Insurers’ pre-existing conditions include being a cop, expectant father, or having acne.
Insurers’ pre-existing conditions include being a cop, expectant father, or having acne.
This week, ThinkProgress pointed out that women often face extra hurdles in obtaining health care on the individual market since some insurers refuse to cover maternity care, disqualify women who have had a Caesarean-section pregnancy, or consider domestic violence a pre-existing condition. Yesterday in a speech, First Lady Michelle Obama addressed these disparities:
Women are affected because, as we heard, in many states, insurance companies can still discriminate because of gender. And this is still shocking to me. These are the kind of facts that still wake me up at night; that women in this country have been denied coverage because of preexisting conditions like having a C-section or having had a baby. In some states, it is still legal to deny a woman coverage because she’s been the victim of domestic violence.
And a recent study showed that 25-year-old women are charged up to 45 percent more for insurance than 25-year-old men for the exact same coverage. And as the age goes up, you get to 40, that disparity increases to 48 percent — 48 percent difference for women for the exact same coverage in this country.
Consumer Watchdog has released internal industry “underwriting” guidelines showing some other “pre-existing conditions” that insurers have used to either deny people outright or charge exorbitant fees for coverage:
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I apologize for this being off topic, but did this Fox News guest simply lie? Or did he just break the law? Everyone needs to read this article on Michael Scheuer.
http://progressnotcongress.org/?p=2933
September 19th, 2009 at 4:15 pmYes, we’re getting there now. Within this decade or the next, ‘being alive’ will become a pre-existing condition, which will rule out any payment from the insuror to the provider. However, as a condition of employment, if employed, or under mandated insurance, we will be required to carry health insurance coverage. This is all an integral part of the Republican Health Insurance Reform Plan; give money to insurance companies without requiring any service in return, and do it without spending the tax dollars which must be paid to winners of very large sole source contracts.
September 19th, 2009 at 4:23 pmJust wait until having been in Iraq becomes a preexisting condition.
September 19th, 2009 at 4:27 pmPerfectly Insurable Prescription Drugs
Viagra
September 19th, 2009 at 4:29 pmCialis
I thought the republican plan was to shrink wrap pallets of $100 bills and have them airlifted to the various insurance co.s headquarters and look the other way.
Then turn around and say, don’t ask me I don’t know what happened to all the money.
September 19th, 2009 at 4:29 pmWhy would an air traffic controler be uninsurable?
September 19th, 2009 at 4:33 pmcd,
Too much stress.
September 19th, 2009 at 4:35 pmI have a pre existing condition …a conscience.
September 19th, 2009 at 4:35 pmfreeman,
It’s because you have a conscience you don’t work for the insurance industry and are not a republican.
September 19th, 2009 at 4:37 pm.
Having been born at all is a pre-existing condition.
.
September 19th, 2009 at 4:40 pm@ 6. cd says: Why would an air traffic controller be uninsurable? September 19th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Stress related stuff, similar to PTSD. The Army may be able to sluff (slough) soldiers with PTSD off on the VA, but insurance companies don’t have anywhere to turn with ATC guys. On the other hand, the federal air traffic control people are unionized federal employees, so I suspect that they don’t have the ordinary issues with their insuror that they would if they tried to go on the open market.
@ 1. kevsters Yep. OT. I’m not going to spend any time worrying about whether Michael Sheuerer is breaking any laws. He knows what will happen to him if he breaches his confidentiality agreement with Langley in a manner they consider serious.
September 19th, 2009 at 4:43 pmFace it, the only people that for-profit insurance companies want to insure are those who will never seek care.
Just keep paying those premiums and don’t access any healthcare and you’re the only demographic that for-profits care about.
Which is why for-profit and healthcare should be mutually exclusive.
PEACE
September 19th, 2009 at 4:44 pmYears ago many parts of my body were attacked by various toxins (workplace stuff). The very first thing that happened was insomnia. I couldn’t sleep at all – maybe 1 to 2 hours a week.
I had never used my insurance before (in my entire life) and went to the doctor. His expert opinion was “some people don’t need sleep” and sent me home without a perscription or anything.
Needless to say, I never went back.
September 19th, 2009 at 4:45 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
I have one to add – ever seen Hopkins 24/7?
The daughter of a cop, in this case a 13-year old girl with ovarian cancer who died after an HMO denied her claim.
September 19th, 2009 at 4:48 pmjust don’t put not being able to get your dick hard on that list. The weirdos will go all balastic…
September 19th, 2009 at 4:51 pmThis is why the health care debate will kill the gop either way it goes.
If we fix it while the gop opposes reform they will be blamed for obstruction of it.
