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New
Lawsuit Alleges Pacificare Set Course Of Deception To Avoid Claims
and Cancel Policy of 34 Year Old Kidney Cancer Patient To Increase
Company Profits.
http://ww1.prweb.com/releases/2006/11/prweb480788.htm
Irvine,
CA (PRWEB) November 18, 2006 -- UnitedHealth Group, the nations
second largest health insurer, and its subsidiary Pacificare of
California were named in a lawsuit yesterday for canceling the
health insurance policy and refusing to pay medical bills after a
cancer patient sought treatment. (D'ANNA vs PACIFICARE OF CALIFORNIA
#GIN057028)
The lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of San Diego by
attorneys Robert K. Scott and Scott Mahoney of the Irvine-based Law
Offices of Robert K. Scott. The lawsuit adds UnitedHealth Group and
Pacificare of California to the growing list of California insurers
who have been accused of revoking health care polices after patients
get sick.
UnitedHealth Group Inc Thursday announced a 38% jump in its
third-quarter earnings, aided by gains from last years PacifiCare
acquisition. Recent revelations of a "conflict of interest" have
been reported at the DMHC during hearings on the merger between
UnitedHealth and Pacificare in California.
"I was repulsed when I learned that the CEO of UnitedHealth Group
had 1.6 Billion in stock options while I am being harassed by
collection agencies for the medical bills Pacificare refused to
pay", said Salvatore D'Anna, the Plaintiff in the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit filed yesterday, UnitedHealth Group and
Pacificare of California allegedly failed to properly manage the
patient's cancer treatment and withheld information that put his
life in jeopardy to avoid the cost of a second surgery to remove his
kidney because of remaining cancer reported in his Pathology report.
Pacificare allegedly withheld the coverage decision for the second
surgery until the patient flew across the country for the procedure.
Submitted documents indicate Pacificare informed the patient the day
before the surgery that they were denying coverage which forced the
patient to ask his parents to loan him $25,000 for a down payment on
the surgery. When the patient returned home, instead of offering to
pay for the surgery, Pacificare allegedly sent a letter that
purported to cancel the policy.
The Complaint against UnitedHealth Group and Pacificare can be read
here.
About The Law Offices of Robert K. Scott (www.robertkscott.com):
For over thirty years, The Law Offices of Robert K. Scott has sued
insurance companies on behalf of both individual consumers and
businesses against the abuses of the insurance industry. This area
of law is known as "insurance bad faith." Our goal is to vigorously
fight to protect your rights and to achieve maximum results for you.
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