Health Insurers Caught Lying to Customers about Policy Cancellations
Talking Points Memo investigated the rash of policy cancellations by heath insurers as a result of implementation of the Affordable Care Act. TPM reporter Dylan Scott found that insurers are routinely not informing customers that cheaper but better policies are available on the insurance exchanges:
If Donna had taken the default option that LifeWise offered outside of the marketplace, she would have paid nearly $1,000 more per month for a worse plan than she was able to obtain on the marketplace.Before Obamacare, Donna paid a $724 monthly premium for $10,000 deductible, catastrophic health coverage from LifeWise, a subsidiary of the state’s Blue Cross/Blue Shield affiliate. She asked that TPM withhold her last name because she was disclosing personal financial information.
The Sept. 16 letter from LifeWise told her that her existing plan was being canceled to comply with the new requirements of Obamacare and that she would automatically be rolled over into a new plan that was the “closest match” to her old plan. “If we don’t hear from you, we’ll automatically move you to this plan and you’ll be covered starting January 1, 2014,” the notice read.
