WellPoint Eats Its Young

THIS is why we need health insurance reform. This is exactly what Michael Moore was talking about — showing endless examples — in Sicko.

To paraphrase George W. Bush, you’re either with us or you’re with the HMO butchers. Or as Helen Hunt said in As Good As It Gets, “those fuckin’ HMO bastards, pieces of shit.”

WellPoint uses a computer algorithm that specifically targets women who have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. WellPoint then cancels the woman’s health insurance, using whatever flimsy “reason” they can dream up. Good thing we don’t have any of them socialist bureaucrats standing between a patient and her doctor.

Here’s the pattern: The woman has a well-paying job and a health insurance policy with WellPoint. She pays her premiums on time and has had no health problems. Shortly after being diagnosed with breast cancer, WellPoint’s army of “investigators” will pore over every detail of her life, determined to find something — anything — that she “omitted” from her application form. When they find it, or pull it out of thin air if they have to, her insurance policy is canceled.

“Aha, you purchased a bottle of Ibuprofen in 1998. You didn’t tell us about your pre-existing headache condition. Gotcha!”

This time-honored practice is called rescission. Tens of thousands of employed, insured and paid-up policyholders have had their health insurance canceled through this process. But it’s just now come out that breast cancer patients in particular were being targeted by WellPoint.

Now, for the low-IQ inbreds who hold up signs saying “No on Obamacare,” “Socialized Medicine!” “Your Health, Your Problem” — maybe they’ll have some constructive advice for these women.

Why don’t they tell these cancer patients, face to face, to get up off their dead asses, put down the bong and get out there and get a job.

Insurance Mafia Punishes Wayward Congressman

At least they didn’t break his legs. YET.

Rep. Anh Cao (R—Louisiana) was the only Republican in the House to vote for the Democratic health care reform bill. Cao’s district is heavily Democratic; he was William Jefferson’s replacement. His constituents told him to vote Yes on health care reform; Vinnie and Luigi told him to vote No. What to do.

Since his treasonous Yes vote, Cao’s political bribes, er, “campaign contributions,” have dropped by 40 percent. You happy now, Commie? That’ll teach you to snub the HMOsa Nostra. Watch your back.

And just how wealthy is the Insurance Mafia? They’re sooo well-off — one of their “companies” paid more than a million dollars a year to 39 of its highest ranking thugs.

Yes, that would be WellPoint, which owns Anthem Blue Cross. Million-dollar bonuses, mansions, yachts, luxury company “retreats” — What was the secret of their success? All they had to do was drop coverage for tens of thousands of sick people. Ah, the rewards of hard work.

Henry Waxman said: “Corporate executives at WellPoint are thriving, but its policyholders are paying the price.”

If you have a loved one who died from lack of medical care — thank a Republican.

Help Wanted: Need Employees to Write Form Letters and Attend Protest Rallies

It’s bad enough we’ve been swamped with all this phony “grassroots” activism manufactured by corporations and rightwing think tanks. Now it turns out this Astroturf “activism” is part of your job description if you work for UnitedHealth or WellPoint.

Consumer Watchdog has urged California Attorney General Jerry Brown to investigate these two companies for violating state labor laws. Both of these companies have in-house advocacy groups: United for Health Reform, and Health Action Network. Company employees were “encouraged” to contact their advocacy group — during business hours — for help in crafting letters to Congress. One company e-mail said: “By working with an advocacy specialist to personalize your message, you can quickly and easily add your voice to this historic debate.”

Employees were also encouraged to attend demonstrations and town hall meetings.

A spokesperson for Consumer Watchdog said: “While coercive communications with employees may be legal, if abhorrent, in most states, California’s Labor Code appears to directly prohibit them.”

This has all been part of the huge lobbying effort by AHIP, who’s mobilized fifty thousand “activists” to sabotage the public option.

Throw the book at those motherfuckers.

Remember that quaint old Fairness Doctrine that Republicans have such contempt for? Well, now it seems they want it back.