If we fail and it continues unabated, everyone will blame the gop as more and more Americans fall between the cracks.
September 19th, 2009 at 4:52 pm14
September 19th, 2009 at 4:52 pmGOT ECOJEWELRY?
What the GOP REALLY means … says:
Just wait until having been in Iraq becomes a preexisting condition.
… then the wingnuts try to abolish the V.A. because it’s “inefficient.”
September 19th, 2009 at 4:52 pmGOP,
I think we could run a whole thread of our own personal horror stories. I know I could do 10,000 words on mine alone.
We always seem to see headlines of what happened to who and where it happened.
I think it’s much closer to home. I’m sure we all know someone in our own family or relatives or someone we work with etc… who have been denied coverage, misdiagnosed etc… all on the insurance companies behalf.
This is a very personal fight. I don’t know why trolls show up on this thread (hello aaronk) defending the insurance business.
September 19th, 2009 at 4:55 pmUpaya .
September 19th, 2009 at 4:56 pmThe stupidity of what constitutes a preexisting condition has nearly reached its peak. Someone at the insurance cos. sooner or later is going to declare voting republican a preexisting condition, and that would prompt the teabaggers to make the turn out of their self-interests. (And trust us, we have plenty of self-interests.)
September 19th, 2009 at 5:02 pmWhere is aaronk? After posting here nonstop for weeks, he suddenly dissapears when I call his bluff.
aaronk, you owe me money. Only a grifter would welch on a bet.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:03 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Air traffic controllers?!?!
September 19th, 2009 at 5:04 pmI can see now why so many people would prefer these Death Panels over the imaginary Death Panels in the Health Care Reform Bill.
Insurance Industry Death Panels are so much better thought-out and efficient – just look at the spiffy tables they come up with!!!
September 19th, 2009 at 5:05 pmfreeman,
these weekend, psylocibin-induced posts of yours are so much more fun than the boring weekday kind.
keep’em comin’, brah.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:06 pmrusted?
September 19th, 2009 at 5:08 pmFred,
Excellent job there. I nearly blew a gasket reading aaron. I don’t think he ever mentioneed what his cost would be for workers comp. insurance for 25 people – a sort of redundant charge when you would already be paying close to 250 k for their insurance.
What a loser. By the way, I’m not sure of the cost for 25 people in workers comp, but I’m relatively sure it’s north of 50k.
What a loser. Nothing like getting real value for your money.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:09 pmHow come all those bullshit pretend NW coasters think others are impressed by eastern thought. Seems like weak attempts to hijack real principle in support of wannabe principle to me…
September 19th, 2009 at 5:09 pmI suppose you wear a kiva symbol earing to show your false connection to that as well..
This comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Rich, he(aaronk) tried to tell us he was helping his employees and that they had excellent insurance coverage:
So lets see, even if this is true which I have no reason to believe. But giving him the benifit of the doubt I still don’t see this as such a great deal.
One hospital visit that costs 250,000 would still leave you holding the bag for:
20% of 245,000 = 49,000
5000 + 20% of 245,000= 54,000
Now that’s a deal, not.
And aaronk thinks this is acceptable.
Not to mention that just about anything that costs under 5000 is NOT COVERED.
Wow, I am speechless.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:13 pmi’m in the heart of the heart of the PacNW right now.
when i moved out here long ago, i was hoping to encounter lots of groovy people, but now i think otherwise.
the scenery is still very nice, though.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:14 pmYou’re right on, rich.
As long as insurance cos. don’t consider living in mother’s basement a preexisting condition, however, I’m afraid these trolls will jubilantly continue to defend the worst. Some people just haven’t been challenged much in life to give a damn about their fellow man.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:15 pmfreeman, honestly dude, I’m really glad that you are seeing things for what they are lately instead of pounding the reps and dems are the same riff but you got to stop smoking that stuff and posting.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:15 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
***
#36,
“bud”s
:0
September 19th, 2009 at 5:18 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Now we know what’s really on freemans mind, “buds.”
September 19th, 2009 at 5:19 pmThe solution to all our problems is religion! How come noone ever thought of this before?
September 19th, 2009 at 5:21 pmWhat’s 2 dimentional about asking someone to live in the real world…man.
Lots of us play music but not all of us talk in verse when interacting with the world.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:22 pmHey if Obama can admit to having inhaled ….. frequently , I should be able to express my honest opinions without the spanish inquisition’s calling out he brain police .
September 19th, 2009 at 5:22 pm***
#39,
me too once upon a time.
but i had to quit the bong
and get healthy.
*
it was worth it.
