, she typifies, she represents all of the people who have worked so hard to make this bill such a great accomplishment.
Susan Bayh, wife of Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, is on the WellPoint board. Bayh threatened to join Joe Lieberman in a filibuster of the health care bill if a public option was included, something that would very much threaten WellPoint profits -- which have soared in the past year. Susan Bayh's compensation for her role on the WellPoint board includes valuable stock options.
Before the health care bill passed, Harry Reid promised Bernie Sanders that there would be a vote on the public option "in the coming months," and anonymous "hill aides" said that they were looking to use the reconciliation process, such that only 50 Senate votes were needed for passage. In exchange, Sanders offered to give up on his plans to offer a public option amendment. A public option would mean that at the very least, breast cancer and AIDS patients who were unfairly dropped from private insurance plans had some place to go for medical coverage.
But the Senate budget committee is marking up next year's budget right now, and according to the Hill, there are no plans to include reconciliation instructions for health care. Which means that for the next year, any plan to "fix it later" would require 60 votes in the Senate -- but the public option doesn't have 60 votes. Which means Reid punk'd Sanders, Jeff Merkley and other progressive Senators to secure their votes.
It's shameful that Wellpoint lobbyists were successful in keeping key protections for those with breast cancer, AIDS and other serious illnesses out of the Senate bill. But it's even more shameful that Harry Reid has no intention of keeping his promise to fix the health care bill any time soon -- and that members of the Senate with serious conflicts of interest will profit handsomely as a result.
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) will be holding a tele-townhall meeting this Thursday about healthcare reform and it's imminent passage.
You may have heard that Congress is on the verge of passing historic reforms to fix our broken health care system. The House and Senate have both passed historic bills that will lower costs, protect people who have insurance, and provide coverage for the millions who don't. The next step is to get these basic reforms signed into law and build on that progress. As your Representative, I want to hear from you before Congress votes on health care reform legislation in the coming days.
I want to invite you to join me for a conversation about the health care reform legislation. I will hold a Telephone Town Hall on Thursday, March 18th from 7 to 8 PM. I will share a summary of what's in the legislation and answer whatever questions you may have. I am here to listen to you, so make your voice heard and join the call.
Perhaps the Democratic members of Congress should declare defeat and go home to prepare for the 2012 elections. They have already given away so much that what else can matter?
Public option is now off the table as was impeachment, charging war criminals, universal health care and much of what could benefit the American people. That means that buried under all the good things in the Health Care Reform bill, there is a multi-billion dollar payoff for the insurance companies. The public option was but a baby step toward the ideal the rest of the civilized world enjoys, single payer universal health care. Citizens will be mandated to give money to insurance companies.
Call me idealistic, but I really hope this diarist misheard what Sen. Amy Klobuchar said -- although she's apparently in favor of using reconciliation to pass the public option, she's not signing the Bennett letter and thus committing to doing so.
Sigh.
Do we need more proof that it's what big majorities of Minnesotans and Americans nationwide want from the health care reform effort? From the Research 2000/PCCC poll linked above:
QUESTION: Would you favor or oppose the national government offering everyone the choice of buying into a government administered health insurance plan -- something like the Medicare coverage that people 65 and older get -- that would compete with private health insurance plans?
FAVOR
OPPOSE
NOT SURE
ALL
62%
33%
5%
...
QUESTION: Would you be more or less likely to vote for Amy Klobuchar in the future if she led the charge in the U.S. Senate to add a public health insurance option that competes head-to-head with private insurance into law, or would it have no real effect on your vote?
MORE
LESS
NO EFFECT
ALL
39%
9%
52%
...
QUESTION: Which do you think should be a higher priority for congressional Democrats right now -- working in a bipartisan way with Republicans in Congress or fighting for policies that will benefit working families, even if those policies can only be passed with Democratic votes?
PROMISES
GOP
NOT SURE
ALL
51%
39%
10%
Call Sen. Klobuchar's Washington office right now and let her staff know -- respectfully, of course -- how you feel about it. Make sure to tell them Senator Klobuchar should be leading the charge, not waiting for others to lead and then following along, and should sign the Bennett Letter and fight hard for the public-option-through-reconciliation effort.
(My take can be found below -- this is important, folks. Sen. Klobuchar needs to hear from you. - promoted by Joe Bodell)
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar just completed an interview on the Bill Press Show on 950 AM. During her talk this morning she stated that she is for the "minor" public option in the House Bill for Health Care Reform, but she is not going to sign Senator Bennet's letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid to bring back the strong public option in the Senate Health Care Bill. Senator Klobuchar is in favor of using reconciliation to pass a final bill.
Senator Klobuchar apparently is not on the same page as Minnesotans. Sen. Franken has done his part by signing the letter, but Klobuchar states she will not because she feels it is not good for Minnesota. Once again Senator Klobuchar is letting Minnesota down and I think we should say something about it to her.
