Los Angeles sues Anthem for individual policy cancellations

The Los Angeles city attorney has sued Anthem Blue Cross for allegedly canceling coverage of thousands of members after they filed large medical claims. In doing so, it's following the lead of the state's Department of Managed Health Care, which has conducted an ongoing campaign against such practices. City attorney Rocky Delgadillo contends that Anthem, its parent company WellPoint, and another subsidiary unlawfully revoked the policies of as many as 6,000 members. What's more, he argues that the plans' 500,000 individual policyholders have been defrauded, because their policies won't actually help them if they get sick. Delgadillo is seeking $2,500 per violation, or $5,000 if the victim is disabled or a senior--numbers that could amount to costs of more than $1 billion if the city wins its suit.

To learn more about the suit:
- read this Los Angeles Times piece [1]

Related Articles:
LA files more patient dumping cases [2]
HealthNet set goals, bonuses based on policy cancellations [3]
CA regulators plan limits to health policy cancellations [4]
Blue Cross of CA settles plan-cancellation suits [5]