'Sicko' ... must read! Blue Cross Memo for damage control

http://www.michaelmoore.com/_images/...ross_sicko.pdf

Must read!

Subject: Capital BlueCross Sicko memo
Date: Tuesday, July 3, 2007 1:42 PM

To: Michael Moore's email address
Conversation: Capital BlueCross Sicko memo

[The following memo was written by Barclay Fitzpatrick, VP of
Corporate Communications for Capital
BlueCross]

I was able to see Sicko last night in Lancaster. There were about 30
other viewers in the theatre
covering all age groups. I have attached the well-written memo from
one of our partners, which
describes cases used in the movie, to the end of my memo. Also
attached are the latest talking
points from BCBSA. I will focus on impact to our brands, issues, and
suggested strategies in this
memo.
The Movie
You would have to be dead to be unaffected by Moore's movie, he is an
effective storyteller. In
Sicko Moore presents a collage of injustices by selecting stories, no
matter how exceptional to the
norm, that present the health insurance industry as a set of
organizations and people dedicated to
denying claims in the name of profit. Denial for treatments that are
considered "experimental" is
a common story, along with denial for previous conditions, and denial
for application errors or
omissions. Individual employees from Humana and other insurers are
interviewed who claim to have
actively pursued claim denial as an institutionalized goal in the name
of profit.
While Humana and Kaiser Permanente are demonized, the BlueCross and
BlueShield brands appear,
separately and together, visually and verbally, with such frequency
that there should be no doubt
that whatever visceral reaction his movie stirs will spill over onto
the Blues brands in every
market. Here are some examples:
* Horizon BlueCross/BlueShield is picked out early in the film in a
collage of stories citing bad
treatment of members.
* BCBSA is cited for rejecting a woman for coverage due to a high BMI
- "too fat" is written
across the screen over a copy of her application denial letter, which
describes the BMI rejection.
* BlueShield of California denied coverage for a diagnostic test,
which the patient later
received overseas. Patient sues BS of CA and medical director admits
to not 'seeing' the actual
denial letter, which was given an electronic signature.
* BlueCross of California denied payment for a major surgery after
they discovered a previous
yeast infection, then dropped the person for coverage. This is
followed by an interview with a
person who claims to have been a specialist at finding inaccuracies in
applications to enable posttreatment
payment denials.
* A BCBSA card is shown while the narrator describes how they
(insurers) got wealthy.
In typical Moore fashion, Government and business leaders are behind a
conspiracy to keep the
little guy down and dominated while getting rich. Nixon Oval Office
tapes are used to show how the
initial idea of a 'less care = profit' enterprise was supported by the
administration and became
the HMO paradigm. Legislators are presented as bought stooges for the
political agendas of
insurers and big Pharma. Insurers are middlemen in the Medicare
Modernization Act - which is
presented as a trick to charge seniors more for their prescription
drugs.
Doctors are barely touched - only in the course of discussing the
AMA's work to sink early efforts
in the 40's and 50's to start universal health care. He takes efforts
to show that doctors live
well in other countries despite the existence of universal health
care. In follow-up interviews,
Moore has stated that he has spoken to and knows many doctors, and
"doctors aren't the problem".
In the second half of the movie, Moore walks us through individual
stories of the Canadian,
British, French, and Cuban health care systems where everything is
free and - he reminds us
repeatedly - no one is ever denied service because they can't pay. In
addition to health care, the
government provides free day care, college, and someone to do your
laundry. Everybody gets along
and takes care of each other and life is beautiful because there is
universal health care. As a
viewer, you are made to feel ashamed to be an American, a capitalist,
and part of a 'me' society
instead of a 'we' society - and the lack of universal health care is
held up in support of that
condemnation.
The Impact ... more at:
http://www.michaelmoore.com/_images/...ross_sicko.pdf