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In its latest response to withering criticism of its breast-cancer policies, WellPoint Inc. said it will pay for breast cancer
patients to stay two days in a hospital after mastectomy surgery.
The Indianapolis-based health insurer is effectively putting into practice, as of June 1, the primary provision of a bill
called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act, which has not passed both houses of Congress.
The main sponsor of the bill, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., wrote on May 20 to WellPoint CEO Angela Braly asking her to commit
WellPoint to the substance of the legislation.
“I hope you will join in publicly extending this very basic consumer protection—the guarantee of 48 hours in
the hospital following breast cancer surgery—to the patients you insure,” DeLauro wrote.
Some states already require insurers to cover hospital stays of 48 hours if the patient and her doctor wanted that much time
for recovery after mastectomy surgery. But now, WellPoint officials said, the company will make the policy standard for its
customers in any state.
"Women recovering from breast cancer surgery, in consultation with their physicians, will decide whether hospitalization
for 48 hours is required," Dr. Sam Nussbaum, WellPoint’s chief medical officer, said in a statement. "We are
committed to making medical coverage decisions for women with breast cancer that are in accord with the latest scientific
evidence and clinical research. It's important for us and our members that WellPoint continues to lead in this area.”
WellPoint has been under fire since an April Reuters article said the company uses a computer algorithm to target breast
cancer patients for cancellation of their policies. WellPoint has repeatedly called the article’s claims “inaccurate
and grossly misleading.”
But the article provided the basis for sharp criticism of WellPoint from President Obama, Health and Human Services Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius and dozens of members of Congress. In addition, many WellPoint customers called the company concerned about
their vulnerability to cancellation.
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