California Medical Association not happy about it as well...also reported at the Wall Street Journal....this is really a dirty business....how low can we go...BD
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Citing an effort to hold down costs, health insurance giant Blue Cross wants doctors in California to report conditions it could use to cancel new patients' medical coverage, it was reported Tuesday. WellPoint Inc., the Indianapolis-based company that operates Blue Cross of California, said it was sending out the letters in an effort to keep costs at a minimum.
The state's largest for-profit health insurer is sending physicians copies of health insurance applications filled out by new patients, along with a letter advising them that the company has a right to drop members who fail to disclose "material medical history," the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site.
"We're outraged that they are asking doctors to violate the sacred trust of patients to rat them out for medical information that patients would expect their doctors to handle with the utmost secrecy and confidentiality," said Dr. Richard Frankenstein, president of the California Medical Association.
California Medical Association not happy about it as well...also reported at the Wall Street Journal....this is really a dirty business....how low can we go...BD
ABC News: Doctor's Outrage: Asked to Rat on Patients?