Golden Rule
New TV Ad: How Would the CEO of UnitedHealth Group Feel if his Loved Ones Were Told ‘To Get Insurance, First Get Sterilized?’
Ad from Americans United for Change Highlights the Real Story of Peggy Robertson, Who Was Denied Coverage by UnitedHealth Group’s Golden Rule Insurance for Having Had a C-Section – Then Later Told She Could Get Coverage If She Got Sterilized
Ad Comes as Insured Americans Who Were Denied Care Prepare to Confront AHIP at Health Insurance Industry Conference in the Nation’s Capital Thursday
Click Here to View “Golden Rule”
Washington D.C. – As part of an ongoing campaign to expose the outrageous practices of the health insurance industry, Americans United for Change unveiled a new TV spot spotlighting the real story of Peggy Robertson and the contemptible treatment the mother-of-two received from UnitedHealth Group’s Golden Rule Insurance Company. Peggy was denied insurance coverage by Golden Rule simply because she had had a C-section. If that wasn’t bad enough, they later told her they would cover her …. if she got sterilized. See script below for “Golden Rule” airing this week on cable news in the Nation’s capital. View Peggy’ Robertson’s personal account here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjmPBh4fzeM
Tom McMahon, Acting Executive Director, Americans United for Change: “We already know that in most states, insurers can reject women for coverage simply for having previously had a Cesarean section – as Golden Rule Insurance Company reflexively did to Peggy Robertson. But it’s really beyond belief how Golden Rule treated Mrs. Robertson next, literally offering her a choice between having health insurance and having another baby. We understand it’s all about maximizing profits for the health insurance industry so that guys like UnitedHealth Group’s CEO Stephen Hemsley can make $3,241,042 a year – but is there any limit to their greed that they would tell a mother that in order to get health coverage, she first would have to be sterilized? Would Stephen Hemsley treat his own wife or daughter this way? Does Congress need any other reason to pass reform that bans insurance companies from denying Americans coverage for any ‘pre-existing condition’ and establishes a strong public option so Americans like Peggy will always have a place to turn for affordable, quality care?”
FACT: In most states, insurers can reject women for coverage simply for having previously had a Cesarean section (C-section). According to the National Women’s Law Center: “In most states, insurers are free to reject individuals applying for coverage in the individual market. Many women face such rejection at this underwriting stage of purchasing insurance for a wide range of reasons. For example, women have greater health needs than men and are more likely than men to suffer from a chronic condition requiring ongoing treatment, like asthma or arthritis. These conditions can lead to rejection of coverage. In addition, if during the medical underwriting process the insurer discovers that an applicant underwent a past C-section, the company may charge her a higher premium, impose an exclusionary period during which it refuses to cover another C-section or pregnancy, or even reject her for coverage altogether unless she has been sterilized or is no longer of childbearing age.” [National Women’s Law Center; Nowhere to Turn: How the Individual Health Insurance Market Fails Women, accessed, 9/17/09]
“Golden Rule” is the second TV spot from Americans United spotlighting a real health insurance horror story, following ‘Nataline’ which featured the tragic story of 17-year-old Nataline Sarkisyan whose insurer Cigna HealthCare refused to pay for the liver transplant she desperately needed until it was too late. CLICK HERE TO VIEW ‘NATALINE’
The new spot also comes as hundreds of health insurance reform advocates, including families of people who have been mistreated by their insurers, prepare to rally outside a health insurance industry conference at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington D.C. on Thursday – a conference sponsored by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the health insurance lobby. Seven families will travel to DC to tell their stories of delayed and denied care at the hands of large insurance companies that consistently put Wall Street investors’ profit expectations before people’s health care needs. For more information about the counter event sponsored by Health Care for America Now!, call Jacki Schechner at 202-454-6196 or Doug Gordon at 202-822-5200.
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“Golden Rule” Ad Back-Up Americans United For Change TV (:30)
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SCRIPT |
FACTS |
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ANNCR: What if you….. or your wife... or your daughter.... had a C section
…and then were told you couldn’t get health insurance unless you got sterilized?
CG: What if you, your wife or your daughter were told that to get health insurance they would have to get sterilized
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According to Susan Pisano of America’s Health Insurance Plans many health insurance companies treat prior Caesareans like a pre-existing condition. [New York Times, 6/1/08] |
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ANNCR: That’s what happened toPeggy Robertson when she tried to buy coverage through UnitedHealthcare’s Golden Rule insurance.
CG: Peggy Robertson
Insurance company required sterilization for coverage |
“When Peggy Robertson went shopping for a more affordable health insurance plan for her self-employed husband and two young boys, she ran into an unexpected problem: the birth of her son Luke in 2006 by caesarean section. The healthy young mother was shocked when the Golden Rule Insurance company denied her coverage due to the C-Section birth of her son. ‘I called Golden Rule and they said that if I would get sterilized, they would then be able to offer insurance to me.’” [ABC News, 10/15/09] Peggy Roberston was refused health insurance coverage “because she had given birth by Caesarean section. Having the operation once increases the odds that it will be performed again, and if she became pregnant and needed another Caesarean, Golden Rule did not want to pay for it. A letter from the company explained that if she had been sterilized after the Caesarean, or if she were over 40 and had given birth two or more years before applying, she might have qualified.” [New York Times, 6/1/08] Link to the letter from Golden Rule: http://www.seiu.org/insuranceletter.pdf |
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ANNCR: How would United Healthcare’s CEO feel if an insurance company bureaucrat told his loved ones to get sterilized?
CG: How would CEO Stephen Hemsley feel if his loved ones were told to get sterilized? |
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ANNCR: Maybe he subscribes to that other Golden Rule …..
He who has the gold …. makes the rules.
CG: If Insurance Companies Win, We Lose.
Paid for by Americans United for Change. |
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