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August 11, 2009 at 08:00 PM
An insurer could charge high premiums, deny coverage, or set a restriction such as denying any respiratory disease coverage to a person with hay fever, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
HHS also claims some insurance companies respond to an expensive condition such as cancer by opening a thorough review of the patient’s health insurance application. If a company discovers that any medical condition, regardless of how minor, was not reported on the application, it could rescind coverage retroactively for the patient and possibly all members of the patient’s family, according to the report, “Coverage Denied: How the Current Health Insurance System Leaves Millions Behind.”
At least one company encouraged employees to revoke sick people’s health coverage through rescissions, the report said without naming the company
Current health care reform proposals before Congress include a plan to ban insurers from refusing coverage based on a person’s medical history or health risk, HHS notes.
