Slightly Good News about Health Care, at Least in California

I'm sure Dick Cheney will have something to say about this (as he does everything, because he has self-provided godlike powers and infallible judgment, Hail Caesar) but a state court in California has recently put limits on health insurers' ability to cancel policies after policy holders get sick:

Health insurers can't wait until a policyholder is sick or injured to investigate the person's medical history and then abruptly cancel the policy on the grounds that important information was left out of the original application, a state appeals court has ruled.

On Monday, the Fourth District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana called a halt to a practice that lawyers for policyholders claim is widespread. Known as "post-claims underwriting," it has led to numerous lawsuits - mostly unsuccessful so far - and state enforcement actions against insurers.

It doesn't go as far as it might, and the measure's a drop in the bucket given the systematic absuses, but still, this is good news. And yes, I did just watch Sicko.