Stephen Allen Gray

Stephen Allen Gray is a graduate studying the intersection of public health care policy with the profit motives of the nation's health insurance industry-- attempting to find out why some receive care and others do not, and whether and how gender, race, and income play a role in those outcomes.

Federal investigators have told Reuters that WellPoint, the country’s largest insurance company, is using an algorithm to target women with breast cancer for the express purpose of dropping their coverage.

Murray Waas writes that WellPoint “specifically targeted women with breast cancer for investigation with the intent to cancel their policies”:

The women had no idea that WellPoint was using a computer algorithm that targeted them and every policyholder recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The software triggered a fraud investigation, as Wellpoint sought any pretext to drop their health insurance policies.