"Having health insurance does not mean you will receive healthcare when you need it," Frankenstein said. "Insurance companies may promise you the moon and a thousand doctors, but if you really need your medical care you can bet they will be looking for a way to deny treatment or cancel your policy."
Blue Shield's Epstein said Delgadillo "asserts that we have committed unfair practices regarding the payment of claims for 400,000 individual policyholders without a shred of evidence that our actions were improper. He fails to mention that, since 2002, we have paid nearly $4 billion in claims for those policyholders. He claims that we used intentionally misleading applications, but our applications were reviewed and approved by two state regulators."
The company also criticized Delgadillo's consultations with policyholder "lawyers who have a financial interest in rescission cases," Epstein said, saying that "he never spoke to anyone in our company nor asked for any documents in our files."
Blue Shield has "always been careful in our underwriting of health coverage policies and in our investigations of the rare contracts that are rescinded," Epstein said. "This is why we have rescinded a fraction of 1% of individual and family policies."
Blue Shield believes that it is the responsibility of applicants to tell the truth, Epstein said.
"If there were no consequences for applicants who misrepresent significant medical conditions, insurance rates would skyrocket for the vast majority of Californians who complete their applications accurately," he said.
The Simoeses say the cancellation saddled them with $60,000 in unpaid medical bills. They say they were harassed by collection agents, and Ana Maria's credit was ruined.
"I hope that nobody else has to go through this, and I hope there will be somebody out there who can stop the insurance companies," Ana Maria said in an interview after standing next to Delgadillo at a news conference. "It is so upsetting to me and my family."
The Simoeses said they were as honest as they knew how to be on the application. English is a second language for the Portuguese immigrants, and they went to an insurance agent to buy their coverage. They said the agent filled out the application.
They said they gave the agent their physicians' names and telephone numbers as he was filling out the application. They signed the application, giving Blue Shield permission to review their medical records before issuing coverage and, they said, that is what the agent told them would happen.
