Grady: Demand more accountability from insurers

By: Anna Grady | Morganton News Herald
Published: November 08, 2009

Morganton, NC --

Jo Godfrey of California was insured by Cigna, one of the country's largest insurance companies. She began having breathing trouble, repeatedly diagnosed as simple bronchitis by Cigna doctors. Her condition worsened. An out-of-network doctor consultation confirmed her suspicions: she had cancer and had for almost two years. The signs were evident in previous tests Cigna doctors ignored and they refused needed treatment after her diagnosis.
Cigna owns its own hospitals and staff and this questions their motivation behind denial of care. Denial of care could have killed Mrs. Godfrey. Do we really want a for-profit company making life-or-death decisions?
With their $20-billion revenue and $12-million CEO, Cigna, ignoring people they've harmed, defines success solely by profit, representing the attitude of an entire industry: profit over patient. The less insurance companies spend on care, the more profit they reap. In the last decade, insurance profits have risen over 400 percent, while out-of-pocket medical expenses have risen 93 percent. Wendell Potter, former a Cigna public-relations executive who left in disgust, says: "Our citizens have died so that a very few could become obscenely rich." There's nothing wrong with profit, but at whose expense?
Insurance monopolies are shielded through legal loopholes against damages for wrongful death or injury and they are also exempt from federal anti-trust laws. These immunities need to be amended or more people will be hurt.
We must demand accountability and regulations for monopolies' profiteering from people's health. People over money. Always.

Grady: Demand more accountability from insurers

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