Acne and Toenail Fungus Disqualifies Americans From Health Insurance

Health insurance companies have recently released guidelines disqualifying coverage to people who have conditions such as acne, toenail fungus, and pregnancy.

One big insurer refused to issue individual policies to police officers and firefighters, along with people in other hazardous occupations. (1) That's particularly upsetting for people like me who serve this country protecting people in their communities.

Infertile? Forget getting insurance! Wanting to adopt, and being an "expectant father" could likely disqualify you!

The reason for this is that insurance companies want to turn a profit from premiums without risks. In this tough economy, the underwriters of these insurance companies are getting desperate to make a profit and cut people from insurance coverage. Then, Obama turns around and offers these companies and the public a "sweet deal" with the government insurance he is proposing!

Health Net guidelines for 2006 say that people could be denied coverage or charged higher premiums if they were taking certain medications, including Zyrtec, an allergy remedy, and Lamisil, which is widely advertised as a treatment for toenail fungus. (2)

My state insurance as a law enforcement officer raised the rates of medicine, among others things. Maintenance medicine I regularly take that once cost me $30 after the insurance kicked in their share now costs me $85. Ouch!

California's six largest HMOs had rejected more than 31 million claims -- 21 percent of those they had received. (3)

The problem is, the prices for insurance are largely unregulated and not publicized. You know what you are getting and how much you are paying if you go into a restaurant and order food.But it isn't that was with insurance.

Until now, the push for price transparency hasn't played much of a role in the national debate over health care reform. However, the Senate Finance Committee version of health care overhaul would require hospitals to list their standard charges for services. The only good thing that perhaps is birthed from Obama's public insurance plan is the sudden public awareness of insurance charges and costs and the denials that are spreading like a plague. Now the insurance companies are experiencing themselves in an unfavorable limelight being forced to explain why they charge what they do, why they deny certain people and not others, and why there are such gaps in coverage in other areas.

Non-profit insurance in Maine charges the uninsured $1,326 for a colonoscopy. People with commercial insurance pay the same hospital from $800 to $950 for the same procedure, depending on their insurance company. And Medicare pays the same hospital $793. (4)

In just three years, the Medicare and Medicaid programs will account for 50 percent of all national health spending. (5) That's appalling!

And what's more shocking and sickening is this: nearly 45,000 people die in the United States each year -- one every 12 minutes -- in large part because they lack health insurance and can not get good care. (6)

Public hospital and clinics for the destitute and uninsured are scaling back and cutting services now, especially in hard hit areas like Detroit.

In closing, I leave you to reflect upon recent news that a teenager in South Carolina was denied health coverage. He was awarded $10 million dollars from the company based in South Carolina September 17,2009. The judge decided that the teenager's health and safety were blatantly disregarded by the company. Perhaps insurance companies need more lawsuits like this to bring them to higher standards of accountability!

Copyright Asher Kade 2009