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Originally Posted by Guest
I would disagree on this comparison..... its the standard us against them argument from the Repubs. Any of us on Medicare are NOT subject to preexisting conditions as long as we pick a plan and stay with it!
Before Medicare many of us were covered by plans provided by an employer and those plans did not have preexisting conditions clauses.
However, in the PRIVATE insurance market preexisting conditions started out as reasonable like you couldn't buy insurance one month and get a knee replacement the next. However, preexisting conditions became a way for insurance company to improve their profit margins by refusing coverage for a whole host of conditions. They only wanted to insure the healthy.... reduce their risk exposure.
It got to the point of being ridiculous when this case hit the news
Newborn with Birth Defect Denied Coverage - CBS News
A newborn baby was denied coverage.....
Some insurance coverages have a lifetime maximum of say 1 million dollars which seems plenty except if you contract a life threatening condition which could wipe this sum out quickly. |
When my husband had his stroke after surgery (to prevent a stroke), while still working, his long term disability insurance comapny used the pre-existing excuse for denial. Reading the policy, I cannot see where ANYONE would be covered, either. It said, "If you had been seen by a doctor and had any diagnostic tests run, then you have a pre-existing condition." It did not say diagnostic tests for anything specific, just diagnostic tests. Go figure. Don't we all have diagnostic testing every time we see a doctor, even if it is just the blood work? The insurance company was UNUM and has had many lawsuits associated with their insurances. Trust me, he did not have surgery and a stroke just so he could collect one-year of LTD. That was all it would have paid because he could not return to his work, even for one day, and was terminated per company policy. If you could return for just one day, then you would not be automatically terminated.
If I could have him back the way he was before this happened to him, believe me, I would have paid THEM.