When I heard that health insurance companies were sending cancellation notices to some of their clients in response to the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, I suspected that this was their way of undermining a new law that they just can’t stomach. Even though the private health insurance companies are still very much a central part of the Affordable Care Act, they obviously hate the fact that they are supposed to cover more, are no longer able to exercise pre-existing condition clauses, and need to do it all for less profit.

My suspicions about health insurance companies were confirmed in an article I found in the Huffington Post this morning:

“Some insurance companies are sending cancellation notices or other ‘misleading’ letters to customers in an attempt to push them into pricier alternatives, according to new reports.

“Reporters at Talking Points Memo found instances where insurance companies canceled policies, but provided little or no information about the health care exchanges.

“Donna, a 56 year old in Seattle insured by the Blue Cross/Blue Shield subsidiary LifeWise, was told that if she did nothing she’d be enrolled in a new plan costing $300 a month more than her previous plan. Instead, she found a much cheaper option through her state exchange, saving her $1,000.”

Given this revelation, it’s interesting to imagine what else the insurance companies may have cooked up to undermine the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. Nothing surprises me anymore.

Jeanne Ludt

Amherst

Newsletter