A group of concerned individuals who found themselves without a PPO and without access to Houston Medical Center hospitals have been fighting back. If you are in the same boat — or just a concerned citizen as I was — here’s the link to the petition:
www.change.org/…
The reason I think this is relevant to everyone is the abuse that was created by BlueCrossBlueShield.
I used to be a customer of BCBSTX, after I retired but before I went on Medicare.
My initial experience starting in 2000 was satisfactory. Within a few years, however, there was a dramatic shift — big premium hikes and bad customer service. BCBS describes themselves as a Mutual company, owned by their customers, not by outside stockholders. As such they are supposed to be a not for profit company and to keep their tax exempt status they are supposed to return excess cash, over and above their cost of doing business, to their policy holders in the form of reductions of premiums. Last March, California revoked BCBS’s tax exempt status because they had accumulated over $4 billion in illegal profits as a non profit company.
The move by the California Franchise Tax Board comes as the state's third-largest health insurer faces fresh criticism over its rate hikes, executive pay and $4.2 billion in financial reserves.
www.latimes.com/…
This is a prime example of why we need single payer, an expansion of Medicare to cover everyone.
Earlier this year, BCBSTX announced that they will no longer provide a PPO to people living in Harris County Texas. And, further, that their HMO would not include premier hospitals within the Houston Medical Center. Soon after, all the other insurers in the Houston area followed suit, leaving thousands of people out on a limb.
A group of people who lost access to their previous medical care coverage decided that this would not stand. Their petition on change.org, www.change.org/…
describes what can happen to individuals within a state like Texas that has resisted Obama Care, and doesn’t have a state sponsored exchange. It could probably happen in other states too.
This petition and the hard work of a few people in Houston committed to correcting this serious problem would welcome your voice. So far they have achieved a partial victory — Humana agreed to offer a PPO with access to Houston Medical Center hospitals although it offers only a high deductible option with very high monthly premiums. Furthermore, this plan is outside of the Federal Exchange, meaning there is no access to Obama Care federal subsidies.
Let’s face it, the health insurance companies are in a fight to the death to hang onto their 30% administration fees. They know they cannot really compete with the 3% administration fees of Medicare. And they currently own a large part of the Congress, thanks to a pay to play election system. WE NEED PUBLICLY FUNDED ELECTIONS!!!
(I am so glad that Senator Feingold is running. He’s just the person we need in the Senate right now.)
How could BCBSTX have gotten away with this in the fourth largest city in the country? How can this happen in a city that boasts one of the major medical centers in the country?
If the major insurers get away with this in Houston/Harris County, they will try it in other places, too.
The Petition:
please use the link, below, to sign the petition:
MD Anderson and BCBSTX, keep your doors open for all in Harris County
UT MD Anderson Cancer Center and BCBSTX
Do the Right Thing!
Keep the Doors of UT MD Anderson Open to All Residents of Harris County, Texas
www.change.org/...