UnitedHealthcare and WellPoint, two of the nation’s largest health care insurance providers, is accused of coercing employees to stand against Congressional healthcare reform. Santa Monica’s Consumer Watchdog, a a consumer advocacy group, is demanding California government lawyers take action against the insurance companies.
California health care attorneys-Consumer Watchdog accuses UnitedHealthcare and WellPoint of using political corruption tactics to coerce worker support.
Los Angles, CA–California health care attorneys and consumers throughout the state are being alerted of recent accusations announced by Consumer Watchdog against two national health insurance companies, United HealthCare and WellPoint. The Santa Monica based, nationally recognized consumer group, who has been fighting against corporate and political corruption since 1985, accused two of the nation’s largest insurance companies of pressuring their employees to advocate against healthcare reform in Congress and oppose national healthcare plans, as reported by the Los Angeles Times on September 3, 2209. This is a violation of a California law prohibiting businesses from coercing their employees to participate in political activity.
Consumer Watchdog http://consumerwatchdog.org asserts United Healthcare Group based in Minnesota and WellPoint Inc., based in Indiana, advocated for workers to attend town hall meetings, write elected officials, and ask family and friends to fight against national healthcare to make sure any healthcare reform meets the best interests of the big for profit private insurers. These types of tactics by employers to coerce workers to align themselves with the company’s political stance is a violation of a law unique to the state of California and Consumer Watchdog is calling on California’s Attorney General to take action.
UnitedHealth Group is a publicly traded health care services company who insurers close to 70 million individuals nationwide with 75,000 employees according to Wikipedia http://www.wikipedia.org. The parent group of UnitedHealthcare reported a $3 billion net income in 2008. WellPoint is a United States based health insurance company, and the largest member of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and also serves under the Anthem name. Wikipedia reveals the California Healthcare Quality Report Card 2009 Edition, released the following review ratings in a Meeting National Standards of Care and How Members Rate Their HMO: Anthem received 2 out of 4 stars, and the insurance company takes 6 to 8 weeks for an insurance quote request to arrive in the mail. WellPoint has over 42,000 employees, reported $3.095 billion in net income earnings in 2006, and spent over $2.4 million in 2009 on lobbying, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group.
Legal news reporter Heather L. Ryan providing health and law education for California health care attorneys.