For some reason I just can't stop blogging about the Empire State, even though I'm on the other coast.  I should be grateful to Attorney General Cuomo and Governor Spitzer for giving me so many reasons to write about the state that ranks dead last in the U.S. Index of Health Ownership!

Anyway, here he goes again: the NY attorney general has released a second arrow from his quiver to stop health plans from doing what they aren't even doing yet -- ranking providers on quality, which he thinks they'll abuse to steer patients to lower-cost providers.  (But so what? It's not like your health insurer's potential future provider quality rankings will be your only source of information.  Others already exist.) I've already written about the absurdity of his August attack on Cigna, Aetna, and UnitedHealthCare.

Now he's going after Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, Preferred Care, and HIP/GHI.  Maybe the crusade has not been advancing as well as originally planned: the August 16 press release "warned" the carriers that they might be displeasing the "Cuomortician", but yesterday's was only "requesting information."

Nevertheless, the letters project an arrogant presumption of guilt, demanding that the plans divert precious resources to churning out paperwork for Mr. Cuomo's bureaucrats to wade through on a ridiculous fishing expedition, asking health insurers to prove that they are not breaking laws that he has not even charged them with breaking! (How could he, anyway? The quality improvement programs don't exist yet.)

And people wonder why the administrative costs of health insurance are so high.....?