As President Obama's Health Care Summit starts up today, we need to let Amy know that Minnesota wants her to sign the letter. Amy needs to do what Minnesota wants, not what she wants or does not want to do. The news that she will not sign the letter to Senate Majority Harry Reid is maddening and we need her to change her mind.
Minnesota progressives and those who want real health care reform need to contact Senator Amy Klobuchar's office today and tell her that we want her to sign the letter and support a strong public option. Make sure Senator Amy's office hears from everyone today.
Contact Amy Klobuchar today at her Washington Office. The toll free number is: 1-888-224-9043.
Adam Green from Bold Progressives reports that Senator Amy Klobuchar has still not signed on with other Senators asking Majority Leader Harry Reid to bring back the Public Option through Reconciliation.
The measure that was started by Senator Michael Bennett of Colorado has been gaining a lot of momentum. Thank you Sen. Al Franken for signing on to it, however Sen. Amy Klobuchar has been a little slower to go after what most Minnesotan's want. A good health care reform bill with a public option. Let's all call Senator Klobuchar's office over the next few days and ask her to support Senator Bennett's letter asking Majority Leader Harry Reid to bring back the vote for the Public Option in the health care reform bill. Amy's toll free number at her Washington office is 1-888-224-9043.
(Reports of the health care reform effort's demise have been greatly exaggerated. - promoted by Joe Bodell)
Over five hundred people -- armed with banners, signs, and stories of health insurance industry abuse -- rallied at the Minneapolis United Labor Center Sunday afternoon to demonstrate that people across the country want Congress to deliver on the change people voted for by finishing comprehensive health care right.
The rally's keynote was delivered by U.S. Senator Al Franken, who earlier this week, had signed on to a letter asking Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to use the budget reconciliation process to pass the public option. Reconciliation would require only fifty Senate votes, plus the Vice-President, and has given many people hope that passage of a public option may still be possible.
In opening remarks, Bill McCarthy, President of the Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation, praised Franken for his leadership on federal health care reform and called the Senator "a fighter and champion of Minnesota's working families." McCarthy said "workers across the country are at the mercy of insurance companies' soaring premiums, denied claims and inflated profits. It's time Washington listened to those that elected them, not corporate insurers."
Franken took the stage to thunderous applause midway through the rally. Citing insurance industry profits which continue to rise despite a weak economy, Franken told the packed hall "I think you know why they're fighting us." He warned that people "can't let the perfect be the enemy of the very, very good" referencing tea party protesters who picketed outside the hall. Promising to fight to make sure health care costs are lowered and quality goes up for all Americans, Franken concluded saying "All I can tell you is we're going to get this done."
Rally attendees included members of the Minnesota Health Care for America NOW (HCAN) coalition, Organizing for America (OFA), MoveOn, ISAIAH, labor and progressive organizations. Sunday's attendees were united in the need for Congress to rein in corporate greed, create more jobs, protect workers' rights and achieve comprehensive, affordable health care for all Americans.
The rally was part of a week-long nationwide push insisting Congress act now on health care reform and listen to everyday Americans, and not insurance industry lobbyists who have spent record amounts to block health care reform and protect their profits. Sharon Sund of MoveOn told the crowd "enough is enough. Congress has been debating health care reform for over a year. We voted for change and we want results now."
The Minneapolis event precedes a bi-partisan, televised health reform summit scheduled with President Obama on Thursday.
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) joined seven of his colleagues and signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urging him to bring a public option to a vote using reconciliation. This always was the only way we were going to pass meaningful healthcare reform out of the US Senate. Hopefully, Reid will follow the lead of the real leaders of the Senate.
"Minnesotans aren't content to wait and see when it comes to fixing our broken health care system," said Sen. Franken. "They're concerned about rising costs and losing coverage. A strong public option is one of the best ways to bring down costs, hold insurance companies accountable, and protect health care coverage for Minnesotans."
(Franken email press release)
Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) also signed the letter.
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and I sat down at a coffee shop near his congressional office in Minneapolis to talk. I wanted to find out his take on healthcare reform, what's coming up in Congress and see "the goatee" for myself.
"I started it over August Recess last year," Keith said. "You know, just didn't shave for a couple of days. Then shaved my cheeks. Nobody said anything about it, nobody said 'it's gotta go' so I've kept it." Including his wife, Kim.
After getting the discussion of facial hair out of the way, we got to the biggest question on everybody's mind regarding Congress: healthcare reform.
"You can't arouse people's imaginations for a year straight and then not do something," Keith explained. "I think we're going to do something. I think we're going to use reconciliation."
"Look, social security and medicare were smaller at first," he continued. "They expanded it after they passed it."
After the fold, there's more about healthcare reform, plus the climate change bill, his views on the progressive movement, stimulus and a mid-flight impromptu birthday party featuring then-President George W. Bush and Karl Rove.
For the past several months, I've been having trouble with my back. I hurt it while gardening last July -- I bent over to pick up some scraps, stood up too quickly, and urk I couldn't move. I went through several weeks of physical therapy toward the end of the year and into January, but after a two-week break, I had to go back to my physician for a specialist referral because pain levels rose to unbearable levels.
