Health Insurance Horror Stories

baselinescenario.com:

The This American Life crew, once again proving that they can cover any topic they want better than anyone else in the media,* has a segment in this weekend's episode on rescission of health insurance policies insurers established practice of looking for ways to invalidate policies once it turns out that the insured actually needs significant medical care. (The segment is around the 30-minute mark; audio should be available on that page sometime on Monday.) The story describes a couple of particularly egregious cases, such as a woman who was denied breast cancer surgery because she had been treated for acne in the past, and a person whose policy was rescinded because his insurance agent had incorrectly entered his weight on the application form.

Read the whole story: baselinescenario.com

Comments

[Moondog210]

All of us have insurance think that this can't happen to us. As long as our healthcare system is at the mercy of the private for profit health insurance companies, any one of us can be denied a claimed at any time for any reason they deem fit. It does not matter how healthy you have been in the past, or how long you have been paying premiums. Private health insurance companies are in business to make money. They put their business interests and those of their investors first before the health of their policy holders. They continue to operate in this country with impunity and with no accountability. They gouge American businesses and patients for premiums then deny coverage when it is most desperately needed. Just think of this scenario. A health insurance company has a bad quarter. They normally do several things to show a healthy bottom line to investors. They raise premiums and they deny more claims. Can the businesses and patients stay at the mercy of this unsustainable system? It has already bankrupted the largest auto manufacturer in the world, and threatens to bankrupt the rest of the this country.. I think what the opposition is afraid of is that if the american people form their own health insurance plan, it will start acting like a private insurer. So it's ok for private insurers to behave in this manner? We need to scrap the entire system and start fresh with a single payer plan.

[Common Sense 101]

Just because someone is a different race doesn't mean you cant criticize him. Or is this the "new" affirmative action?

[Common Sense 101]

Some people here think it's wrong to criticize a man just because he's black. Interesting

[IhaveaDREAMwhitegirl]

Why is Congress afraid to stand up to corporate interests? The insurance industry has a chokehold on our lives and apparently our Congress.

Obama is disappointing for wanting to fast-track something so serious to the American people and their lives. We the People need and want universal healthcare.

[rudolph]

Insurance companies are in the health business for profit, not to provide health care. They will always be in the business for profit, never to provide care. They are the last people on earth to be trusted with your health.

[CAHertzfe]

All the same talking points that the Republicans are spewing are from the Lewin Group. They are a health care policy research and management consulting firm. They are owned by the Ingenix, which is owned by United Healthcare Group. The United Healthcare Group is one of the largest health care Insurance companies buying up as many health care related businesses in America. United Healthcare group is the company agreed to pay $3.5 Million for defrauding Medicare and Medicaid. Health care fraud costs Americans between $30 billion and $180 billion annually.

When some is against what the people know is the right thing along with the rest of civilized world, ask yourself, where is the information originating?

Would it be true to say that the Republicans in the Senate and Congress are against America and the American People? Would it be true to say that these people are only self-serving for their own profit and political power? Can we? Will we allow it to continue?

BTW, United Healthcare Group is the same insurance company bragging 155% profit this past quarter while raising their premiums 3% this year. Are we going to allow this to continue?

[Palemoon]

I got a bill in the mail today, it's from a doctor's visit back on February 2, 2009. Today my Blue Cross, Blue Shield insurance company, via the hospital bill, is telling me that they are not paying for it. The full bill is being passed on to me.

Am I the only one experiencing this? Granted, the bill is for less than $300, but still. What's more, the insurance company wants to now investigate me for a fall at work I had some 20 years ago. Why? I have no clue, but I'm guessing they are going to try and blame it on me and pass even more bills I've had. And how did they find out about it? An oral surgeon I happened to mention it to when I was seeing him for a tooth problem. Seems my oral surgeon, who refused to extract the abcessed tooth I had, is now apparently telling the insurance company that my abcessed tooth was caused by a fall many years ago. Why do I say that? He was the only one of the doctors I've seen in the last 15 years, that I ever told about it. So the information had to have been provided to the insurance company by him. What's more, he was trying to say I had TMJ that was causing my jaw pain, which a second opinion from a different oral surgeon ruled out.

[SeriousBlack]

"the insurance company wants to now investigate me for a fall at work I had some 20 years ago. Why? I have no clue, but I'm guessing they are going to try and blame it on me and pass even more bills I've had."

Guess what - You'll be lucky if that's all it is. More likely, they're looking to pull recission on you, as described in the full article at baselinescenario.com. If they can find ANYthing that they can twist into ANY degree of inaccuracy or not having been disclosed by you (accidentally or otherwise), they can COMPLETELY CANCEL YOUR INSURANCE.

And then guess what - THEN you either won't be able to get any OTHER insurance, or if you can, it will be a bogus cut-rate "insurance" policy that costs you twice as much and is nothing more than a 5% discount scheme.

Greatest health care system in the world! USA! USA! USA!

[Palemoon]

Sadly I think you are right. As far as pre existing stuff, that shouldn't apply to me since I got the insurance via working for the federal government and did the whole probationary period, etc, etc. But I'm sure if they could get out of it, they will. I've already made up my mind, during this next open season in November, I'm dumping BCBS. And I'll be able to switch and get full force insurance with someone else without having to have a probationary period.

