Snow Jobs

2-25-08 SHORT HILLS: We came back to NJ on the 21st ahead of the storm that hit here on the 22nd surpassing expectations by dumping 8-9 inches on us. We have minor damage, broken branches mostly, but another storm may arrive tomorrow. The days are noticeably longer, and it’s less than a month to the vernal equinox. The sun today almost feels warm. There’s still time to get in a bit more skiing.

Enjoying the snow.

Great news from California—a judge ruled in favor of a plaintiff suing Health Net, a medical insurer/HMO, which terminated coverage of a woman with breast cancer in the middle of her chemorx. He issued a nine million dollar judgment for the plaintiff. He said the company acted unconscionably and illegally when they cut her benefits. The company gave bonuses to their staff when they were able to cancel policies with large claims.

I have repeatedly said that for-profit insurers only want your premiums, upfront please, and then want to keep all the money for CEO bonuses and stockholder dividends. Paying claims is always to be avoided if possible, or the payments are delayed, deferred, downgraded or diminished. They lose forms, demand more information about claims, and hunt for any technicality to deny the claim and keep the money. Give me Medicare any day. They always pay their approved amount within a few weeks of receiving the claim. The frustration of dealing with HMO’s was one of the things that drove me out of practice.

Why can’t we all just get Medicare?