Health insurer to pay $9 million for dropping cancer patient

Options
anneshirley
anneshirley Member Posts: 1,110
edited June 2014 in Life After Breast Cancer
Health insurer to pay $9 million for dropping cancer patient
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • anneshirley
    anneshirley Member Posts: 1,110
    edited February 2008

    Hot off Google, from Associated Press.  Something for us all to cheer about! 

    A woman who had her medical coverage canceled as she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer was awarded more than $9 million Friday in a case against one of California's largest health insurers.

    Patsy Bates, a hairdresser from Gardena, had been left with more than $129,000 in unpaid medical bills when Health Net canceled her policy in 2004.

    Arbitration judge Sam Cianchetti ordered Health Net to repay that amount, along with $8.4 million in punitive damages and $750,000 for emotional distress.

    Health Net said in a statement it would immediately halt canceling policies without them first being reviewed by a third-party panel. The company also promised a comprehensive review of its practices.

     
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited February 2008

    YEA!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Lynn12
    Lynn12 Member Posts: 1,008
    edited February 2008

    Fabulous news!  Good for Patsy!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Paulette531
    Paulette531 Member Posts: 738
    edited February 2008

    I second and third the YEA and fabulous!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • ADK
    ADK Member Posts: 2,259
    edited February 2008

    Good for her.  I hope she now has good health to enjoy it.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • snowyday
    snowyday Member Posts: 1,478
    edited February 2008

    Good hopefully its a message to insurance companies that they can't always get away this crap. I'm very happy for that lady.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • catbert4209
    catbert4209 Member Posts: 347
    edited February 2008

    Finally, a judgment in California I can agree with!  Hopefully this will send a message to the health insurance companies that they are in existence for those times we, the insured, need to have coverage, not just to make $$ for their stockholders!

    Cat 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • carolsd
    carolsd Member Posts: 358
    edited February 2008

    I'm glad she got her bills paid and some reward for her emotional suffering. The thing that concerns me is that judgments like this raise the cost of insurance for everyone, resulting in more people without insurance because they can't afford it. Or more small businesses deciding not to provide insurance for their employees because it just costs too much.

    I'm not saying she doesn't deserve it. I don't know what the solution is.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • mke
    mke Member Posts: 584
    edited February 2008

    I agree with Carol.  Who do you think is going to pay that 8.4 million in punative damages?  Not the insurance company executives for sure and likely not the shareholders.  It will be paid by all the other insured people. 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • anneshirley
    anneshirley Member Posts: 1,110
    edited February 2008

    Actually, the insurance company's liability insurance company will pay, and if it's a large company it's probably self insured.  But depending on the judgment it's possible one or more of the executives will pay as well. If I find out I'll let you all know. 

    Just as I was writing this, CNN was talking about it.  Apparently, the woman who cancelled the policy received a bonus that year for her excellent performance--she cancelled 300 policies.  They also mentioned a company in another state that cancelled the insurance of a woman who was diagnosed with cancer because she never noted on her application that she had acne as a teenager.  My own view is that if someone dies for lack of treatment because of one of these cancellations, the person cancelling the policy, and those in the company who directed the employee, should be charged with manslaughter.  We'd see a lot fewer cancellations.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • marlegal
    marlegal Member Posts: 2,264
    edited February 2008

    Anne, I like the way you think :)

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • AnnNYC
    AnnNYC Member Posts: 4,484
    edited February 2008

    I agree, Shirley.

    And the point of punitive damages is to punish the offender, to make them change their ways. If it had only cost them $129,000 -- the cost of Patsy Bates's unpaid bills -- that would probably provide a HUGE financial incentive to carry on business as usual.  After all, the 299 other policies cancelled by that single employee would likely more than offset the $129,000 -- and probably lawyers' fees too -- incurred by the company in fighting and losing the Patsy Bates case. 

    The $8.4 million judgment should spur some changes.  And I do think this is an instance where a State Insurance Commissioner could take action to prevent the cost being passed along to consumers.

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • anneshirley
    anneshirley Member Posts: 1,110
    edited February 2008

    I was just reading more about this case.  The woman in question had to forego chemotherapy for a few months until she found a charity that helped her pay for more treatment, so the settlement of $9,000,000 is making more and more sense.  Also, it appears she had health insurance when a broker for the company suggested she sign up with HealthNet, for a lower rate, and the broker was the one who filled in the application.  A pox on all their houses!

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • roseg
    roseg Member Posts: 3,133
    edited February 2008

    That poor woman was doing the right thing, getting coverage and paying for it.

    Insurance reform is high on my list of issues for the next election.  Health care costs a fortune, and if you aren't an employee of a large company you are screwed trying to maintain coverage.

    A double pox on them! 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • AnnNYC
    AnnNYC Member Posts: 4,484
    edited February 2008

    Remember a few posts ago when I said I thought this might be a case where State Insurance Commissioner would have a special interest in keeping costs of punitive damages from being passed on to consumers?

    Well, the California Commissioner is already speaking out in favor of the judge's decision:

    State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner applauded the judge, saying "health insurers simply cannot hold out the promise of insurance for their consumers and then snatch it away just when people need it most. That is illegal, immoral and will not be tolerated."

    [from LA Times article]

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited February 2008

    I saw this on the news and read about it in the newspaper this morning.  What an awful thing for this poor woman to go through. 

    I'm so glad that she won and hope it is an eye opener for other insurance companies.  The newspaper said there were 1,600 people dropped from that company.  What is that about anyways? 

    Nicki

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories