Blue Cross Sued by Los Angeles City Attorney

Nigel Whitehead

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According to the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgado has filed a lawsuit against Anthem Blue Cross with sweeping allegations of fraud concerning the company's wrongful rescission of health insurance policies. According to the lawsuit, Blue Cross systematically rescinded insurance policies of members who because seriously ill, including cancer and heart failure. Delgado has also established a web site, www.protectingtheinsured.org to encourage patients and physicians to share their complaints about the practices of health insurance companies.

According to Delgado, "Countless Californians who believe they have health insurance actually have policies that aren't worth the paper they're written on." Cindy Ehnes, the director of the California Department of Managed Health Care, will today announce the reinstatement of several patient's policies that were rescinded by health plans.

When you or a family member becomes seriously ill you need to be able to take at least a small measure of comfort in the fact that you have health insurance. In addition to the lawsuit filed by the Los Angeles City Attorney, private law firms have filed similar lawsuits against various health insurance companies, including Blue Shield, for bad-faith tactics. It is critical that you immediately seek legal counsel to determine if you have a claim if your health insurance policy has been rescinded after you or your family member became seriously ill. The law imposes strict time deadlines for making such claims. If you do not timely file your claim you may be barred from recovery.