They're getting caught giving bonuses to employees who can find ways to boot sick people off their rolls. Because, see, health insurance is only profitable for companies when they can sell it (and the fear of really large medical bills you can't pay) and they don't have to actually, you know, help you pay those bills.

So, in California, the law forbids insurance companies from tying any compensation for claims reviewers to their claims decisions. This leetle tidbit of legal information apparently passed over the heads of some people at Health Net Inc., who openly praised and provided bonuses to one of their underwriters for her excellent work in rescinding the insurance policies of sick people, claiming she was an underwriter, not a claims adjuster. Between 2000 and 2006, the company avoided paying $35 million in medical expenses through the work of this underwriter and her colleagues. Um, yay? The information is all coming out because one of the people whose policies they rescinded — a 51-year old hair salon owner — is suing to get her chemo for breast cancer covered after they rescinded her policy.

Like, great job health insurance companies! You wonder why people think even the government can do a better job than you, despite the fact that nearly every poll shows we regard large swaths of our government with contempt? It's because you do shit like this all the time. Everyone knows someone who's been screwed by a health insurance company, everyone has gotten dicked around at least a little by a health insurance company and, frankly, everyone is paying out the ass anyway for health insurance (except for the 47 million Americans who don't have any). So, maybe, you should take some of the $1 billion dollars you and your insurance compatriots spent on just lobbying the federal government (and God only knows what untold gobs of money on your army of lawyers) and try spending that on patient care, mmkay? I'll bet it might actually cost you less than figuring out ways to screw us all over.

Congress OKs Expanded Kids' Health Care [ABC News]
U.S. Health Care Politics [CBS News]
Health insurer tied bonuses to dropping sick policyholders [LA Times]
Lobbying Spending Database [Opensecrets.org]

So, in 1996 Congress banned the sale of sexually explicit material (defined as having "as a dominant theme the depiction or description of nudity, including sexual or excretory activities or organs, in a lascivious way") in military exchanges, which are basically the major retail outlets on military bases. The Supreme Court upheld the ban in 1998, but, to a degree, the board that determines what qualifies as Pentagon approved smut — and I'll bet there's a waiting list for that assignment — has been pretty liberal in its interpretation of the law. In effect, as long as your have some articles and some non-naked people, you're in! For instance, since Penthouse revamped its format to include more words, they're back for sale at a base near you.

This, obviously, does not sit well with this country's moral guardians, who are urging you to contact your elected Representatives to make them pass a law to ban all porn in military exchanges (or, at least get the Pentagon to enforce the law the way they want). In fact, Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) says that it's a contributing factor to the hostile work environment in the military for women — because he's all about the women's issues, y'all.

By the way, these are some of the same people who have been making sure almost since Roe v. Wade that female soldiers cannot get abortions on the government's dime, unless they can pass the health of the mother/rape/ incest hurdle. In fact, now they're also pushing to kill a provision of the defense appropriations bill that would require all military pharmacies stock the morning after pill, because it's not like sexual assault is a problem in the military or anything. Not that there's anything that women who disagreed with them could do about that or anything.

Law Bans Sexually Explicit Material From Military Stores [American Forces Press Service]
Anti-porn groups decry exchange sale policy [Navy Times]
Defense Dept. accused of ignoring law prohibiting porn sales on military installations [OneNewsNow]
Military's porn ban questioned [USA Today]