Why was Caitlin White’s $113,000 brain surgery delayed for more than two months? Would she ever have had the surgery without the intervention of TV news?

It’s really not clear from the linked story, but this much is clear: Caitlin’s mother believes the “claim came in too late” for her to have the surgery scheduled for May. She also believes that the insurer denied coverage altogether when she rescheduled the surgery. The insurer, Aetna, disputes the circumstances, but according to the story it took pressure from a local TV station and a four-day investigation to get Aetna to “change its tune” and “partner” with Tampa General Hospital to fully cover the costs.  Read more 

N.Y. AG Prescribes Subpoenas to UnitedHealth Group, Others

The nation’s largest health care insurer, four of its subsidiaries and a number of other large insurers are being served subpoenas — 16 in all — in a suit to be brought by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo that charges the companies used “rigged data to manipulate the reimbursement rate to their customers who filed claims.”

At the center of the scheme, according to the attorney general, is Ingenix, Inc., “the nation’s largest provider of health care billing information, which serves as a conduit for rigged data to the largest insurers in the country.”  Read more 

Let’s talk about corporate greed. It is worse than you thought. We know that these companies make money by collecting premiums and then denying care. The question is, money for who? Let’s look at their insider trades:
Cigna’s board of directors and chief corporate officers collectively dumped 129,499 shares of Cigna stock. I tried to add that up to what it would be in dollars, got as far as $17,342,224. That is in addition to their very high salary. How much health care could your municipality buy with $17 million dollars?  Read more 

UnitedHealth CEO paid $13.1M in 2007

UnitedHealth Group Inc. CEO Stephen Hemsley received compensation valued at $13.1 million in 2007, down from the $15.5 million he got in 2006.

According to documents filed with the SEC, Hemsley received a base salary of $1.3 million in 2007, up from $1 million in 2006. He also got stock options awards valued at $8.1 million in 2007, less than the $11.3 million he got in 2006.

His compensation also included $3.6 million in cash incentives, up from $2.8 in the previous year.  Read more