Steve Vucovich

I am a PHD candidate in public health who is studying disparities and inequalities in the U.S. health care system.

Americans are seeing the benefits of health care reform. It requires health insurance companies to end their most indefensible practice: rescinding coverage after a policyholder gets sick. In recent days insurers have said that they will end rescissions immediately.

The insurers decided to act after they were whacked by some bad publicity. An investigative report by Reuters and investigative corresspondent Murray Waas revealed that the nation’s biggest health insurer, WellPoint, was targeting women with breast cancer to cancerl patients.

Although WellPoint fiercely denied singling out breast cancer patients for scrutiny, it acknowledged using computer algorithms to cancel patients. Congressional Democrats urged insurers to end the practice.

Also, read this report by Murray Waas on Assurant Health, which used a computer algorithm to identify clients with HIV, and then revoked their policies.