BLOOMFIELD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 8, 2008--What if you could see into the future and know more now about the things you’re doing – or not doing – that are likely to result in health risks and health care expenses down the road? CIGNA is giving its members the ability to do just that by launching its sophisticated, "next generation" health assessment and predictive capabilities.
It goes on to describe how vast majorities of people surveyed thought it would be beneficial to have in-depth assessments done online. They said they would follow online "coaching" programs to improve their future health outlook. Sounds fairly positive and benign so far. After all, I trust Cignachokegasp.
Is it about one per quarter now? If this goes as well as the first did - maybe buried in election hysteria instead of Christmas (the distraction that worked so well last time) - maybe they can squeeze in two or three more before Christmas '08.
What a quarter that will be!
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Nyceve wrote [another] very important diary today.
Pacificare denies 17-year-old cancer patient lifesaving treatment
Remember Nataline Sarkisyan?
Well here we go again.
We're facing an eerily similar situation. A phone call from you may help save another child's life from the depraved indifference of Pacificare. Who owns Pacificare? Who else? UnitedHealth.
The family and the nurses are urgently appealing to the public to call PacifiCare at 714-828-1821 or Tyler Mason, the UnitedHealth/Pacificare spokesperson at 714-226-3530 and demand they provide the care Nick needs.
It was my first news of this action by Pacificare.
I was having a conversation with my mom last night, and she told me a very interesting story.
My mother is a certified nurse/midwife, and works in a hospital that specializes in high-risk deliveries. She had just had a couple who were having difficulties with their pregnancy. At 26 weeks, the mother ended up going to the emergency room almost every other night to check on bleeding and pain caused by an abnormal cervix.
On Thursday I went to the rally at Aetna's headquarters in Hartford. It was great to see a large gathering there to show Aetna that it cannot continue to get away with huge profits while cost sky-rocket. Anyways, I got a good response to the video I posted of the McCain rally on February 3rd, so I figured I would post a video of this event. Luis Cotto, elected in November to Hartford's City Council under the Working Families Party, was in attendance and gave a short speech.
How can Aetna, which claims to be on the side of reform, continue to make larger profits every year will costs keep going up? If the leadership at Aetna truly believes in reforming our broken system, they can put a hold on the denials. They have the ability to provide quality, affordable healthcare for almost everyone. They also have the ability to reap profits from a system that kills 18,000 Americans every year. So far, their choice is making us sick.
"Philadelphia-based Cigna (CI) said it earned $263 million, or 93 cents a share, up from $232 million, or 76 cents, in the final three months of 2006. Cigna's quarterly revenue rose 5.9% to $4.46 billion as premiums and fees increased 6.3% from a year ago."
Even if we don't talk about it that much, we all remember. Cigna refused to pay for a liver transplant 17 year old Nataline Sarkysian needed. California Nurses Association protested, Cigna caved, but by then it was too late. She died.
"Some people have said we denied a liver," Kang says. "But the reality is we only denied paying for it.
A pretty 17-year-old California girl needed a liver transplant, but her insurance company, CIGNA (based right here in Philadelphia), said they would not pay for it.
The public caught wind of this, and the public protested. As a group of nurses and other citizens rallied outside CIGNA's office in Glendale, California, on December 20, the company decided to reverse its decision.
But it was too little, too late.
Nataline Sarkisyan died just a few hours after CIGNA's reversal, after having spent weeks of her short life in a vegetative state.
Here it goes again, another insurance company playing doctor. This is the story of San Diegan Scott Eveland; student, son, star football player. Scott suffered a severe brain injury during a football game on September 14 of last year.
He's been receiving care at Palomar Medical Center. Recovery has been slow from what doctors described as a "catastrophic brain injury." He was in a coma for a month. However, he has been slowly regaining his ability to speak and move.
Recently, Blue Cross of California decided to discontinue paying for his care at Palomar. Why? He is slowly recovering and making progress. It's a pity he's not up and running around as quickly as Blue Cross wishes.
The Wall Street Journal has a front page story (still firewalled?) about Nataline Sarkisyan tomorrow. While not terrible, one gets the idea that folks in the health insurance industry still think this is a PR problem, not a problem in the way health care funding impedes decent health care.
Nataline Sarkisyan's father said today that there is a hole in his heart since losing his daughter. "Cigna killed my daughter," he said. "Vote for this man; vote for John Edwards."
