You're Denied!
By Steve Blackledge
Legislative Director
CalPIRG
It's like the bad David Spade commercial where he repeatedly yells "no, no, no" into the phone to his customers. In this case, it's health insurance companies saying "no, no, no" to potential customers because of their health problems.
It's a good way to maximize profits. Deny coverage to people who have had health problems, insure the people who appear on paper to be healthy, and then laugh all the way to the bank.
And guess what, if you're one of the people who seemed to be healthy based on your application, watch out. As soon as you get sick and start using your health care, you might get dumped. Earlier this year the LA Times ran a story about Blue Cross dumping patients who became sick or pregnant.
We need some sanity when it comes to such health insurance problems. Thankfully, AB 8 (Nunez) -- The Sanity For An Inane and Insane Health Care System Act -- fixes some of these problems. (Okay, the bill is not really called that but it is really AB 8.)
The bill takes the decisions out of the hands of the health insurers and allows a state agency to determine what factors an insurer can use to deny coverage. Better yet, it allows everyone who is denied to get insurance through a state program.
It's not utopia, but it's dramatically better than the current "your denied" system.
August 29, 2007 at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Blog Reactions
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