It’s nice to know that you can count on your current health insurance . . . or maybe not? It looks like insurance companies are cancelling policies before major surgery so they can save money. And they are using the flimsiest of excuses such as you had a pre-existing condition . . . of acne. After dutifully paying them for all those years they get to keep your money and you get to . . . well, I guess go off in a corner and die quietly?
Over a five year period 19,776 policies were affected by rescissions saving the insurance companies $300 million. One of the insurance CEO’s said he felt ‘really bad’ but none of the companies feel bad enough to change the policy of rescission.
So what can you do about it? Contact your senators and representatives. If anyone has ideas beyond that please leave a comment here.
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What people need to do is pay close attention to the questions being asked on the insurance application. Be honest in your answers to these questions, this is how people are being rescinded. Once the policy is issued it becomes a contract, which cannot be rescinded for any reason other than misrepresenting yourself in the origional application. If they did not ask about it, they cannot rescid for it. Acne and other such conditions are generally not asked.
Check out the original article from NPR if you get a chance ( http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105680875 ). Read what happened to Robin Beaton. Representative Joe Barton of Texas even got involved to help resolve the issue. Even if you do pay close attention, that doesn’t mean you know your family health history. Omit one immaterial thing unknowingly and you can still be dropped at the last second with your life hanging in the balance.
To me, this is the equivalent of your auto insurance dropping you after an accident because you didn’t tell them you had a parking ticket 20 years ago.