WellPoint, the nation’s largest health insurer by medical membership, plans to unilaterally implement key provisions of the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act introduced in Congress.

The head of national health insurer WellPoint said she is “disappointed” that President Barack Obama, in his weekly address to the nation, cited a Reuters report alleging that the company specifically targets women with breast cancer for the practice of rescission.

Under the national spotlight for alleged rescissions of patients with breast cancer, national health insurer WellPoint said it will implement reforms on the practice well ahead of a deadline set under recent health reform.

In a letter to the head of national insurer WellPoint, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius urges an end to reports of dropping coverage for women with breast cancer.

Before this blog posting starts getting comments from those who state that I am “anti-woman” or don’t care about the devastation wrought by breast cancer, let me state emphatically: I …  Read →

A Maryland House member is trying to preserve insurance coverage for early breast cancer screenings in the wake of a November 2009 report that disputed the usefulness of those tests.

Women would have free and widespread access to preventive screenings, such as mammograms and pap smears, under an amendment to the Senate health bill approved Dec. 3.

The first of what is surely to be many, many well-intentioned mandates has found its way into the Senate health reform plan, setting the stage for the proposal to go …  Read →

Sen. Barbara Mikulski joined a bipartisan effort to introduce an amendment to the Senate’s proposed health care reform bill, requiring all health plans to cover women’s preventive care, including mammograms and cervical cancer screenings.

Marylanders will not see any immediate changes to their health insurance coverage in light of the new breast cancer screening recommendations, health officials and insurance companies said.