Anthem Blue Cross won’t pay for hospital goofs

Anthem Blue Cross, the largest insurer in California, has announced that it will stop footing the bill for some of the most egregious medical errors, such as surgery performed on the wrong organ or patient. The announcement is following the lead of Medicare, which will stop reimbursing hospitals for eight avoidable mistakes beginning Oct. 1, 2008. Medicare expects to save about $20 million a year from the new policy.