Health Insurance Changes Come Too Late For Some

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

[color=#333333]september 23, 2010

[color=#333333]the six-month anniversary of the new health law marks the official effective date of a raft of new consumer protections, including a ban on most so-called rescissions. that's the insurance industry practice of revoking an insurance policy retroactively, after a policyholder has racked up hefty medical bills.

[color=#333333]chris peterson is all too familiar with the practice. the clear lake, iowa, hog farmer not only had his health insurance policy rescinded in 2007, but several months later, his wife's policy was rescinded as well.

[color=#333333]peterson said it began when his insurance agent told him he could get a cheaper policy. he jumped at the chance. and he didn't try to withhold any information as he and his agent filled out the lengthy application.

[color=#333333]rescinding coverage

[color=#333333]"he sat right here at the table, and i said, 'let me go get my pills,'" peterson says. "and some of them were controlling your blood sugar; keeping it down. he wrote stuff right down in the application."

[color=#333333]peterson didn't think much more about it until more than a year later, when he had surgery to repair a small hernia-surgery for which he got insurance company preapproval in writing.

[color=#333333]but he began to worry when the hospital kept sending him bills. he wondered why the insurance company wasn't paying them. months later, he got his answer, in the form of a letter from his insurer, american community mutual insurance, "stating that they were rescinding my insurance, and that oh, by the way, all these bills are now yours."

[color=#333333]the company said peterson had failed to disclose his blood sugar problem....

[color=#333333]http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyid=130040790

[wondern, ASN]

Thanks for the interesting linky, herring _RN. I'm very happy hubby and mine's way overdue physicals this year will be paid for whether I meet my gazillion dollar deductible or not! :heartbeat:yeah: