Wellpoint

There's a Sleeper in the Reform Law That Could Transform U.S. Health Care

Wendell Potter | Posted 05.29.2012

Read More: Obamacare, Health Care Reform, Anthem Blue Cross, Affordable Care Act, Hhs, Aetna, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Co-Ops, Wellpoint, Co-Ops Health Care, Politics News
Wendell Potter

CO-OPs could be one of the sleepers in the health care reform law that truly transforms how care is financed and delivered in this country. And they could even hasten the day when the big investor-owned corporations cede the marketplace to nonprofits and move on to other ways of earning a profit.

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An Investor Perspective: WellPoint's Political Disclosure Controversy

Jack Ucciferri | Posted 05.21.2012

Read More: Super Pac, Shareholders, Citizens United, Corporate Political Spending, Wellpoint, Target, Business News
Jack Ucciferri

By the nature of WellPoint's core business, it is connected to some of the most intimate moments in its clients' lives. WellPoint is in a risky business and by not being fully transparent about how they participate in politics, they amplify their risks even more.

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'Tis the Season of the Shareholders

Nell Minow | Posted 05.14.2012

Read More: The Wall Street Journal, Shareholders, Citizens United, Political Spending, Shareholder Initiatives, Wellpoint, Shareholder, Business News
Nell Minow

There are moral hazards and agency costs in the allocation of corporate funds. Experience has shown that executives will support policies that diminish shareholder returns. The term "capitalism" refers, after all, to the providers of capital.

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Ex-Tyco Executive Who Looted Company Now Says He's Owed $60 Million

The Huffington Post | Harry Bradford | Posted 05.09.2012

Read More: CEO Pay, Firstmerit, Tyco, Barclays, Fraud, Aviva, Vikram Pandit, Video, Mark Swartz, Andrew Moss, Credit Suisse, Pay Packages, CEO Compensation, Edward Breen, Dennis Kozlowski, Citigroup, Wellpoint, Business News

Even after being convicted for bilking his former employer for millions, one ex-executive is suing the company from behind bars, claiming he's still o...

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The Marie Antoinette of Health Insurance and How to Dethrone Her

Jamie Court | Posted 05.08.2012

Read More: Jamie Court, Medicare, Progressive, Affordable Health Care, Rate Hikes, Insurance Reform, Health Care, Wellpoint, Anthem Blue Cross, Dianne Feinstein, Angela Braly, Medical, California, Politics News
Jamie Court

Health insurance rates are like a runaway train and there's no police force or firefighting squad with the power to stop them. Thirty-five states require health insurance companies to get permission before raising rates, but not California.

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Health Insurer CEOs' Big Paychecks Are Latest Target of Outraged Shareholders

Wendell Potter | Posted 04.23.2012

Read More: Senator Evan Bayh, Ahip, Health Care Reform, Juan Figueroa, Cigna, Health Care, Susan Bayh, Citigroup, Wellpoint, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Citigroup Shareholders Meeting, Business News
Wendell Potter

During all of my years of helping plan Cigna shareholder meetings, we had an unblemished string of non-events. Relatively few of the big-profit insurers have had to cope with contentious shareholder meetings. Those days are over.

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Taking the Initiative in a Struggle Against Excessive Rate Increases

Wendell Potter | Posted 04.21.2012

Read More: California-Healthcare-Foundation, Unitedhealth, Dave Jones, California, Obamacare, Consumer Watchdog, Dianne Feinstein, Affordable Care Act, Cigna, Aetna, Humana, Wellpoint, Health Insurance Rate Increases, Rate Increases Health Insurance, California Health Insurance Rate Increases, Politics News
Wendell Potter

When insurers behave this way, they are demonstrating that they care more about their bottom lines than their policyholders. Which makes it all the more imperative for California voters to sign those petitions and vote for the ballot initiative this fall.

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The Battle for Vermont's Health -- And Why It Matters for the Rest of the Country

Wendell Potter | Posted 04.08.2012

Read More: Canadian Healthcare, Peter Shumlin, Unitedhealth, Obamacare, Michael Moore, Vermont, Health Care Reform, Sicko, Cigna, Single Payer, Aetna, Canada, Wellpoint, Politics News
Wendell Potter

Despite the ceaseless spin, Vermont lawmakers last May demonstrated they could not be bought nor intimidated when they became the first in the nation to pass a bill that will probably establish a single-payer beachhead in the U.S.

