Via Avedon Carol, we find that Blue Cross has told regulators one thing and stockholders another. I guess they were too busy dumping stock to get their story straight.

NOTE Great to see all those great "progressive" bloggers giving this the attention it deserves. Oh, wait.... They've been too busy helping the FKDP hustle single payer advocates away from the table to do anything else. My bad.

State attorney general targets health insurers

The California attorney general's office opened an investigation Thursday into allegations that the state's largest health insurers were rejecting medical claims at alarming rates. ...

... The nurses union said some of the companies had denial rates between 27 percent and 40 percent during the first six months of this year, with PacifiCare rejecting 39.6 ercent of claims it received.

The CNA said Cigna rejected 32.7 percent, Health Net 30 percent, Kaiser Permanente 28.3 percent and Blue Cross 27.9 percent.

You only THINK you have insurance.

Digby links this excellent reporting on the pay for parasites:

* United Health Group
CEO: William W McGuire
2005: 124.8 mil
5-year: 342 mil

* Forest Labs
CEO: Howard Solomon
2005: 92.1 mil
5-year: 295 mil

* Caremark Rx
CEO: Edwin M Crawford
2005: 77.9 mil
5-year: 93.6 mil

* Abbott Lab
CEO: Miles White
2005: 26.2 mil

Philadelphia Day of Action

Time: May 30th, 12 pm to 1:30 pm
Location: Cigna Headquarters, 16th and Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
Contact: Jeff Muckensturm at jeff [at] healthcare-now [dot] org.

 Read more…

DeKalb retirees in fix over insurance

A glitch in switching medical insurers continues to cause problems for retired DeKalb County employees, as they call their new insurer only to discover they aren’t covered.

“I called Cigna this morning, and they still have no record of me being in the system,” Larry Davis, a former Sheriff’s Department administrator, said Tuesday.

Insurer Cigna to shed 1,100 employees

Cigna Corp., a Philadelphia-based health insurer, has announced plans to lay off 1,100 employees — approximately 4% of its total work force.

Denial of care is a failing business model, let's put them out of their misery before they kill anyone else.

Calif. teen's family sues Cigna over transplant

LOS ANGELES – The family of a 17-year-old leukemia patient has sued health insurance giant Cigna Corp. for her death in 2007 after the company initially refused to pay for a liver transplant.

Cigna is a health insurance parasite in urgent need of adoption, can you adopt Cigna?

Unhealthy insurers

US health insurers, already feeling unwell at the prospect of a Barack Obama presidency, had their condition further downgraded this past week as the financial crisis hit earnings. While the patient has suffered a bit of a shock, the prognosis is better than the average 61 per cent drop over the past year in the shares of six leading managed-care companies would suggest.

 Read more…

Anger in Philadelphia: CIGNA + McCain = Murder by Spreadsheet

Six days before the most important election in my lifetime, it was an auspicious moment to be standing in the lobby of this Murder by Spreadsheet factory.

 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…

I suppose this is the logical conclusion of the American Health Neglect System:

CIGNA Creating a Virtual Health Care Community

BLOOMFIELD, Conn. & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today CIGNA, a leading health service company, is announcing the development of a virtual health care community. This computer-simulated world is situated on a Second Life® island, where seminars, interactive displays, educational games and virtual health consultations help foster real and sustainable behavior change that improves health.

 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?

Community Unites to Tell Health Insurance Industy: Health Care Yes, Insurance Companies No!

The June 19 rally will be the first organized mass expression of popular demand for high-quality, affordable health care directed by patients and doctors, not insurance profiteers.

 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.

Health care’s new math

When does 20% of $753.95 equal $641.60? When $753.95 equals $2,808.

Health systems have contracts with insurers about what the insurer will pay for a given procedure. While the specifics are confidential, Cigna’s contract with Sentara allowed for a “case rate” to be applied. In Dockter’s case, that meant the epidural injection she received was part of a group of outpatient surgeries that were all covered at the case rate of $2,808.

Just one of many examples of the sleazy behavior of our health neglect system. I am trying to document as many as I can.