Excerpt
Stung by criticism and facing tougher federal regulation, two of the nation's largest health insurers say they will stop the practice of dropping sick policyholders.
The moves Tuesday by WellPoint Inc., the parent of Anthem Blue Cross of California, and Blue Shield of California follow action by Congress and the Obama administration to crack down on the practice known as rescission.
WellPoint Chief Executive Angela Braly said in a statement that the company's "goal is to make reform work for our members and for the country."
Cindy Ehnes, director of the California Department of Managed Health Care and the first regulator to take on the insurers over the practice, said the move would help consumers. "People can have more confidence in their coverage, and that's very exciting," she said.
Even before Tuesday's announcements, however, health insurers in California had all but stopped the number of policy cancellations, state records show.
UPDATE
"Anthem Blue Cross withdraws planned CA rate hike" by JOHN ROGERS, AP 4/29/2010
Excerpt
Anthem Blue Cross on Thursday withdrew plans to raise health insurance rates for California customers by as much as 39 percent, citing errors in its earlier calculations.
The Woodland Hills-based company said it will revise the rate requests it had filed with the California Department of Insurance and the Department of Managed Health Care as soon as possible, possibly in May.
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