:)
September 19th, 2009 at 5:23 pmI didn’t say religion .
September 19th, 2009 at 5:23 pmEveryone have a good weekend,
my computers down at home and I’m just about to leave the office. Thanks for the insights and laughs.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:23 pm***
#42,
peer pressure, eh?
*
“who are the brain police?”
:)
September 19th, 2009 at 5:25 pmNoone ever expects the Spanish Inquisition!
September 19th, 2009 at 5:26 pmfreeman, so now the thread is about you instead of pre-existing conditions?
September 19th, 2009 at 5:26 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
freeman, do you hang around airports giving out brocures?
September 19th, 2009 at 5:31 pmLike I said the other day—just wait till the insurance companies get your genome. Then everyone will have a pre-existing condition.
This is not a problem in any other developed country in the world.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:34 pmThen why are you preaching. Sounds like religion to me.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:34 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Keith, this thread points out exactly why we need reform so desperatly.
I find it hard to believe that all of the people who protest health care reform have not run into these exact problems.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:37 pmeastern as in nonwestern…
September 19th, 2009 at 5:38 pmwhy do you hate 70 year old porn actors?
September 19th, 2009 at 5:39 pmSomeone never took western civ…
September 19th, 2009 at 5:40 pmwhich one of those is you, slap a roo ?
…now go get that ball out of the neighbors’ shrubs.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:40 pmFred,
Right. They should have a relative or friend who has run into this problem.
According to the Harvard study, you could write 45,000 horror stories a year resulting in death.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:41 pmWhy don’t we just hand our money over to insurance companies and die.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:58 pmDon’t worry – we’re already 80% of the way there…
Huck will get us the rest of the way when he takes over in 2013, right P.P.?
September 19th, 2009 at 6:01 pmFreeman,
I’m all in favour of cannabis/hallucinogenic fueled rants and proverbs, but please…focus your (by now, quite open) mind on the thread at hand.
September 19th, 2009 at 6:02 pmrepugs are alway talking about slippery slope when it come to improving living conditions for US citizens. But they never use the term when their diabolical deeds begin bad and end worse.
The only ones worth insuring are elected repugs and their inbred families. And they have pre-existing conditions.
September 19th, 2009 at 6:11 pmhangnail = pre-existing condition
September 19th, 2009 at 6:15 pmI’ll repeat a comment made by one of the many bloggers on this site. Life is a pre-existing condition as far as the Insurance Companies are concerned.
September 19th, 2009 at 6:27 pm@ 31. freeman says:
Black and white …vs
there is no way to compare god to anything.
Koran sura 140
Do you really believe anyon ewho is a republican has no conscience ?
Are you all Presbyterians ?
September 19th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Nope to your second. Use ta be a South Ron Talibabtist many many years ago, but I gave up on it.
I have no answer to your first koan, master. That is a very subtle matter which can only be answered by the application of quantuum situational ethics… Republicans? Conscience? Together in this universe?
September 19th, 2009 at 6:28 pm@ 36. freeman says: The koran is not eastern bud .
Would you prefer bible quotes? … September 19th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
@ 37. joe cantwell says: #36, “bud”s :0 September 19th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
@ 39. Rich H says: Now we know what’s really on freemans mind, “buds” September 19th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
As in Anhauser-Busch or as in a fine sensimilla? Of course the Quran is eastern, Middle Eastern, and their bud produces a fine hash. What’s mind got to do with it?
September 19th, 2009 at 6:38 pm@ 48. Fred…
Well, if your employer offers a mental health insurance plan, which some do, religion may very well be a pre-existing condition, along with the imaginary playmate, Sandy Claws and the Easter Bunet.
September 19th, 2009 at 6:42 pmSpirituality is an ongoing revelation , outside the known universe ,which is why it has always been greeted with such hostility by the small minded .
September 19th, 2009 at 6:50 pm-
Sounds vaguely reminiscent of at balck irish doctor riding a back through the outback while worshipping the sun on acid…
INSURANCE COMPANIES = DEATH PANELS
September 19th, 2009 at 8:02 pmSounds like almost everybody’s uninsurable to me. If the insurance companies don’t want to offer insurance to the majority of Americans, then we’ll do it for ourselves.
September 19th, 2009 at 8:44 pmI don’t understand how they can deny pre-existing conditions. Life is a Pre-existing condition.
September 19th, 2009 at 8:48 pmI have one other question, are they going to start denying coverage of children if they weren’t breast-fed as babies? How about if a parent has asthma, would they deny the child because they might develop the disease? If my parents smoked and gave me a cigarette allergy, then shouldn’t my allergy medicine be denied? Where will it stop?
