Insurers Reject Applicants With Minor Health Concerns
Friday January 12, 2007
The L.A. Times reports that Americans with minor health concerns may be surprised to find that insurance companies consider them to be "uninsurable". I myself have been rejected by several insurers for individual coverage. One cited my history of allergic rhinitis (also known as hay fever). Another noted that I had an appendectomy performed almost 10 years before the application date. I protested that since my appendix had been removed, I could now guarantee that I would not have any more problems with it, but it was to no avail. Similarly, the article notes that applicants for individual coverage have been rejected for having a history of asthma or depression or even jock itch.
This is not to say that the situation is completely hopeless. I was eventually able to find coverage, and many people interviewed for the article were also successful. But sometimes an insurer's decision can seem rather arbitrary. It pays to be persistent, and stay open to other coverage options. For example, one of the interviewees was able to find coverage in his state's high risk pool.
Comments
It is true that individuals don’t have any protection from the law to be covered. It is also true that people give up way to much information. When you are filling out an application or doing a phone interview for health coverage. Tell them only what they need to know. If it is in your medical file OK. If it is not in your file keep your mouth shut. I see people put all kinds of differant stuff in applications that just complicates the issue. If you need to tell your story to some body, find a freind or tell your bartender, but dont write down on an insurance app. Don’t let your doctor write anything in your file either. I have had clients ask a question to there doctor and he put it in there file now it is part of there file, and we can get it out. They have been rejected.
I would suggest that you contact an experienced agent and ask him (or her) to run several prescreens with multiple carriers. There seems,to me, to be no ryme or reason for many of the declines that I see. One carrier says “no problem”, another says “no way for the same ailment.
Does anyone but me think that underwriting is just plain old fashond descrimination? Although I can understand excluding pre-existing conditions.