If This Isn't An Arguement For "Universal Health Care" I Don't Know What Is

I picked today’s fractal--Stained Glass 2(A)--because of the blue cross. Check out the post and you’ll see why that’s relevant.
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I just heard something on the news that simply SCREAMS for comment. Blue Cross of California has sent a letter to its health care provider that, in essence, asks Doctors to “rat out” their patients with pre-existing health conditions in order to deny coverage. The company’s reason is that it “saves money and increases efficient allocation of available resources.” Mind you, this is the same insurance company that last August unilaterally decided to reduce payments to Doctors by 50%. They also reduced payments to hospitals for services provided AFTER RACKING UP RECORD PROFITS!!! This is also a company that has a department which does nothing but research ways to deny coverage to clients and structures bonuses according to the amount of coverage denied.
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Blue Cross admits they have been issueing this request to Doctors for "years" but stresses that cooperation is “purely voluntary.” However they failed to comment on the ramifications of violating Doctor-Patient Confidentiality. A tiny part of me can see why the insurance company would want the information--after all, they have the right to protect themselves against fraud. That being said, it puts the patient between the proverbial “rock and a hard place”--patients need health care but can’t get it because of some pre-existing condition. Oh, and lets not forget that once the coverage is DENIED the client doesn’t get a rebate for their insurance premiums.
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The Health Care system in the United States is stick--maybe even terminal. I haven’t seen recent figures but from 2000-2005 heath care costs rose an average of 17% annually while the across-the-board cost of living hovered between 3 and 4%. Health Care costs continue to skyrocket while insurance companies lower their payments (even while they raise premiums). Blue Cross is being investigated by the California Insurance Commission but if by some miracle they get away with this stunt other insurance companies will follow. In the end the only people who will benefit are Insurance Execs and stockholders.
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Think about it.
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UPDATE: thanks to lots of media coverage and much public outcry Blue Cross of California has decided to "suspend" its practice of sending lettters to Doctors requesting they provide information on their patients. Score one for the good guys.