Rape As A Pre-Existing Condition?
Danielle Ivory pens a shocking piece about yet another case of an insurance company acting completely immoral.
Christina Turner feared that she might have been sexually assaulted after two men slipped her a knockout drug. She thought she was taking proper precautions when her doctor prescribed a month’s worth of anti-AIDS medicine.
Only later did she learn that she had made herself all but uninsurable. [...]
Turner, 45, who used to be a health insurance underwriter herself, said the insurance companies examined her health records. Even after she explained the assault, the insurers would not sell her a policy because the HIV medication raised too many health questions. They told her they might reconsider in three or more years if she could prove that she was still AIDS-free.
A tragic case, but add it to the massive list of rescissionary tactics the insurance companies employ to keep profits high.
So here’s the deal…when folks complain that insurance companies will be put of business by this new health care bill, point to stories like this. Because that’s what private companies are allowed to do in this day and age, and consumers have little recourse.
Well, they can elect folks who will change the system so things like this can’t happen in the future. And, like it or not, that’s what they did last Fall.
Also, just a quick note on competition from a commenter on one of Rick Ungar’s posts:
[...] insurance companies have profited from the 1945 McCarran-Ferguson Act (15 U.S.C. § 1011) which exempted the insurance industry from federal antitrust laws. It was passed after the SCOTUS ruled in United States v. South-Eastern Underwriters Association (322 U.S. 533) that insurance was covered under the interstate commerce clause of the constitution. The entire health insurance industry is dominated by a handful of insurance companies, in Alabama 89% of all health insurance is supplied a single firm, Blue Cross of Alabama while in North Dakota, it is 90%.
Again, this must end.
Period.
Here’s the question: I think a robust public option is a good idea…but isn’t ending the practice of rescission even more important?
(Photo: Deviant Art)
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Wow. The more I read about this issue, the more it seems like we desperately need to start treating health care as a human right (as it is deemed in many other parts of the world) instead of a luxury for a few lucky consumers with a full-time job. I recently posted a few videos of protesters being arrested in Chicago for staging a sit-in in Cigna’s lobby, which you might find interesting: http://tr.im/CPkS
Thanks for that link Leeann. I’ll check it out.
If you haven’t already, check out the Wyden-Bennett bill. It would be MUCH better if health care wasn’t tied to employment at all.
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=674
[...] Rape As A Pre-Existing Condition? (trueslant.com) [...]
I definitely think that it is both outrageous and unacceptable for insurance comapanies to put profits over people’s health, or well-being. This person who was raped should not have been denied health care coverage at all. I think we must stop linking health insurance coverage to employers. I believe that more competition is definitely needed in the health insurance market place.