Wellpoint CEO Makes Almost 10 Million a Year Denying Health Care to Clients

[Sue Copening]

Meet Melanie Shouse.

A few years ago, Melanie was living the American dream when she transformed an old Domino's storefront into an expansion of her home business. But just as the store was opening, Melanie was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer and told she had only months to live.

Melanie had insurance, and she went straight to the experts at Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis. Working with the world-renowned doctors there, she's beaten the odds and stayed healthy for years. But now her insurance company, a subsidiary of WellPoint, is refusing to pay for the medication her doctors recommend (talk about "death panels). Read Melanie's statement below.

With insurance companies it's all about the bottom line. There are profits to protect, shareholders to appease and if a few of their customers die along the way, well, that just means more savings and a better bottom line.

Now, meet Wellpoint CEO Angela Braly.

Angela Braly makes almost $10 million a year in salary and stock benefits, and then defends dropping people's insurance when they get sick. Not surprisingly, she also supports Republican political candidates with generous campaign contributions.

Braly has been quoted as saying, "We will not sacrifice profitability for membership." [WellPoint Inc. earnings conference call, April 23, 2008].

Do you think Braly has ever calculated how many of her companies clients might be saved if she gave up just 2-3 million of her own compensation to pay for their medications and treatments?

Do you think she ever calculates how many of her companies clients suffer in order for her to drive her fancy cars and pay for her vacation home?

Since Angela Braly refused to meet with Melanie when Melanie went to her own offices at Wellpoint, next week, Melanie will try again.

Angela Braly will be in Washington, D.C. attending a convention of the biggest insurance company executives in America. This conference is a great opportunity to confront insurance company CEOs who deny care to increase profits.

That's why Melanie Shouse will be there. Isn't it time that insurance company CEOs come face to face with those Americans who've been denied care? Melanie thinks so, and that why we're joining our friends at TrueMajority Action and standing with her. Please add your name to their petition of support right now.

SIGN TRUE MAJORITY'S STATEMENT OF SUPPORT NOW

TrueMajority has been keeping the pressure on Wellpoint's Angela Braly and other insurance company CEOs for weeks now. They've banged on the doors of their mansions, run ads on TV, and held rallies in front of the offices of three of the biggest insurance companies in America. These companies -- Cigna, WellPoint and UnitedHealth -- insure millions of people, and then make massive profits by finding loopholes and denying care.

They aren't interested in helping the sick. They have CEO bonuses to pay and shareholders to make happy.

That's why, next week when all three companies' CEOs will be in D.C. to congratulate themselves on making record-breaking salaries while demanding members of Congress oppose the choice of a public option, Melanie won't let their visit go unchallenged.

It's up to us to support Melanie and arm her with the strength of thousands of Americans standing with her.

PLEASE ADD YOUR NAME TODAY

Sign today and we'll make sure your signature is delivered to Wellpoint, Cigna, UnitedHealth and members of Congress next week.

Thank you for everything you do.

-Charles

Charles Chamberlain, Political Director
Democracy for America

MORE INFO....

A recent poll indicates, that 65% of the American people support a public option, but in the Senate the votes don’t appear to be available to pass the legislation. Although the Senate Finance Committee’s bill does NOT contain a public option, insurance companies are threatening to raise premiums, if that bill becomes law. A few politicians are trying to stand up for what's right... for the health and welfare of the American People (not corporate profits). For instance, Senator Schumer (of NY) is insisting that it’s time to eliminate the antitrust exemption for insurance industry, that currently allows price fixing, collusion, and price gouging.

FROM MELANIE...

My name is Melanie Shouse, and I am a breast cancer survivor. Four years ago, at age 37, I was an entrepreneur struggling to grow my small business, and only able to afford a catastrophic health insurance policy with co-pays and deductibles nearing ten thousand dollars. I had to take the ultimate risk with my health in order to chase the American Dream, like so many small business owners in America today. So when I first felt a small lump, denial seemed the only option available to me.

But as our nation has learned so painfully over the last eight years, denial only leads to catastrophe. In October 2005, I was forced to admit reality by walking into Siteman Cancer Center for the dreaded diagnosis. But by this time, the cancer had spread throughout my body to bone, lungs and liver. It was now classified as Stage 4 breast cancer, the kind you don't recover from. My chance of survival was pegged at just 13% as a result of the delay in diagnosis and treatment caused by inadequate health coverage.

My worries were not limited to my health, however. I had no savings and no real assets to cover the monumental costs associated with these expensive treatments. And with this prize-winning pre-existing condition, I had no opportunity to seek a better private health plan, as I was now shut out of the market. Having no other choice, I quickly turned to our public Missouri Medicaid program, and within days I received this Medicaid card that would help save my life. Now I could walk into one of the top cancer centers in the world right up the street here and receive top-notch care without having to sell a kidney to cover the insurance deductible!

My treatment commenced post haste, and I am standing here today thanks to the Missouri Medicaid program, and the federal Medicare program for which I became eligible after a two-year waiting period. These efficient and effective public health plans have enabled me to receive some of the best cutting-edge care in the world, equivalent to the coverage our Senators and Congressmen enjoy, without ever having to wait or worry.

But even during these four years in chemotherapy, I am still being victimized by my insurance provider. I started my third round of chemo in May after a serious recurrence that almost took me down this spring. After two months on this new regimen, my health status has improved dramatically. But that didn't stop THIS insurance company from sending me a "recission" letter this summer denying coverage for my new round of treatment which is approved for use in breast cancer. This treatment was recommended by my oncologist, a well-known cancer researcher at one of the top cancer institutions in the world right down the street here. The arrogance of insurance monopoly bureaucrats in overriding the medical decision of my treatment team is breathtaking, and I said just that in an appeal that I filed to Anthem last month. But I received this letter in response to my appeal, which again denies me coverage for this essential treatment. To paraphrase one of my favorite Congressmen, Barney Frank, in response to an inflamed "tea-bagger", trying to reason with these insurance company bureaucrats is like trying to talk to a dining room table.

If I did not have access to Medicare and Medicaid, which are covering half the costs of my new therapy, it is quite possible that I would be unable to receive this essential treatment that has enabled me to continue living. I am sick and tired of watching the endless parade of right-wing ideologues disguised as "pundits" being shoved down our throats daily on the corporate media, shrieking and wailing as they denounce our successful public health programs and defend the indefensible status quo. It's sickening to hear Republican politicians on C-SPAN every day defending the impunity of their corporate backers in the insurance monopoly to deny us coverage for no good reason other than their bottom line. Recent polls show that over 3/4 of Americans, including half of Republican voters, support REAL health care reform with a public plan option. And a new study by the authoritative New England Journal of Medicine shows that 72% of DOCTORS support the choice of a public plan. It's time that We the People have our voices heard in the halls of Congress!

Now is the time to finally deliver on the change we have needed for so long. The American people don't need bipartisanship; we need progress for America that will help save thousands of lives. We are SICK AND TIRED of the insurance monopoly using their Republican accomplices in Congress and the media to misinform and confuse the American people, and tell us that we CAN'T have a sensible health care system like every other modern country in the world provides for their people. We have waited too long for the change we need. We don't have time to play political games that do nothing but fatten the already-bloated stock portfolios of insurance industry backers at the expense of America's health. It's time to trim down on insurance monopoly profits to get America in shape to lead! Now let's get America covered; there's no time to waste.

Melanie Shouse
Overland, MO
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