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The High Cost of Allowing Health Insurers to Continue Keeping Us in the Dark

Wendell Potter | Posted 03.27.2012

Read More: Affordable Care Act, Unitedhealth, Obamacare, America's Health Insurance Plans, Wellpoint, Ahip, State of the Union 2012, Obama Health Care, Health Care, Politics News
Wendell Potter

It might possibly cost the insurance industry $382 million to comply with the Affordable Care Act for the first two years. But the cost of allowing those companies to continue keeping consumers in the dark would be far, far higher, Mr. President.

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Insurer Profits Are Up In The Wake Of Health Care Law They Opposed

The Huffington Post | Alexander Eichler | Posted 01.06.2012

Read More: Congress, Unitedhealth, Health Care Profits, Cigna, Health Insurance, Insurance Companies, Aetna, Humana, Obama Health Care, Barack Obama, Video, Insurance, Health Care Reform, Health Coverage, Health Care, Wellpoint, Health Care Industry, Business News

Since insurance companies undertook extensive lobbying efforts against health care reform -- spending millions in an attempt to derail the legislation...

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Insurers Pressuring Obama to Defy Law So They Can Continue Keeping You in the Dark

Wendell Potter | Posted 12.31.2011

Read More: Consumers Union, Unitedhealth, Obamacare, Ahip, Health Care Reform, Chamber of Commerce, Cigna, Healthcare Reform, Aetna, Health Care, Humana, Consumer Reports, Wellpoint, Politics News
Wendell Potter

If you have no idea what you're paying good money for when you enroll in a health insurance plan, there's a good reason for that: insurers profit from your ignorance. And they're waging an intense behind-the-scenes campaign to keep you in the dark.

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'Jeopardy!' Champ Supercomputer's Next Gig: Health Insurance

AP | JIM FITZGERALD | Posted 11.12.2011

Read More: Video, Ibm, IBM Watson, IBM Watson WellPoint, Watson, Ibm Watson Health Isurance, Health Insurance, Smarter Ideas, Watson Wellpoint, Wellpoint, Technology News

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Enough with the fun and games. Watson is going to work. IBM's supercomputer system, best known for trouncing the world's b...

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Fresh Evidence That Health Insurers Value Profits Over People

Wendell Potter | Posted 10.01.2011

Read More: Uninsured, Unitedhealth, Health Care Reform, Cigna, Aetna, Humana, Health Care, Wellpoint, Business News
Wendell Potter

WellPoint and Aetna and other insurers have demonstrated repeatedly that while they will do all they can to avoid sacrificing profitability for membership, they are quite willing to sacrifice their members -- and the American public -- for profits.

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Insurers' Bait and Switch

Wendell Potter | Posted 08.30.2011

Read More: California, Unitedhealth, Ahip, Health Care Reform, Anthem Blue Cross, Cigna, Hmos, Kaiser Permanente, Health Care, Blue Cross Blue Shield, John Garamendi, Wellpoint, Business News
Wendell Potter

The health insurance industry's long-term strategy is to move all Americans into high-deductible plans, and they're well on their way to achieving that goal. Once there, you can bet the rates will be hiked up.

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Reframing the Debate to Make Insurers Look Poor

Wendell Potter | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Rj-Reynolds, Uninsured, Unitedhealth, Wall Street, Obamacare, Ahip, Forbes Magazine, Sally-Pipes, Health Insurance, Cigna, Aetna, Health Reform, Humana, Barack Obama, Wellpoint, Business News
Wendell Potter

The next time you hear the health insurance industry complain about its "measly" profit margins, don't buy it. Their "reframing" is nothing more than an attempt to take your mind off the tragedies they cause for so many Americans.

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The Insurers' Real Agenda for Change

Wendell Potter | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Trial Lawyers, Unitedhealth, Ahip, Health Care Reform, Cigna, Aetna, Humana, Health Care, Wellpoint, Health Care Funding, Health Care Lobbying, Business News
Wendell Potter

The media had lots of health care news to obsess about last week. But most of the press paid no attention to a multi-pronged effort by five major insurers to strip key regulations and consumer protections that aren't to their liking.

