When enrollment began for the Covered California plans, Blue Shield published a list of doctors and hospitals who were supposedly participating in the new plan. Many of these doctors never signed a contract to be part of the plan and Blue Shield published their names anyway, in effect lying to consumers.
Oh, Doc X is on this plan! I will sign up then. Woops. after I pay my premium I discover Doc X never was nor intended to be a preferred provider in that plan.
“Many of these doctors never signed a contract to be part of the plan and Blue Shield published their names anyway, in effect lying to consumers.”
I doubt that that is true. That would involve fraud and the majority of policy buyers, even those that had never had to use the plan could sue in small clams court for a refund.
More likely, they just made bad assumptions because the rules kept changing.