Health Net Named in Lawsuit.Five health maintenance organizations, including Woodland Hills-based Health Net Inc., have been named in a lawsuit accusing the insurers of denying patients a treatment for prostate cancer prostate cancer, cancer originating in the prostate gland. Prostate cancer is the leading malignancy in men in the United States and is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death in men. . The suit, filed in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Superior Court by Cancer Victims for Quality Healthcare, accuses the companies of unlawfully denying coverage for proton beam radiation therapy, which costs between $35,000 and $50,000. The complaint was filed under the state's unfair business practices law and seeks a court order to stop the HMOs from denying coverage of the treatment. Other insurers named in the suit are PacifiCare Health Systems PacifiCare Health Systems (former NYSE: PHS) was a Fortune 500 healthcare company based in Cypress, California. It was acquired by UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) in late 2005, which continues to market health plans under the PacifiCare name. Inc., Blue Shield of California Blue Shield of California is a not-for-profit health insurance provider headquartered in San Francisco, California. An independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, Blue Shield of California is an incorporated, wholly owned subsidiary of California Physicians' , Kaiser Health Plan Inc. and Cigna Corp. Health Net officials said it has been three years since the company last denied a patient coverage for the treatment. |
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