Health Plans Await Details of Next Steps in Policy Cancellation Case
A week after state regulators ordered Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California and Kaiser Permanente to reinstate coverage for 26 people, health plans are grappling with questions, including which policies will have to be reinstated, Capitol Weekly reports.
Lynne Randolph, DMHC spokesperson, said that the department is "in the process of contacting" the health plans and that DMHC will issue the formal reinstatement orders soon. She added that the process should be "wrapped up by the end of the week."
DMHC Director Cindy Ehnes said her office would review all cancellations between 2004 and 2008 from the three insurers.
The review also might be expanded to include cancellations by Health Net and PacifiCare.
The agency has levied a $1 million fine against Anthem Blue Cross after concluding that the insurer had improperly canceled 90 individual health insurance policies. Fines are expected against the four other health plans as the department finishes its investigations of their rescission policies.
Speaking anonymously to Capitol Weekly, representatives from various health plans said they expect the review of the rescissions to be challenged in court. They also said they are waiting to see the details of DMHC's process before commenting on any potential legal action.
In addition, a spokesperson for Attorney General Jerry Brown (D) said the California Department of Justice was broadly investigating the rescission issue and plans to meet with leaders in the health insurance industry over the next few weeks to discuss cancellation and rescission policies.
The spokesperson said the attorney general was not pursuing criminal charges against the plans or their leaders (Howard/York, Capitol Weekly, 4/24).