While the for-profit insurance industry is rolling out their finest liars, people like Karen Ignagni the president and CEO of AHIP to spin deceit and bullshit about SiCKO, they'd be well advised to focus on the sick scum they have running their member companies.
Allow me to introduce you to David Colby. Until he was recently fired, Colby was the CFO of the largest for-profit health insurance company in the United States, Wellpoint.
While David was designing and implementing corporate policies intended to thrill Wall Street, and deprive policyholders of care, he was also some sort of nut case serial sex addict/offender/adulterer/predator/call him what you will.
The great Lisa Girion at the L.A. Times has been following this sordid story for some time. But it seems to get worse by the day.
Here's the bottom line. Here's the reason Wellpoint didn't get rid of this creep when they had reason to believe he was doing nasty things to women. Here's what you won't read anywhere else. David Colby was doing his job. I repeat, David Colby was doing his job. He was delivering for Wall Street. This is all that matters.
This is the fiduciary responsibility of for-profit health insurance companies. They are not supposed to deliver healthcare, they are supposed to deliver $$$ to Wall Street and shareholders. Period.
What follows is just the latest in a long series of regular articles in the L.A. Times about Wellpoint, America's largest for-profit health insurance company.
WellPoint named a defendant in sexual-battery suit:
A former employee says the health insurer was aware of ex-CFO David Colby's alleged romantic entanglements and did nothing to protect her.A month after WellPoint Inc. ousted David C. Colby, the nation's largest health insurer is being dogged by salacious allegations about his personal life — and charges that it was negligent.
The company, which owns Blue Cross of California, was named as a defendant Thursday in a lawsuit that accuses Colby of sexual battery, breach of contract and infliction of emotional distress.
Sarah Waugh, who worked for WellPoint when it was called WellPoint Health Networks Inc. and headquartered in Thousand Oaks, says in the suit that while Colby was the company's chief financial officer, he maintained "concurrent relationships" with her and more than 15 other women and "acted with the intent to cause" her harm.
Waugh seeks unspecified damages for "humiliation, mental anguish and emotional and physical distress." WellPoint, her suit suggests, was aware of Colby's alleged romantic entanglements but did nothing to protect her.
Colby, 53, was let go May 30 for what the company, now based in Indianapolis, called nonbusiness-related violations of its code of conduct.
. . .Waugh's suit alleges that Colby has said the board confronted him about his relationships in August 2006. The company has declined to say whether the board met in August for any reason. In announcing Colby's resignation, WellPoint Chairman Larry Glasscock said concerns about his behavior had come to light only "in recent days."
According to Waugh, she was fired by WellPoint after she made complaints, which are not detailed in the suit, about Colby. Colby then began making unspecified monthly support payments to her, and, on one occasion, gave her $12,000, the suit claims. When Waugh attempted to break off the relationship at one point, it says, Colby spray-painted her car and later paid her $2,000 for repairs.
Colby allegedly allowed Waugh to live in his Lake Sherwood home for a while and took her on trips to WellPoint functions arranged by company employees. The suit says Colby repeatedly promised to pay for private schooling for Waugh's son and to continue to support her even if their relationship ended. It alleges that he reneged by stopping the payments when the relationship recently ended.
The suit describes how Colby allegedly met women on Internet dating sites and in chat rooms. On Match.com, the suit says, he described himself as a divorced "GolfingCFO," seeking a "unique woman who is warm and affectionate when I am home but who is independent enough not to be upset when I work long hours or have to travel." Because of his job, the woman would have to be "comfortable at both Black-tie galas and employee picnics on the beach."
As I said, Colby was delivering for Wall Street and that's all that matters. Not your health. Not my health. Only shareholder profits. Being best simply put meant designing insurance policies (right, I'm not a lawyer, but when it looks like a pig, it's a pig)which should be prosecutable under the racketeering statutes.
Before David Colby's love life became front-page news, he enjoyed a spotless reputation on Wall Street.
Institutional Investor magazine named the former WellPoint (nyse: WLP - news - people ) Inc. executive the best chief financial officer in managed care four straight years. Analysts spoke warmly of their trust in him.
. . .Colby, who received a $703,295 salary and $1.1 million bonus last year, also will receive a post-resignation payment of $666,190 from WellPoint, according to the company's latest proxy statement.
So, Wellpoint gets rid of Colby for sexual misconduct and replaces him with another felon CFO named Wayne DeVeydt. Sexual misconduct are grounds for dismissal in the corporate world. Colby's true criminal misconduct, taking vast sums of money in the form of unaffordable health insurance premiums, and then denying policyholders care, is SOP in America.
