California is once again making headlines where healthcare is concerned; resident of Marin County, Mary Feller, has decided to sue the largest for-profit health insurer on behalf of Californian policyholders who are said to have been pushed into taking coverage with higher deductibles and fewer benefits.
Feller, who is particularly worried about her cancer-surviving 26-year-old daughter whose health insurance premium has tripled in the last four years, stated, “I think for the first time we’re really scared that we’re going to be without health insurance.”
The lawsuit was filed on Monday, March 1, 2010 in the Ventura Superior Court. In the lawsuit, Anthem Blue Cross is being accused of violating the California law that requires health insurance companies to offer new, comparable coverage or minimize the increases in premium when closing a policy.
The lawsuit, in which Mary Feller and Randy Freed are plaintiffs, alleges that the few plans allowed them by Anthem force Feller and Freed to switch to higher-premium, higher-deductible policies that provide less coverage.
A Santa Monica-based consumer advocacy group, Consumer Watchdog, is seeking class action status with the lawsuit filed on behalf of Feller and Freed. Roughly 700,000 people in California who hold Anthem policies have experienced recent rate hikes that average around 25 percent (though some will rise as much as 39 percent). Implementation of the hike, however, has been delayed until May 1 while an investigation by the state regulator takes place.
Anthem executives, of course, are blaming the economic climate, national healthcare system flaws, and fewer young, healthy individuals holding policies. President Obama has referenced Anthem’s policy cost increases as proof of rising premiums and as an argument for the government’s call for healthcare reform.
Let’s hope that with such lawsuits comes insight into what our country can do to provide all Americans the cost-effective healthcare coverage they need and deserve!
Tue, Mar 2, 2010
Health Insurance