Health Insurer Blasts Article About Rescissions

A California insurer says a wire service article misrepresented its efforts to detect insureds who may have filed inaccurate applications for health coverage.

Reuters, a unit of Reuters Thomson Inc., New York, ran an article today by a team that alleges that WellPoint Inc., Indianapolis (NYSE:WLP), rescinded the policies of women who filed claims for breast cancer based on what the women say was “erroneous or flimsy information.”

WellPoint representatives contend that the Reuters team incorrectly reports that the company has singled out women with breast cancer for aggressive investigation with the intent of cancelling their insurance.

“This is simply wrong,” WellPoint representatives say in a statement.