Healthy? Insurers don't buy it

[antigop]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-reject31dec31,0,4111486.story?coll=la-home-headlines

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Scott Svonkin joined the Los Angeles County Commission on Insurance 10 years ago because he was concerned about an emerging problem: people losing health coverage. Since then, the ranks of uninsured Americans have swelled to more than 46 million.

Svonkin almost became one of them.

It happened after he left a comfortable government job as a legislative chief of staff to start his own marketing and public affairs consulting business. Late last year he started shopping around for health insurance for himself, his expectant wife and his young daughter.
>>

At the end of the article, a list of conditions that can lead to outright denial of coverage or increased premiums is given:

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AIDS, allergies, arthritis, asthma, attention deficit disorder, autism, bed-wetting, breast implants, cancer, cerebral palsy, chronic bronchitis, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic sinusitis, cirrhosis, cystitis, diabetes, ear infections, epilepsy, gender reassignment, heart disease and hemochromatosis (a common genetic disorder that causes the body to absorb too much iron).

Other conditions are hepatitis, herpes, high blood pressure, impotence, infertility, irritable bowel syndrome, joint sprain, kidney infections, lupus, mild depression, muscular dystrophy, migraines, miscarriage, pregnancy, "expectant fatherhood," planned adoption, psoriasis, recurrent tonsillitis, renal failure, ringworm, severe mental disorders, sleep apnea, stroke, ulcers and varicose veins.
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[aquart]

1. Well, I'm out.

[pitohui]

2. this is way more than california

i could not get insurance for the same reason even though i'm a thin non-smoker, if you're a woman over 40 you're getting older and they're afraid you'll get a hysterectomy on their dime, if you're a woman under 40, then you might get pregnant

insurers really would rather not cover private individuals at all unless they are very, very wealthy and can pay excessively high premiums

i would not tell ANYONE to be self-employed today, "consultant" may sound cool on your resume, but you will be destroyed financially the first time you are in an accident or get a serious illness


no one should voluntarily leave a job with health benefits unless it's for another job with health benefits, you will have lasting regrets as you are not going to be the next bill gates, that is just playing the lottery with your family's finances and your own health

the american dream of upward mobility through innovation is dead, i tell everyone based on my own bitter experience that you must NEVER give up that good job w. health benefits, no matter how intolerable they try to make it to encourage you to "quit" once you're over 40

[antigop]

4. I've tried to tell people the same thing

You said:

>>
no one should voluntarily leave a job with health benefits unless it's for another job with health benefits, you will have lasting regrets as you are not going to be the next bill gates, that is just playing the lottery with your family's finances and your own health
>>

Unfortunately, too many people don't understand the problem until it's too late. They all *think* that they will be able to get coverage and keep it.

Just look at the guy in the article -- he really felt it wouldn't be a problem.

People who have had access to a good group policy at affordable rates really do not understand what it's like once you are outside of that group policy. People don't understand how limited (or non-existent) your options really are.

pitohui, I hope the new year brings us closer to universal healthcare. I think it is barbaric that we treat our citizens this way.

[Coyote_Bandit]

9. Having

personally collected well over a thousand rejection letters I must say that being self-employed is not a matter of choice for many who find themselves in that position. I have become a "consultant" out of necessity. There is nothing "cool" about it.

I do have my own individual health coverage. Premium is high. The deductible is even higher - and there is a significant co-pay after reaching the deductible. I personally have not seen a doctor in nearly ten years - when I did it was because I experienced sudden hearing loss and completely lost hearing in one ear overnight (largely since recovered thankfully). The coverage I have is clearly intended to be catastrophic coverage. If I do go to see a doctor for any reason it will be because I think there is something very seriously wrong with me. Routine and preventative care is simply out of the question. That is not simply because of the expense involved. It is also because such care may well lead to documentation that disqualifies me from even the catastrophic coverage I now have.

[antigop]

11. coyote, I am sorry we live in a country where people are subjected

to this kind of treatment.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. I'm in the same boat

When I go to the doctor or dentist, I pay out of pocket and don't even tell them I have insurance coverage. Really expensive insurance coverage with a high deductible. But I'm afraid it would go even higher if I ever used it. :-(

[NMDemDist2]

3. K&N for being such a crock

heaven forbid you sneeze while mowing the lawn, no insurance for you, you slacker

[Turbineguy]

5. Well, we have insurers

who don't want to pay benefits

and subscribers who think they are spending other people's money.

[NC_Nurse]

6. Well, that excludes anyone over 40 for sure...

Who doesn't have a little arthritis, or allergies or some minor issue by then?

Which is why so many people lie about having problems - they're afraid to be blacklisted for coverage.

What an effin' crock!!!

[China_cat]

7. What????? Being alive isn't on that list?

I'm shocked.

[abluelady]

8. It is So Outrageous

The "pre-existing" conditions list grows and grows. It is amazing to me how apathetic Americans are over this problem. More and more people are affected every day and yet nothing is being done to help us.

Is there anything, other than sex, that gets Americans up in arms??????

[antigop]

10. abluelady, I talk about healthcare all the time to people

From conversations that I have with folks, they don't "get it", until it happens to them. Just look at the guy in the article -- he didn't think he would have a problem.

Many people who are covered by group polices have NO idea what it is like to have to live outside of group coverage at affordable rates. They are under this mistaken idea that "surely, there is a solution out there." When you tell them, "No, there isn't", it's like they stick their fingers in their ears and say "La,la, la, -- can't hear you."

Does the problem have to get a lot worse before it gets better? From my experience, I have encountered a lot of people with decent healthcare coverage who
a) don't realize the problem because they are lucky enough to have had group coverage at affordable rates
b) have no empathy for those who are caught in this nightmare

But let's not forget -- California came very, very close to getting single-payer, universal healthcare.

[Joe Bacon]

13. Yes and Arnold STOPPED it!

Arnold stopped Single Payer, which is what he was paid to do, just like he got ENRON off the hook

I wonder how Arnold would feel with his broken leg if he WASN'T Governor?

Thanks to that circle jerk, we have to wait until 2010 for another shot at single payer, what even makes me angrier is that Angelides ALSO opposes Single Payer!

[abluelady]

15. You Hit the Nail On the Head

People don't care until they are affected. What a sad state of affairs that is.

[Crunchy Frog]

14. Uninsurable due to jock itch?!?

Consumer advocates say out-of-date, ambiguous and even erroneous medical information can render people uninsurable. Sometimes the reasons can seem absurd. In a letter to an otherwise healthy recent college graduate, for instance, Blue Cross listed among the reasons it denied coverage a past bout of jock itch, "successfully treated with cream."

[sarcasmo]

16. "1 in 5 people turned away" The Insurance companies are just Greedy nothing else.

It's not about helping people it's all about money.

[alarimer]

17. Guess I am uninsurable then

who doesn't have at least one of those things on the list?