Anthem Blue Cross Shuts Up And Pays Up

Are you one of the ones who has hospitals and doctors chasing you for money? Did Anthem Blue Cross or Blue Shield drop you after they approved your medical procedure? Is your credit ruined with this whole process of hospital bills not paid and no one giving you answers? Well your day may be here.

Anthem Blue Cross parent WellPoint Inc. agreed Monday to pay $11.8 million to settle claims from about 480 California hospitals that it failed to cover the bills of patients it dropped after they were treated -- a controversial practice known as rescission.

The hospitals sued after scores of their patients contended in their own lawsuits that Blue Cross had illegally dropped them.

As a condition of the deal, the hospitals agreed to stop trying to collect payments for the disputed bills from patients. Anthem Blue Cross still faces separate class-action suits from the state's physicians over bills from patients the company canceled after they treated them. It also faces a class-action suit filed on behalf of more than 6,000 patients dropped by the company since 2001.

So hold on you people who are about to get paid.

For more check out LA Times and Lisa Girion

FAMILY: TAKING CARE OF OUR YOUNG BLACK WOMEN

SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DESEASE AT A YOUNG AGE

A 17-year-old Norfolk girl said she and her friends were quick to tell one another when they lost their virginity. At 16, she was one of the last in her circle to have sex.

They've been slower to share stories about sexually transmitted diseases.She learned she had chlamydia - a pelvic infection that can cause infertility - after a test at Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Virginia last month.

The problem is worrisome in the eastern region of Virginia - which includes Hampton Roads - because STD rates tend to be higher than average here. In 2006, the eastern region had the highest rates in the state for chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis.

Get the rest of the story at STD study hits home with Hampton Roads teens

WOMEN KICKING THAT CANCER FOR GOOD!

Women who survive breast cancer are often haunted by the fear that it might come back. But new research indicates that letrozole, which is sold under the brand name Femara, was effective in cutting the recurrence risk for women of all ages, including those older than 70.
many more women than had been thought can do something to protect themselves.

Currently, women whose tumors were fueled by the hormone estrogen can take the drug tamoxifen after undergoing surgery, radiation and chemotherapy to reduce their risk of a recurrence. But tamoxifen only helps for five years. After that, it may be dangerous.

Five years ago, researchers stopped a large international study early when it showed that women who had early-stage breast cancer and who took another drug, known as an aromatase inhibitor, after tamoxifen were nearly half as likely to suffer a relapse. But many questions remained, including whether it would work for women who had been diagnosed. Check out the answer to theses questions with the rest of this story with Rob Stein, Washington Post Staff Writer