Following a wave of criticism coming from doctors, as well as from politicians, such as Hillary Clinton or governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Blue Cross announced it will stop sending letters that requested private information about its clients’ health.

 
The giant insurance company used to send letters to Californian physicians, urging them to reveal details about the patients’ pre-existing health conditions. The company wanted to know if its clients had omitted to mention certain illnesses on the application form.

 
Richard Frankenstein, president of the California Medical Association advocacy group, told the Los Angeles Times:

"We're outraged that they are asking doctors to violate the sacred trust of patients to rat them out for medical information that patients would expect their doctors to handle with the utmost secrecy and confidentiality."

 
The infamous letter, which was sent to the doctors together with the patients' insurance application form, asked, as presented in Los Angeles Times.

 
"Any condition not listed on the application that is discovered to be pre-existing should be reported to Blue Cross immediately."

 
The letter then gave further explanations:

"We ask your assistance to identify medical omissions because you, being the primary care provider, will have first-hand knowledge of services provided and/or requested.”

 
The doctors were very upset by the letters, fearing that their patients will hide information from them. And sincerity is, of course, very important, in the relationship between physician and patient.

 
Blue Cross has been accused many times of cancelling insurance coverage for honest mistakes and minor inconsistencies made by patients on applications. Still, they insist that their letter has been misinterpreted by doctors.