WellPoint Cuts its Own Health Benefits as Recession Trims Sales

Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- WellPoint Inc., the largest U.S. insurer, dismissed a “small number” of workers last week and announced cuts to employee health benefits today, in its latest attempt to deal with the recession’s toll on enrollment.

WellPoint eliminated the positions last week and expects to let more go before year’s end, though the number will be “relatively small,” Kristin Binns, a spokeswoman, said in a telephone interview. The company will also raise deductibles and premiums for some of its employee health benefits, the Indianapolis-based insurer told workers in a memo today obtained by Bloomberg.

WellPoint, like its competitors, has seen health plan enrollment shrink this year as employers cut jobs and benefits amid the recession. Chief Executive Officer Angela Braly cut 1,500 positions in January, and last week the company said it was reviewing its “size and skills” to improve efficiency.

The job cuts are “really just an ongoing effort for us to cut costs and run more efficiently,” Binns said, calling the changes “economy-driven.”

In the memo from Randy Brown, WellPoint’s chief human resources officer, the company said it would lower its contribution toward worker premiums and raise deductibles in two of its three benefit plans. “Your cost per paycheck will probably increase,” the memo said. WellPoint has 42,000 employees.

Paid Days Off Capped

The insurer also capped the number of paid days off workers can bank for future use at 23 days. Previously, workers with more than 10 years service could accrue more, the memo said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a.xav9Ur_Rz4

Bloomberg failed to mention the CEO's paycheck is around $10 mil per year (and keeps going up)

Health Insurance Companies can't even insure their own employees effectively.

how can an employer in another field, much less the self employed?

This really should be mentioned by all health care reform supporters. I wonder if Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow know about this?

I think it will make a good segment for her show.

nt

now the only team left that doesn't make me puke completely is the angels...

..... but then again, perhaps they're being spared the humiliation of a sweep by the Yankees.

Anthem Health Plans of Maine, a subsidiary of WellPoint, is suing the state because they want to increase premium rates by 18.5% on their 12,000 individual insurance policy holders, so they can guarantee themselves a 3% profit margin. This story shows how silly it would be to solely rely on regulation to rein in insurance industry practices.

Like many other states, Anthem Health Plans hold a monopoly on the individual insurance market in Maine, controlling 79% of all the plans. Also like many other states, they are licensed to sell insurance through the Department of Insurance, who must clear all rate increases prior to implementation. Originally, Anthem Health Plans were a nonprofit Blue Cross and Blue Shield corporation licensed to practice in Maine since 1939. In 1999, Anthem bought the business and began to operate it as a for-profit company. Since that point, Anthem has raised premium rates 10 times, and 8 of those times have been double-digit rate increases.

Jan-99: 20.4%
Nov-99: 15.7%
Jan-01: 23.5%
Feb-02: 12.7%
Jan-03: 3.4%
Mar-05: 14.5%
Mar-06: 16.3%
Jan-07: 16.7%
Jul-07: 1.3%
Jan-08: 12.5%

Why do people not see these types of leeches for what they are: pariahs, bloodsuckers, heartless corporate profit machines. They don't give a shit about helping people.

The former Vice President for Public Policy and External Affairs at WellPoint, Elizabeth Fowler, is currently the Senior Counsel to Max Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and leading opponent of the "public option" in healthcare reform.

Sorry to be so crabby this morning but why do we stand for this? It's so blatant! Are we sheep or what? 'Please sir, may I have another beating?'

It was called Anthem then. I wish them only the worst. They are nothing but a bunch of crooks.

nothing but a politically protected criminal enterprise

option twice.

to fight reform at the expense of their own employees??

The mafia takes better care of its people than these idiots.

to have a disgruntled employee.