I'm pretty lucky in this area -- I have very decent insurance, and I work for a company that generally takes pretty good care of its people as far as benefits are concerned. I also recognize that not all companies are as forward-thinking and conscientious as my employers, and that many in Minnesota and across America are either underemployed or have a job that pays for health insurance and little else.
So imagine my surprise when my physician started spouting off about how a government-run health care system would make me wait six months for an MRI.
Congressman Keith Ellison was so solidly in support of a public option that I would ignore the emails coming from Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake.com urging me to make sure my Congressman was on board. In June, 2009, Ellison said:
I will not vote for any healthcare that does not include a public option. I will not do it, that's a guaranteed no vote and I will not be dissuaded from that.
The commenters to that post lauded the Congressman and were jealous of me and my fellow Minneapolitans.
Then in late December, in an interview with Politics in Minnesota, Ellison would not rule out voting for a bill that did not include a public option:
'That has not happend yet,' he said of the prospect of voting on a bill without a public option. 'I'm not there yet. I'll deal with that when it comes up.'
So on Friday I called his Washington office to find out what was up. I was told that circumstances were changed and he was listening to his constituents. I asked if he was being dissuaded now, and when he said, "I will not be dissauded," did he really mean it. I asked what he meant by "a guaranteed no vote" in June. And finally I asked if when I hear him say something in June, I should wait until December to see if it was true.
I'm learning. Don't count your chickens or representatives until they've hatched.
I haven't read any blogs on Health Care Reform recently. I figure it dropped off the table since no one's really paying attention to it and nothing important has happened to the political landscape lately. So, I figured, hey - I can write my own!
Okay, seriously, I have three random comments I want to throw out. Three things that I just haven't really heard anyone discussing (disclaimer: I'm rather lazy), but yet seem to be pretty big glaring holes in the discourse.
While it is unfortunate a Republican won Ted Kennedy's senate seat yesterday, it doesn't really matter that much. This defeat doesn't mean the death of healthcare reform. Our problem isn't that we lost our 60 vote super majority. The truth is we never really had it.
Ben Nelson, Mary Landreiux, Blanche Lincoln and Joe Lieberman were never on our side. They've been bought and paid for by their corporate donors.
America's real problem is that in a time of our greatest need, in the time of our greatest opportunity to pass meaningful healthcare reform, we have Harry Reid. As Senate Majority Leader, he has been spineless and passive.
If Reid wanted to, if he had a spine, if he really believed in healthcare reform, he could simply use reconciliation to pass the bill. The fact is that real healthcare reform has always been something Reid could deliver. The fact is that he is unable.
Rep. John Kline (R-MN) released a press release the Friday before last that I didn't notice until now. First of all, this is understandable. It's not like Kline is bat**** crazy like Michele Bachmann -- His eye's don't burn with an unquenchable fire and he doesn't say demonstrably insane things. It's just that he never does anything or stand for anything. When he does he's just regurgitating the same old Republican lies you'd expect him to spray.
But this one takes the cake. It takes a couple of digs at the Dems without providing anything substantive. Like what he and his Republican colleagues would do. Completely and utterly vapid.
We all know that Minnesota's own UnitedHealth Group has made billions in profits by denying people healthcare and paid it's former CEO Bill McGuire over a billion in compensation. But now the numbers are coming out about how much they and their allies spent opposing healthcare reform. It's staggering.
That money, between $10 million and $20 million, came from Aetna, Cigna, Humana, Kaiser Foundation Health Plans, UnitedHealth Group and Wellpoint, according to two health care lobbyists familiar with the transactions. The companies are all members of the powerful trade group America's Health Insurance Plans.
The funds were solicited by AHIP and funneled to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to help underwrite tens of millions of dollars of television ads by two business coalitions set up and subsidized by the chamber. Each insurer kicked in at least $1 million and some gave multimillion-dollar donations.
"There's no question that AHIP has quietly solicited monies from their members which were funneled over to the chamber for their ads," said a source. The total donated by the health insurers, according to one estimate, was as much as one-quarter of the chamber's total health care advertising budget....
The U.S. Chamber has spent approximately $70 million to $100 million on the advertising effort, according to lobbying sources. It's unclear whether the business lobby group went to AHIP with a request to help raise funds for its ad drives, or whether AHIP approached the chamber with an offer to hit up its member companiesThe U.S. Chamber has spent approximately $70 million to $100 million on the advertising effort, according to lobbying sources. It's unclear whether the business lobby group went to AHIP with a request to help raise funds for its ad drives, or whether AHIP approached the chamber with an offer to hit up its member companies
(National Journal, h/t Daily Kos)
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and I sat down at a coffee shop near his congressional office in Minneapolis to talk. I wanted to find out his take on healthcare reform, what's coming up in Congress and see "the goatee" for myself.