"They tried negotiating with the insurance company," John Edwards responded. "If negotiating worked, we'd have universal health care already."
Senator Edwards also laid out three clear criteria for people to ask candidates to evaluate who should be our next president:
Are you for fundamental change in Washington or continuing the status quo?
If you are for fundamental change, will you fight for it?
Boycott Disney, Watch football. Vote Kucinich.
I was watching an exciting football game instead of inhaling the ipecac, but still, I had to rubberneck a bit and watch the car crash that is debate, so please fill me in on anything I may have missed. GO GIANTS!
Because the insurance industry owns Congress, and because the insurance industry buys itself protection.
Roger Clemons and major league baseball need to wise up. They need to take a cue from the insurance industry playbook. They need to pay up in order to avoid Congressional scrutiny. When you buy Congress, as the insurance industry has demonstrated, Congress leaves you alone.
I love baseball, we all like baseball. Baseball is a wonderful American past time.
I gather some baseball players may be cheating. They've been accused of using performance enhancing drugs. This is not playing by the rules.
George Mitchell, a former Senator, chaired a commission which leveled these charges.
Why isn't George Mitchell chairing a commission looking into how the insurance industry cheats, swindles and defrauds millions of Americans day after day after day?
Why is Congress investigating baseball players who may have violated the rules, but ignoring the documented criminal activity of the insurance industry?
I keep telling myself, this might have done it. I keep telling myself that if Cigna had done what it did a month sooner or a month later it would have made people finally notice. Unfortunately though, the story broke just before Christmas.
I think we were on the verge of widespread outrage, the kind that changes things. Then we were distracted by "look at all the lights and shiny things", "wow there’s candy everywhere I go", and "where can I find another place to spend money I don’t have".
Everyone needs to be reminded. Please don't let this story die. Jump with me, lest we fail to pound Cigna into bankrupt oblivion>>>
I, like many here, was appalled by the actions or lack of action taken by Cigna in their handling of the Nataline Sarkisyan case. Not just a case, her life, how they handled her life and her death.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg, how many claims are denied each year and how many die? How about that for a study, then we can quantify how much each death equaled a certain amount of profit. $10,000 per person? $20,000? How about putting that in hard numbers so each CEO can see how many deaths made up their bonus. How much blood do they have on their hands for taking their billions.
I had been drawn to Natalin's cause thanks to nyceve's diaries and also because my mother died last year from liver cancer. Certainly when you are 80 years old, liver cancer is very deadly, but an HMO made us waste time because they did not want to pay for her transplant. By the time I prepaid for one, it was too late. But what I know is that liver transplants are far from experimental nowdays. But they have to be performed quickly after a diagnosis to give the patient a better chance of survival.
Nataline was just starting her life. The doctors recommended a transplant. Cigna acted like the petty bean counters they are.
Their miscalculation was that Nataline was part of a very tight knit community of Armenians around Glendale where their HQ is. Nataline had a fighting chance thanks to her family and friends and thanks to nyceve who mobilized us and the California Nurses Association.
Below are my impressions and some photos I took as I promised. Since no relevant diary is available I post this short diary of my own.
Note: I wasn't going to post this diary because of the terrible tragedy in Pakistan, but I've received a bunch of emails asking for an update on the death of Nataline Sarkisyan.
Mark Geragos wants you to know that the Sarkisyan family is going to pursue criminal charges against CIGNA.
I received the following email from him.
Eve, thanks so much for all of your efforts. The Sarkisyan family has told me several times that the spontaneous outpouring of support is the only thing that sustains them through this difficult time. Rest assured that we are both investigating and exploring every option in order to present a compelling case to the prosecutors in order that a criminal complaint gets filed in this matter. Thanks again and Godspeed. Mark
The problem with "A Business of Caring" is what we saw this week - business always wins out when it is at odds with caring. We wrote and recorded a song about the CIGNA/Nataline tragedy called The Business of Disregard. Click the link to give it a listen.
I am getting the impression that this might just be a watershed moment in America's battle for healthcare coverage for all.
A Recap for the few who might have missed this:
A 17 year old girl was very sick and was on a list for a transplant. Cigna denied the transplant and after continuing to worsen, the family took her off life support and she died. Cigna got a letter to them AFTER this saying they had reconsidered.
