California regulators seek up to $9.9 billion in fines from PacifiCare

[eridani]

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-fi-pacificare-unitedhealth-20100908,0,6657147.story

California regulators are seeking fines of up to $9.9 billion from health insurer PacifiCare over allegations that it repeatedly mismanaged medical claims, lost thousands of patient documents, failed to pay doctors what they were owed and ignored calls to fix the problems.

In court filings and other documents, the California Department of Insurance says PacifiCare violated state law nearly 1 million times from 2006 to 2008 after it was purchased by UnitedHealth Group Inc., the nation's largest health insurance company by revenue.

"This is about intentional disregard for the interests of doctors, hospitals and patients in California, and the pursuit of cutting costs at any means possible, said Adam Cole, the insurance department's general counsel. "It's a story of intense corporate greed."

Comment by Don McCanne, PNHP: The largest health insurer in the nation (in terms of revenue), UnitedHealth Group, through UnitedHealthcare's subsidiary - PacifiCare, violated California state insurance laws nearly a million times! This is the industry that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was designed to protect instead of replacing, even though that meant that not everyone would be insured and many more would be underinsured. This was a trade-off that resulted in a loss on both ends.

This is more than the gross incompetence of an insurer that has failed to provide the excessive administrative services for which we are being gouged involuntarily. As the insurance department's general counsel said, "It's a story of intense corporate greed."

My comment: CA already HAS a lot of the laws against insurance company abuses that HCR provides for other states. This does not stop them from fucking patients and doctors over royally. Yes, they may get fined for this, but far too late for people who died or were bankrupted by their abuses. Private insurers in Japan or the Netherlands don't behave this way because their governments dictate terms to them.

[Cronus Protagonist]

1. I used to work for them

Thieves and vagabonds, all.

[eridani]

2. One more informational kick n/t

[area51]

3. +1

"Private insurers in Japan or the Netherlands don't behave this way because their governments dictate terms to them."

says it all. There is absolutely no reason to enslave us to these mafiosi insurance companies who do pretty much as they fscking well please, ignoring laws.

Each day, 273 people die due to lack of health care in the U.S.; that's 100,000 deaths per year.

We need single-payer health care, not a welfare bailout for the serial-killer insurance agencies.

We don't need the GingrichCare of mandated, unregulated, for-profit insurance that is still too expensive, only pays parts of medical bills, denies claims, and bankrupts people. Republinazi '93 plan:

"Subtitle F: Universal Coverage - Requires each citizen or lawful permanent resident to be covered under a qualified health plan or equivalent health care program by January 1, 2005."

"We will never have real reform until people's health stops being treated as a financial opportunity for corporations."

[AnArmyVeteran]

4. They were my carrier for part of my insurance and what I witnessed was fraud & theft.

Doctors from five years ago are still trying to get payments from them. And they refused to investigate and remove a crooked person who pocketed money paid to their company. Now I understand why.