You DIDN'T answer the question...
YOU have a health insurance policy you've been paying into for the last 15 years.
YOU were just diagnosed with cancer.
YOUR insurance company just sent you a letter denying payment for life saving treatment...
NOW, explain how the free market fixes this?
As we say in philosophy when dealing with a paradox, produce the letter.
Denial, the tool of the right.
Here is your term for the day: pre-existing condition
Pre-Existing Condition Health Insurance Horror Stories
1. Your Honor or Your Insurance? In 2009 a Florida woman was the victim of rape. She was slipped a date-rape drug while at a bar in Ft. Lauderdale and lost all recollection of the events that followed. She awakened on the side of the road with injuries which were indicative of rape and went to the hospital for treatment. As part of the normal procedure when dealing with rape the hospital staff prescribed several drugs against sexually transmitted diseases, including a months worth of HIV medications. When the woman lost her health insurance a few months later and shopped for new coverage she got the shock of her life: insurers found out about her having taken HIV meds and denied her coverage. Although she had tested negative and has since, she was told to come back in a few years, and if she was still negative they would consider covering her. Do you know what is truly ironic about this case? She was an insurance underwriter! Other victims of sexual assault have reported the same treatment, ranging from denial of coverage to denial of services such as psychological therapy after the incident. So those who are the victims of sexual assault have to ask themselves, which is more important to me? My insurance
or my honor? My ability to seek justice? Unfortunately for many, pragmatism has to win, especially for those with children who would doubly lose out.
2. This Ones Too Big, This Ones Too Little
Whats Just Right? Two children made the news for being excluded from getting health insurance coverage in 2009 for very similar reasons. One child was deemed as obese because they weighed in at the 99th percentile on the weight charts for his age
which was only four months. An infant who had only been taking breast milk was called fat buy the parents health insurance company, and denied coverage. The other child was the opposite: at the age of 2 and weighing in at 22 pounds, a little girl was denied coverage for being too skinny. Both children were screened independently by doctors and deemed as healthy despite their weight issues. Insurance companies base these decisions on actuarial weight tables which allow them to screen out up to 11% of applicants due to pre-existing weight issues. Sounds crazy, huh? You can almost understand it when its a grossly obese adult who has spent his entire life consuming junk food
but a four month old??? Really???
3. The Future Doesnt Matter. Only the Past. A 32 year old woman was denied health insurance coverage by several companies due to a history of infertility problems. Although she had been certified as medically sound and healthy and had no desire to have any more children (she had 2) in the future, the insurers said that they could only certify based on the past. A Florida woman who had health insurance went in for surgery for what her doctor suspected was ovarian cancer. A few months later the woman got a $15,000 bill in the mail for the complete amount of her surgery and hospitalization, because the insurer had deemed her as having a pre-existing condition. The woman had actually not had cancer but had a common gynecological condition known as ovarian cysts, which actually affects up to 30% of all women. The fact that an insurer can potentially disqualify up to 30% of the population is truly disgusting. Yet another woman who had beaten non-Hodgkins lymphoma eight years previously left her job and insurance when she moved. When she attempted to enroll in her new employers program they denied her, telling her she needed to wait another 2 years and be certified as cancer free for a total of 10 years before she could be covered by anyone. The woman then went without medical checkups for the next several years even though she needed them to make sure her cancer hadnt returnedbecause she was afraid if she did find out that fact before the 10 year waiting period was up shed be denied all over again, and this time permanently. She endangered her health because she felt she had to in order to get health insurance.
These are just a drop in the bucket of the horror stories of pre-existing conditions. Health insurance companies arent required to give reasons for denials or release their records about cases. They make decisions based on their own standards, not actual standards of care, and mete out treatment based on their bottom line. Thankfully the pre-existing condition is on its way out shortly. 2014 cant come too soon for millions of Americans whove gotten the short end of the stick regarding their insurance.