Does this kind of remind you of our recent history in the United States? A president is impeached for a blow job, but the war criminal president, just thumbs his nose at the world.
WellPoint (WLP) CFO Resigns, Company Names Wayne S. DeVeydt as Replacement
Concurrently, the Board has appointed Wayne S. DeVeydt as executive vice president and chief financial officer. All changes are effective immediately.
Based on an investigation performed by external legal counsel, it was concluded that David Colby violated the company's code of conduct. However, the investigation did not reveal illegal conduct and the policy violations were in no way related to the business of WellPoint. Given the non-business nature of the violations, the company will make no further comment on the circumstances resulting in the resignation.
In their effort to control markets and record unconscionable profits, private health insurers have proven themselves to be unqualified, untrustworthy and, in many cases, ethically challenged stewards. Private health insurers have sworn their allegiance to Wall Street and to their shareholders, jeopardizing the health and wellbeing of all but the most affluent among us.
Anyone who still harbors illusions about healthcare winners and losers need only read the transcript of the recent conference call between Angela Braly, the new President and CEO of WellPoint, Inc, and Wayne DeVeydt, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of WellPoint and Bank of America Health Analysts.
Take a look at what Angela and Wayne have to say:
Angela Braly: "WellPoint has a consistent track record of delivering on our financial promises to Wall Street and we expect this to continue. With our projected earnings of $5.54 per share for 2007, our compound annual EPS growth rate will be 22% over a six-year period. So in summary, we believe that WellPoint is a compelling investment opportunity with strong growth prospects, and I hope that you agree."
Wayne DeVeydt: "I think one of the questions that I will get from many of you over
the near term will be my philosophy, and I want to make sure everybody in this room understands and on the webcast that I'm fully committed to the 15% earnings per share growth and believe that that is sustainable for not only the near term, but the longer term."
https://www.insurancenewsnet.com/...
Physicians for a National Health Plan Senior Health Policy Fellow Don McCanne, M.D. offered a somber response to the transcript:
"This presentation by the new leadership of WellPoint, Inc. should be mandatory listening for those policymakers who insist that the private insurance industry must be included in our models of reform.
"One important caveat: Members of the policy community who believe that health care is about patients should take an anti-emetic before accessing this presentation (though those on Wall Street may wish to break out the champagne)."
I'm going to leave you with this sad epilogue from Catherine Seipp, whom many of you may remember was a columnist for National Review Online. She recently died after being diagnosed with lung cancer. I wrote about her battle with Blue Cross of California several times.
She wrote Werewolves of Wellpoint though I don't believe this particular essay was ever published at NRO, shortly before dying.
By Catherine Seipp
I was happy to learn that Blue Cross, California’s largest private health insurer, has to pay a $200,000 fine for improperly voiding sick subscribers’ policies - in many cases years after the subscribers had applied for coverage. But my pleasure in this was mitigated by the knowledge that to Blue Cross and its parent company WellPoint, $200,000 is basically just chump change.
Since I was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer four-and-a-half years ago, for instance, I’d guess I’ve already received around $200,000 in benefits. And I’m sure by now they’ve gone through my old underwriting files more than once with a fine-toothed comb - hoping to keep their $2.5 billion in annual profits from sinking to, oh, say $2.49999 billion per year.
. . . I typically reach my $2,500 deductible by January and my $7,500 out-of-pocket cap by February. This means that after I pay $7,500 in co-payments, Blue Cross covers 100% of my expenses for the rest of the year.
The last hike was from $5,000 to $7,500 in 2004. My big fear now is that in order to make up for that $200,000 fine, Blue Cross will raise the out-of-pocket cap for my category of policy from $7,500 to $12,000 to $15,000 to $20,000 to God knows what. The ultimate aim would be for all but the richest sick patients to drop out because they can’t afford coverage anymore.
Cancer patients also cost insurance companies money because new cancer treatments are very expensive. Last year, for instance, Blue Cross retroactively denied my doctor payment for a treatment called Avastin - even after two CT scans showed it had been working - because at the time it was still technically experimental. (It has since been approved for lung cancer.)
I appealed to Blue Cross, and got a call from one of its medical directors, Dr. Richard Lehrfeld, who explained that he was upholding the retroactive denial because "If I keep garlic over my bed to keep away werewolves, and there aren’t werewolf attacks for five months... well, the logic is faulty there."
Going back to ex-Wellpoint CFO Werewolf David Colby, he was fired for fucking screwing women, but he wasn't fired for fucking stealing money and denying care to cancer patients like the late Catherine Seipp.
What a depraved and corrupt healthcare system the political class continues to inflict on the American people.
Crossposted at Daily Kos
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