September 19th, 2009 at 8:51 pmThis comment has been voted down. Click to read.
Hi conservative guy.
September 19th, 2009 at 9:48 pmIt was a quiet night of nachos but I do have some mahi and some king salmon if you wanna have a sit down…
conservative guy says:
FAIL
September 19th, 2009 at 10:05 pmINSURANCE COMPANIES = MASS MURDERERS
September 19th, 2009 at 10:06 pmconservative guy says:
The only thing keeping Michelle awake at night…
I thought you wingnuts liked First Ladies who didn’t mix in “men’s business.” What gives?
September 19th, 2009 at 10:18 pmConservaTROLL
Why havent you killed yourself yet? You are an ignorant pile of dogshit. Even by the standards of dogshit you are incredibly stupid. You are a burden on all mankind it is long past time for you to do the right thing
September 20th, 2009 at 11:33 amOne of the problems with this country is that the pharmaceutical companies do everything in their power to convince consumers, and doctors, they need prescription drugs when OTC drugs, often from the same company, work fine. Do you need “Clarinex” or will OTC “Claritin” work fine?
Doctors should be making decisions based on what is best for the patients. But, I can’t fault insurance providers for trying to counter some of the drug company propaganda by telling patients that they will only reimburse for drugs that have a good track record, even if they don’t have the most compelling ads.
I was watching a news story about drug coverage and the anchor was complaining about a drug which costs $85/day not being covered. She tossed out the cost as if it was unimportant, a trifle, not to be considered. Sure, at her salary, but that would eat a significant portion of most American’s daily pay, if not dwarf it altogether. Yes, it would be great for your insurance company to pay $85/day for a drug, but at some point the expense just gets out of line. Perhaps we should be looking at bringing down the cost of the drug rather than figuring out how to pay for it.
September 20th, 2009 at 12:19 pmChainedman (Freeman) has no idea of what he is even saying he is reading.
“The Buddha is trying to help Subhuti unlearn his preconceived, limited notions of the nature of reality, enlightenment, and compassion. At one notable point the Buddha teaches Subhuti that what makes a Bodhisattva so great is that the Bodhisattva does not take pride in his work to save others, nor is his compassion calculated or contrived. The Bodhisattva practices sincere compassion that comes from deep within, without any sense of ego or gain.”
Conservatives cannot figure out how one does ANYTHING for someone else.
September 20th, 2009 at 12:43 pmHey! I’m an air traffic controller! WTF?! Thank goodness the GOP hasn’t succeeded in privitizing us yet like they did when they contracted out flight service stations to lockheed martin. And let me tell you that since they took the contract, not only has service totje flying public gone down, tons of people lost their job.
September 20th, 2009 at 2:39 pmI shutter to think what would happen if they privitized FAA controllers. Losing my health insurance would be the least of my worries.
They for got to list the mental instability of being a liberal as a pre existing condition
September 20th, 2009 at 6:05 pmEugeneDebs, why should I kill myself when it’s much more fun to piss off liberals like you?
September 20th, 2009 at 8:56 pmGame of Life says:
——————————————————————————–
Why don’t we just hand our money over to insurance companies and die?
We can’t do that because we are already giving it to Berry and he still wants more
September 20th, 2009 at 8:57 pmI didn’t know Viagra and Boneva were 2 different drugs.
September 21st, 2009 at 3:43 amConservaTROLL you have delusions of adequacy. You couldnt come near angering me. You are far too stupid. The reason you should kill youself is because you are so stupid and pathetic you are nothing but a burden on decent human beings. Subhuman morons like you are a drag on humanity. You are such a disgusting putrid pile of dogshit that you sicken every human you come within nausea inducing scent range of. You are too stupid, ignorant and brainwashed to ever contribute to mankind in any meaningful way for all THOSE reasons as well as the sheer disgusting depraved evil of your souless being is why you should kill yourself.
September 21st, 2009 at 4:11 am2STUPID2Bus
You also are nothing but sheer concentrated ignorance and stupidity. A sickening soulsick piece of garbage. Joing ConservaTROLL and just kill yourself. Stop sickening every norman human you come in contact with. You embarass maggots. You sicken buzzards with your putrid presence. Do the world the only favor you will ever be capable of and just kill yourself
September 21st, 2009 at 4:13 amIn 2006, Democrats tried to end the practice. An amendment introduced by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), now a member of leadership, split the Health Education Labor & Pensions Committee 10-10. The tie meant that the measure failed. All ten no votes were Republicans. lazer epilasyon
September 24th, 2009 at 10:32 am