Uninsured in Kansas -- Thanks Doc
Sally and Dave have been married for 11 years and have two
wonderful children. Dave works the executive shift of 11-hour
days while Sally takes care of the house, kids, and everything
else that keeps the family in one piece. They have the cars paid
for and have made a very large dent in the mortgage. All is
looking great for this all American family. Health insurance has
never been a concern because Dave has always had a job with
great benefits, mainly paid by his employer.
After 10 years of hard work and following in the footsteps of
his father, Dave was quite proud of his achievements until the
day he found a note on his desk from his boss. After a brief
meeting, Dave is now offered a short severance package and sent
out the door with a form for a COBRA extension of his health
insurance benefits.
For those like Dave not familiar with a COBRA extension, now
Dave gets to pay the total amount billed for his health
insurance with no premium being paid by his former employer.
This extension of health insurance benefits will last for 18
months unless Dave and Sally can secure a cheaper health
insurance premium. With the monthly family health insurance
premium now costing close to one thousand dollars for his
family, Dave decides to look for an individual health insurance
policy.
Dave calls several health insurance agents and also checks the
internet for an online health insurance quote for his family.
Eureka, Dave is all excited because an agent has offered him a
policy that has similar benefits to his current policy for half
the cost. Dave no longer needed maternity coverage in his new
health insurance policy. Removing this benefit is another way to
create a premium savings on any health insurance policy.
An appointment is scheduled and Dave and Sally sit down with the
health insurance agent and complete the application for what
would be their new coverage. Once completed, the agent takes the
application and submits it to the insurance company just as he
has done for the other 425 insurance clients he has. Dave and
Sally were told that the information they entered into their
health insurance application all looked great. The agent told
them that he saw no reason that they would have any kind of a
problem securing this new affordable coverage.
Two weeks have gone by since the friendly health insurance agent
has taken their application away in his unstylish sub compact
car. Dave decides to call for a status report. The phone rings
three, four, five times, then the voice of the agent answers by
stating the name of his agency. Dave asks for an update. The
agent seems taken back for a bit then begins to speak between
two coughs and an eternal clearing of the throat. The agent
tells Dave that he and the two kids will be eligible for
coverage but Sally has been declined. Dave in disbelief asks
what the mistake could be. The agent stated that there was no
mistake. The insurance company had requested medical records
from Sally's doctor and found something in the records that has
prompted them to decline Sally's application. The agent tells
Dave that they could appeal the decision but this would be a
very long process and the chances of getting the decision
reversed were very slim.
How did this happen? To answer this we will have to go back
eighteen months to an appointment that seemed perfectly innocent
at the time.
The kids had been dropped off at school and now Sally was off to
her friendly family doctor that she has only had for one year.
After reading two magazines from front to back, the nurse
finally calls her name to come back to the exam room. Hello, the
doctor says in his usual, I really do not care tone. From time
to time she may actually see the doctors eyes. The rest of the
time, the friendly doctor is ready with pen in hand anxiously
awaiting the next opportunity to mark some new findings in
Sally's records to be filed. The doctor begins by asking if
Sally has been feeling well. Sally replies that she has been
having some pretty intense chest pains and she suspects it must
be from the busy schedule she leads. The doctor asked if there
is a history of heart or coronary problems in Sally's family.
She said almost her entire family has suffered from some type of
coronary problem at some time in their lives. The doctor with
pen still sizzling on the paper, calls for a bio-imaging scan.
After the scan shows minimal plaque build up in Sally's
arteries, she is relieved and forgets the visit all together.
The good doctor made elaborate notes detailing the severe chest
pain Sally experienced and the prevalence of coronary problems
in her family. He also noted some slight abnormalities in her
heart rate.
Eighteen months to the day from this seemingly routine checkup,
Sally is now refused health insurance. This is a problem that
many Americans face every day. We are taught to share every
thing with our doctors. The doctors are taught to document
everything. Health insurance underwriters are trained to look
for any reason to decline a policy before they will accept the
risk. No wonder America has so many uninsured individuals trying
to find a health insurance solution.
Article Source:
Kelly Mastin is a frequent contributor of insurance related
articles. This article is free to re-print as long as nothing is
changed, all links remained intact, the bio remains in full and
the rel="nofollow" tag is not added to any of the links.
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