Anyways, I just get so tired of the GOP talking points that "government control" of healthcare would bring exactly what I'm experiencing, LOL. I'm already experiencing it with a privatized insurance industry. I can't do any worse than the situation I'm in now.

[Lilith33]

+ PerfectSense I'm a Fan of PerfectSense

Bunk. The USA counts babies under 500 grams and 30 cm, other countries don't because they are not viable births. In many countries, if the baby dies within the first 24 hours, it is counted as a miscarriage, not as a live birth. Infant mortality is also a function of the mother's age, the younger the mother, the higher the risk. In the USA, the average age of mothers is about 2 years younger than most other industrial countries.

Reply
- + Lilith33
Prove it
Link?

[Tkevan]

That's not the way WHO counts infant mortality. There is a precise definition of "Live Birth".

[CentralVA]

Can you direct us to a source?

[Lilith33]

Neonatal death risk: effect of prenatal care is most evident after term birth. (Digests).


Women in the United States who do not receive prenatal care prenatal care,
n the health care provided the mother and fetus before childbirth. have an increased risk of experiencing a neonatal death, especially if they deliver at or after 36 weeks' gestation, according to findings from a large population-based cohort study. (1) Lack of prenatal care is associated with a 40% increase in the risk of neonatal death overall and a doubling of the risk among women delivering at or after 36 weeks' gestation.

Link to this page
Neonatal death risk: effect of prenatal care is most evident after term birth. (Digests).

We dont care about life we care about PROFIT!

[Lilith33]

Cont.
The researchers used multivariate logistic regression analysis to determine the association between prenatal care and neonatal death. The analyses were adjusted for maternal age maternal age,
n the age of the mother at the period of conception. , education and parity; smoking and alcohol use during pregnancy; gestational age; birth weight; and prenatal high-risk conditions (maternal anemia, intrapartum fever, preterm preterm /pre·term/ (-term´) before completion of the full term; said of pregnancy or of an infant.
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[Youdontgetit]

Nice butchered cut and paste job.. That makes everything sooo clear.

[MoreDimensions]

Nice Post

[raoulhubris]

Shona Holmes is about to be buried in American health care horror stories.

[Lilith33]

Does U.S. Lack Will To Save Its Babies?
By Dolores Kong

Boston Globe




Compare the United States with any of the industrialized nations with lower rates of infant mortality and the reasons become clear why this country lags:

-- In Norway, a new mother receives full pay for 28 weeks of maternity leave, regardless of her job, and the right to take up to two years' unpaid leave without losing her position. Families also get a $1,500 social security allotment for every child up to the age of 15.

-- In Great Britain, every new mother is called on by a visiting nurse.

-- In the Netherlands, midwives or general practitioners do routine deliveries in women's homes, with 70 percent of women choosing to deliver at home.

-- In Canada, universal health insurance has resulted in greater access to prenatal care and a lower death rate for children.

-- In tiny Costa Rica, 900 health-care workers bring basic medical care to the poor with a person-to-person approach to medicine, especially prenatal care, that works. Costa Rica consistently records infant-mortality rates far lower than those for black babies in the inner cities of the United States and only slightly higher than the overall U.S. rate.

``It's because of this equality, this spread of health care services, that even low-income people get care - prenatal care, vaccinations. It's not high-tech that does it,'' said Dr. Robert Drickey, director of the Peace Corps in Costa Rica.

[Lilith33]

Cont.

In the United States, by comparison:

-- In June, President Bush vetoed a bill that would have guaranteed three months' unpaid leave to workers with new babies or family illness.

-- Congress recently approved legislation that would have established a network of home health-care workers but failed to fund it.

-- Support for universal health insurance has been more rhetorical than real - despite the fact that an estimated 12 million children and 9.5 million women of childbearing age have no health insurance.



We dont care about life......­....we care about PROFIT!


Ask China.

[WLA]

Why aren't the crazy anti-aborti0n nutters out picketing for the "right to life" of uninsured babies?

[Common Sense 101]

down that is

[Common Sense 101]

After reading posts on here I see many Democrats get off on putting people that disagree with them. Nothing ever changes.

[MoreDimensions]

No information or talking points on the health care issues I see.

[rubygreen]

It's a two way street. But the left is not half as bad as the right, as proven by the rightwingnutters that have crawled out from under their rocks because a black man is President of the United States.

[ab73]

Any negative reaction is the result of your own poor choices.

[helenwheels]

So, R.u.s.h. L!mba.u.g.­h wouId be your sh!ning exampIe of someone who accepts others opinions with toIerance? Since he's your Ieader 'n' aII.

[SeriousBlack]

No - what we get off on is presenting facts to people that place ideology above reality.

[missjulz]

This Thursday advocates for a single payer system will be marching on Washington with the group Healthcare NOW.

Please find time on Thursday to email your congressional members to support a single payer system.

[rubygreen]

Will do, but the msm should be covering it too.

[Chaimirija]

The Guardian article did not mince words...ev­eryone has to keep up the pressure to not let them win again...

[PhilipTaylor]

TRICKLE TRICKLE!

Stop the TRICKLE!

The Greed Machines are RUINING AMERICA!