Wendell Potter: Court Case Shows How Health Insurers Rip Off You And Your Employer

[antigop]

http://wendellpotter.com/2015/05/court-case-shows-how-health-insurers-rip-off-you-and-your-employer/

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan added hidden fees to hospital claims.

If you think you’re paying too much for employer-sponsored health coverage, you might want to forward this to the HR department. It’s possible, maybe even likely, that your health insurer has been ripping off both you and your employer—to the tune of several million dollars every year—for decades.

Many Americans, according to various polls, blame Obamacare for every hike in premiums despite the fact that the rate of increase for most folks was actually greater before 2010, the year the law went into effect.

Health insurers are delighted that many folks blame Obamacare for rate increases because it deflects attention away from them and, according to documents made public in a recent lawsuit against a big Blue Cross plan, the questionable activities they’ve been engaging in for years to boost profits.

It turns out that one of the reasons workers have been paying more for their coverage is allegedly a common practice among insurers: charging their employer customers unlawful hidden fees.

The fees came to light when Hi-Lex Controls, an automotive technology company, took Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) to court in 2013 after becoming suspicious that the company had been systematically cheating it over 19 years. After reviewing evidence in the case, a judge ordered that BCBSM stop charging the hidden fees and pay Hi-Lex $6.1 million.

[area51]

1. And this will continue

unless we transition from GingrichCare to single-payer.

[Doctor_J]

2. I dare say that our system is so bad that only a few people know how bad it really is

I work at a 300 employee non profit in Michigan and our employee portion of the cost went from 500/yr to 8500/yr for 2014. Health insurance profits are through the roof, by design, and it will be nearly impossible to get the thieves and profiteers under control.