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Fear and Loathing Over a Public Insurance Option in Hartford

Wendell Potter | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Unitedhealth, Public Option, Sustinet, Connecticut, Health Care Reform, Joe Lieberman, Cigna, Aetna, Health Care, Wellpoint, Politics News
Wendell Potter

This Monday, state lawmakers in Hartford will begin debate on implementing something insurers pulled out all the stops to kill at the national level -- the public option that would have created a government program to compete with private carriers.

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PACs Flocked To Blue Dogs, But Fled After Crucial Votes

The Center For Public Integrity | By Josh Israel and Aaron Mehta | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: House, Blue Dog Pac, Joe Donnelly, Jackie Walorski, Election 2010, Mike Parker, Wellpac, Democrats, American Financial Services Committee, Republicans, Wellpoint, Politics News

In mid-2009, the 52 conservative House Democrats who made up the Blue Dog Coalition were at the height of their power. Money was rolling in — es...

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Thank You, UnitedHealth Group. Your Jaw-Dropping Profit Announcement May Be Just What the Doctor Ordered.

Wendell Potter | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: United Health Insurance, Health Care Reform, Cigna, Health Insurance, Naic, Health Care, Healthcare, Mlr, Wellpoint, Politics News
Wendell Potter

It could turn out that UnitedHealth will help consumers the same way the nation's second largest insurer, WellPoint, did several months ago when it announced that it was hiking Californians' premiums as much as 37%.

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Insurance Companies Abandon Sick Children And Lie About It - Mike Huckabee Says That's OK

Ethan Rome | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Karen Ignani, Mike Huckabee, Ahip, Sarah Palin, Health Care Reform, Christine O'donnell, Insurance Companies, Health Care for America Now, Health Care, Pre-Existing-Condition, Wellpoint, Health Insurance Reform, Politics News
Ethan Rome

The latest announcement by the insurance companies that they won't cover kids is immoral, and to blame their appalling behavior on the new law is patently dishonest.

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Deja Vu: Anthem Blue Cross Now Plans A 14% Rate Hike In California

AP | TOM MURPHY | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Anthem Blue Cross, Wellpoint Rate Hike, Anthem-Blue-Cross-Rate-Hike, Wellpoint, Los Angeles News

INDIANAPOLIS — Health insurer WellPoint said Wednesday that its California subsidiary will dial down rate hikes that drew national outrage earli...

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Health Insurance Industry Executives Make Millions As Firms Plan Big Rate Hikes

Los Angeles Times | Noam N. Levey | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Unitedhealth, Cigna, Health Insurance Executives Paychecks, Health Insurance Rate Hikes, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance Industry, Health Insurance Cost Increase, Wellpoint, Health Insurance Executive Salaries, Aetna, Humana, Health Insurance Rate Increases, Health Insurance Reform, Politics News

The top executives at the nation's five largest for-profit health insurance companies pulled in nearly $200 million in compensation last year -- while...

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Progressives and Conservatives Agree: Single Payer Healthcare Is Inevitable

Rob Stone M.D. | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Medicare for All, Liz Fowler, UnitedHealth Group, Single Payer, Aetna, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Wellpoint, Business News
Rob Stone M.D.

The reality is that single payer, Medicare for All, is not inevitable, nor is there any guarantee the ACA won't bankrupt us while enriching the corporations that lobbied for it.

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Big Health Insurers Top Quarterly Earnings Forecasts, Even Without More Customers

AP | The Associated Press | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Unitedhealth, Health Insurance, Health Insurance Industry, Health Insurers, Wellpoint, Aetna, Business News

The three largest commercial health insurers all beat Wall Street expectations for second-quarter earnings. Other big insurers like Cigna Corp. and Hu...

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Obama Hires Former WellPoint Exec to Implement Health Care Law

David Sirota | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Max Baucus, Liz Fowler, Health Care, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, Private Insurers, Obama Health Care, Liz Fowler Wellpoint, Wellpoint, Politics News
David Sirota

This is a telling indictment of the health care law itself, strongly suggesting it was constructed by the Obama administration as a massive taxpayer-financed giveaway to private insurers like WellPoint.

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