Action For Better Healthcare

If you want to know why I despise every Republican senator and Democratic senators Ben Nelson, Evan Bayh, Blanche Lincoln, Max Baucus, "Independent (of morals)" Joe Lieberman and probably a bunch more whose names I am repressing, it's because they enable, support and help entrench as the bedrock of our healthcare system, insurance companies. Here's what these companies are like:

A Boulder County jury has ruled that a health insurance company must pay $37 million to a Lafayette woman whose health insurance policy was canceled after she was seriously injured in a car accident.

The insurance company had said she failed to disclose previous medical treatments, namely an emergency room visit for shortness of breath and treatment for uterine prolapse. The company refused to cover roughly $185,000 in medical bills from the accident and canceled the woman's policy.

Latham, now 39, suffered multiple compound fractures and a brain injury when a suspect fleeing police rammed into her car in October 2005 near the intersection of 23rd Avenue and Collyer Street in Longmont.

Latham spent a month at Longmont United Hospital and another month at the Mapleton Center for Rehabilitation, Levy said.

Five months before, she bought an individual health insurance policy from Time Insurance Co. for herself and her two younger children. Her older children were covered under her ex-husband's insurance through work.

Soon after she was released from the hospital, she received a letter from Time Insurance informing her the company had rescinded her policy and would not pay her expenses from the accident. The decision to cancel her policy also made it nearly impossible for her to get insurance from other companies, Levy said. She now receives Medicare benefits. (Erica Meltzer, Daily Camera [Boulder, CO])

Assurant/Time Insurance aren't the only insurance company to do things like this. WellPoint Inc., UnitedHealth Group and other big health insurers have canceled coverage of more than 20,000 people, avoiding $300 million in a five-year period. As Mrs. R. is fond of saying, "How do these people sleep at night?"

The CEO of Assurant may not be sleeping so well in the future. Ms. Latham sued his company and her lawyer asked the jury to consider how they think an insurance company should act and to award her $7 million. The jury didn't agree with her lawyer.

They awarded her $37 million.

This post appeared initially on the public health blog Effect Measure. The editors of Effect Measure are senior public health scientists and practitioners.

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7 Responses

1. michael stephens Says:
   February 1st, 2010 at 6:30 pm
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   Republicans state the key to healthcare reform is to eliminate all state insurance licensing barriers and allow any and all insura... ...

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   Republicans state the key to healthcare reform is to eliminate all state insurance licensing barriers and allow any and all insurance companies to sell anywhere in the country. If this story represents what we can expect from the purported best insurers in our country, can you imagine what we would get if we were to turn all those former sub-prime mortgage brokers loose on the American public to sell unregulated health insurance policies. This is health insurance reform???

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2. Moderate Says:
   February 2nd, 2010 at 1:41 am
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   Does the fact that she made "misrepresentations" on her application and would not have been issued a policy but for these lies mea... ...

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   Does the fact that she made “misrepresentations” on her application and would not have been issued a policy but for these lies mean anything? I feel SO sad for this woman, but if you want to come off as giving a fair account rather than a partisan hack, you should probably tell both sides. It is a tough situation….. the company ought not reward misrepresentation, but she ought not suffer to this degree for a couple fairly minor oversights.

   I do agree that it is a situation where changes in regulations would be helpful….. and they are changes which many in both parties would have supported… too bad the far left over-reached and now we have no reform at all.

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3. Mid-leftie Says:
   February 2nd, 2010 at 11:15 am
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   These types of stories are truly appalling and have become increasingly prevalent. I truly believe that the health insurance comp... ...

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   These types of stories are truly appalling and have become increasingly prevalent. I truly believe that the health insurance companies and the drug companies are the ones that are increasing the costs of healthcare to the disproportionate levels they are at today. Any healthcare reform that is pushed through Congress should not favor insurance companies and should ban these types of practices.

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4. Disenchanted Conservative Says:
   February 3rd, 2010 at 12:26 am
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   This story resonates with me. I have worked since I was 13 years old. I worked my way through college, got an MBA, have held inc... ...

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   This story resonates with me. I have worked since I was 13 years old. I worked my way through college, got an MBA, have held increasingly responsible jobs in the corporate world. A year ago, my employer (a health care provider by the way), eliminated my position. They were great about providing COBRA benefits and were very humane about the entire process. However, the reality of life without a corporate cushion to protect my family was frightening. My immediate reaction was to rush to my primary care physician and have my annual physical as soon as possible. I did just that and made certain to have my annual mammogram. The mammogram was done using the very latest in digital diagnostic equipment. Well, they found something unusual. I went in for surgery and they discovered that, although I didn’t have breast cancer, the cells were atypical. Once the biopsy was done, they gave me a clear bill of health, put me on Tamoxifen as a preventive measure, and sent me on my way. When it came time for me to apply for individual insurance, I went to Assurant Health. They asked me all kinds of questions, including a list of any prescriptions I was taking. When I mentioned Tamoxifen, all hell broke loose. They requested all of medical records and the next thing I knew, I was rejected for health insurance. It would have been much better for me if I had never had that annual physical or mammogram. Being refused health insurance devastated me because it made me realize just how vulnerable one is. It also made me realize just how useless the individual insurance industry really is. For many of us who have lived in the group insurance “safe zone” for years, it is a shock to learn that we are so undesirable when we’re forced to stand on our own. Think of your own families. Is there anyone in your family who has a health problem? What would happen to you, your family, your savings, and your future if you were to lose your job through no fault of your own, weren’t able to get individual insurance, and one of you got sick? I’m still a staunch republican and believe each person is responsible for caring for themselves as much as possible. However, I see this health care debate through an entirely different perspective these days.

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5. kester freeman Says:
   February 3rd, 2010 at 1:41 pm
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   Wow- What great comments, especially the last from a conservative republican. I don't believe most insurance executives are evil, ... ...

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   Wow- What great comments, especially the last from a conservative republican. I don’t believe most insurance executives are evil, cruel people. They are in a business model that demands constrainted risk taking and profits. These comments completely support the need for a universal saftey net with the option to but up if you want to. It is essential to control costs at the same time however, which the democratilc bill did not do well at all.

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6. Ed Howe Says:
   February 4th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
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   Washington has become so corrupt that they will not evan fix what most everyone thinks needs fixing. A little insurance reform, ca... ...

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   Washington has become so corrupt that they will not evan fix what most everyone thinks needs fixing. A little insurance reform, catastrophic coverage for all, same tax basis for all, and remove anti-trust exemption for the insurance industry. Incremental reform could solve the worst problems. Do not hold your breath. Political wedge issues trump the nation’s needs.

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7. michael stephens Says:
   February 5th, 2010 at 11:54 am
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   Our political parties refuse to go beyond political rhetoric to rally the partisan extremes to acknowledge simple, basic truths. ... ...

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   Our political parties refuse to go beyond political rhetoric to rally the partisan extremes to acknowledge simple, basic truths. If you want to eliminate insurance recision, exclusions resulting from pre-existing conditions and other abuses, you must have a mandate requiring every American to purchase health insurance. If insurance coverage is only maintained by those most likely to use the benefit, the costs become prohibitive. It is a basic principle of sharing risk over a large population. To maintain that such a mandate is unconstitutional and fight it as an infringement on personal liberties is to reject our basic responsibility to care for others than ourselves. It is this principle of solidarity that unites the citizens of all European countries in providing universal health coverage.

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