Democrats to urge WellPoint to end rescissions

U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Sander Levin (D-MI) speaks during the Reuters Financial Regulation Summit in Washington, April 26, 2010.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic lawmakers are preparing to question WellPoint Inc (WLP.N) over reports that it dropped health insurance coverage for some women after they developed breast cancer, the head of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee said on Monday.

The committee's chairman, Representative Sander Levin, told Reuters he signed onto two letters expected on Tuesday asking WellPoint "not to try to escape the thrust of" recently-passed healthcare reform law that bans health insurers' policies of denying -- or rescinding -- coverage after patients get ill.

"Some of the companies are now apparently trying to rescind health coverage for people with breast cancer .... which I find disgraceful," Levin said at the Reuters Global Financial Regulation Summit in Washington.

The move follows a Reuters report last week that said WellPoint -- the largest health plan in the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association -- used computer algorithms to automatically target women with the disease.

Democrats' letters are still being finalized and will be sent to other health insurers, committee spokesman Matthew Beck said, but he did not name any companies. He added that they will also encourage insurers to halt the practice ahead of the September deadline.

Kaelan Richards, a spokeswoman for Representative Rosa DeLauro, also confirmed the letters were forthcoming.

WellPoint has said it uses software to scan for conditions patients may have had before seeking insurance coverage but that such checks do not single out breast cancer. The insurer has said the Reuters report was inaccurate, but a Reuters spokesperson has said the newswire stands by its story.

The Reuters report also sparked a stern rebuke from U.S. Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who on Friday asked WellPoint to end the practice.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Additional reporting by Kim Dixon and Karey Wutkowski; Editing by Bernard Orr)