Jack & Jill Politics

ODDS and ENDS I found about healthcare.

Congressman Phil Gingrey Laughs Off 14,000 Americans Losing Their Health Insurance Every Day (VIDEO)

Insurance Company Must Pay $10 Million For Revoking Policy Of Teen With HIV

The South Carolina Supreme Court has ordered an insurance company to pay $10 million for wrongly revoking the insurance policy of a 17-year-old college student after he tested positive for HIV. The court called the 2002 decision by the insurance company “reprehensible.”

That appears to be the most an insurance company has ever been ordered to pay in a case involving the practice known as rescission, in which insurance companies retroactively cancel coverage for policyholders based on alleged misstatements – sometimes right after diagnoses of life-threatening diseases.

The ruling emerges from a conservative Southern state with one of the most pro-business climates in the country. And it comes as progressive Democrats on Capitol Hill are pressing for health care reforms, such as a public insurance option, that reflect wariness about the private insurance industry’s motives.

Read entire article at link above.

Senator Wyden: “Status-Quo Caucus Led By Powerful Insurance Interests” Blocking Competition In Health Reform (VIDEO)

O’Reilly backs government health insurance option

Domestic Abuse and C-sections are now ‘PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS’.

Firm cancels health insurance coverage for girl, 17, after celiac disease diagnosis

When 17-year-old Brianna Rice was diagnosed with celiac disease in February, she had health insurance.

She doesn’t now.

In the months that followed her diagnosis, her insurance company, American Community Mutual Insurance, combed through her medical records and ruled that her parents lied on her application last year.

In May, American Community not only canceled her policy, but also rescinded coverage all the way back to the day it started — Nov. 1.

Her parents, Dale and Pat Rice of Deerfield, insist they were truthful on Brianna’s application and say the insurance company is trying to back out of covering their daughter because of the February diagnosis.

American Community disagrees, saying that if the Rices had given the company Brianna’s full heath history when they applied for coverage, it would never have been granted.

The Rices filed a complaint with the Illinois Department of Insurance, then fired off an e-mail to What’s Your Problem?

“We are livid,” said Dale Rice, who, along with his wife, is out of work. “When a private insurer gets legitimate claims and seeks to find excuses not to pay them, they are clearly demonstrating morally and ethically bankrupt behavior.”

The family’s situation shows just how quickly health insurance problems can lead to financial ruin. With their daughter’s unpaid medical bills exceeding $20,000 and mounting, the Rices fear losing their home. Pat Rice said she cashed in some of her retirement account to pay bills.

“The next step is really bankruptcy,” her husband said.

Their saga began in the summer of 2008 when Dale Rice lost his job as a business consultant. The family had group health insurance through his employer at the time, but decided continuing that coverage through COBRA was too expensive.

The couple consulted an insurance broker, who suggested Brianna apply for coverage with American Community. On Brianna’s application, the Rices noted no prior medical problems, and Brianna was granted coverage starting Nov. 1, with a monthly premium of about $130.

After the teen’s diagnosis in February, American Community reviewed her medical files and found reports of dizziness, elevated cholesterol levels, ongoing fatigue and a persistent cough.

On May 12, the firm sent the Rices a letter saying it was rescinding coverage.

“The coverage you applied for would not have been issued for Brianna if we had known this medical history at the time of application,” the letter said.

Dale Rice said the insurance company cherry-picked from various doctors’ visits, and that none of his daughter’s health problems were ongoing. He attributed the dizziness to dehydration, the fatigue to his daughter staying up late surfing the Web, the elevated cholesterol to an inaccurate test, and said the cough is now gone.

None of the issues were serious medical problems, and none stuck out in his mind when he filled out the application, Rice said. He sent the Problem Solver a copy of Brianna’s July 2, 2008, physical, which showed no major health concerns.

“[Insurance companies] look for anything that they could say ‘you didn’t tell us about,’ ” Rice said. “They hope that people just lay down and die and don’t fight.”