Report: Wellpoint targets breast cancer patients with policy rescissions

Apr 23 2010

Reuters, in an exclusive report about the insurance industry practice of rescission: "That tens of thousands of Americans lost their health insurance shortly after being diagnosed with life-threatening, expensive medical conditions has been well documented by law enforcement agencies, state regulators and a congressional committee. Insurance companies have used the practice. ... And a congressional committee last year said WellPoint was one of the worst offenders. But WellPoint also has specifically targeted women with breast cancer for aggressive investigation with the intent to cancel their policies, federal investigators told Reuters" (Waas, 4/22).

USA Today On Deadline: The news service reports, citing federal investigators and regulators, that "WellPoint, the nation's largest insurer, has aggressively targeted women with breast cancer with the intent of canceling their health insurance policies. ... The insurer has used a computer program to automatically trigger fraud investigations despite any evidence of wrongdoing." The Reuters article focuses on the cases of three specific women whose policies were cancelled (Winter, 4/22).

WellPoint posted a response to the Reuters article on PR Newswire.