WellPoint barred from enrolling new patients in Medicare

Health insurer WellPoint Inc. has been barred from adding customers to Medicare plans after it denied prescription drugs to the elderly, endangering their lives, the government announced. The sanctions, outlined in a letter to WellPoint from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, followed a "sharp" increase in consumer complaints. Elderly customers were stopped from receiving essential prescription drugs, and some were overcharged because of computer mistakes, the government said.