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 DISCRIMINATION OR WHAT
Posted Tue May 12, 2009 12:00 pm, by Mark H. written to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas
Write a Letter to this Company
On May 4, 2009 I contacted an authorized Blue Cross Blue Shield Agent and applied for health insurance for me, my wife, and our child. We paid 3 months premium for the 3 of us with our credit card. We canceled our previous/existing health insurance policy. We received insurance documents on Saturday and after reading over the information we were confused. So I contacted my agent the following Monday, May 11, 2009 and he said my wife and child were declined, but I was accepted. I'm over 50 years old and my wife is 25 years old. Our child is under 1 year old. I consider my wife and child very healthy. Since my wife is an immigrant from a 3rd world country we thought that is why she was denied. We are still not sure, but after hours of research by our agent, he believes she was declined is because she has not seen a doctor for a few months. Our agent agreed with us that common sense would tell you that if you are not sick, you don't need a doctor. Blue Cross Blue Shield is so backwards thinking - see the doctor when nothing is wrong instead of going when you feel sick. What ever happened to the old America - we are turning socialistic. Forest Gump's mother said stupid is as stupid does and our government along with insurance companies, banks, hospitals, doctors, etc. have gone stupid and completely out of control. Hospitals, doctors, clinics and labs find someone with insurance and charge 100 times what they should charge to make up for those unfortunates that have no insurance. The system is broken. Our neighbor, a nurse at the local hospital says she has seen billing errors such as an item cost of $8.23 with the decimal place wrong by two, or $823.00. What a mess. Because of all the extreme over charging by hospitals, doctors, clinics, and labs, insurance companies have trimmed the benefits so much that insurance does not pay much at all compared to 20 years ago and it is getting worse each year. Over 50 million Americans cannot afford insurance because the premiums are higher than their house payments or rent payments. So now that we have been declined for insurance and don't have insurance all we need to do is get sick so we can die without affordable treatment and that is a solution to our problems.
Stop denying coverage on healthy people and don't require healthy people to waste money seeing a doctor just to qualify for insurance.
ALSO, DON'T ACCEPT PAYMENT FROM ANYONE FOR HEALTH INSURANCE UNTIL YOU HAVE ACCEPTED THEM. DON'T EVEN COLLECT CREDIT CARD INFORMATION. WARN THEM TO NOT CANCEL THEIR EXISTING INSURANCE UNTIL THEY RECEIVE DOCUMENTS IN THE MAIL SAYING THEY ARE ACCEPTED!!! YOU COULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEATH OF SOMEONE BEING NEGLIGENT THIS WAY. I AM GOING TO ASK THE TEXAS STATE INSURANCE COMMISSIONER IF THIS ALL MAKES SENSE AND SEEMS FAIR.
I HAVE NOT BEEN TO A DOCTOR FOR A LONG TIME AND YOU ACCEPTED ME SO WHY DID YOU REALLY DECLINE MY WIFE AND CHILD? THIS MIGHT BE DISCRIMINATION.
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by PepperElf Posted Wed May 13, 2009 @ 4:41 PM
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i remember asking you in the previous letter if they said why...
but it sounds like the agent isn't sure.
I'd recommend...
1) Get an official statement issued if possible
2) ask them if she and the baby can get covered if they have a
wellness exam.
a wellness exam is basically, you go in and they review your medical
history. that way, if you do have something that goes wrong, they'll
have reference data.
Plus, that way you can keep track of what immunizations you've had and
what you might need.
And, since she is from a foreign country the insurance agency might
want to see what inoculations she's had. Although you haven't been to
a doctor in a long time, your records reflect your medical history.
Your wife's medical history might not be clear enough, or they might
need more proof on her health status. Yes you think she's healthy,
however they may require the opinion of an actual doctor.
As for your baby, you should have that data on hand anyway because
there's specific months and years of the baby's life that certain
shots are given.
As for discrimination itself...
in my opinion, you might be jumping the gun.
yes calling them racists (or discriminators) might get attention, but
... unless you have proof other than a little bit of suspicion, it
strikes me as a bit slanderous.
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by SusanB Posted Wed May 13, 2009 @ 3:54 PM
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You APPLIED for insurance and I'm sure somewhere in the application it
stated that it was subject to review and acceptance. You should not
have cancelled your previous policy until you had received acceptance
in writing from BCBS. It was not BCBS's responsibility to warn you
not to cancel your existing insurance - - that was your decision.
You are making assumptions as to why your wife and child were denied
coverage. I'm sure that there is some way to find out why your wife
and child were not approved and I would certainly get this information
before pulling the discrimination card.
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by Donno Posted Wed May 13, 2009 @ 12:38 PM
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Your main complaint seems to be fairly straightforward - your wife and
child were rejected for insurance coverage, and why did that happen.
The material regarding ages, possible discrimination, people dying for
lack of coverage, and the situation Americans are in with insurance
and rent all seems to be extraneous.
Your agent suggested your wife was declined for lack of seeing a
doctor, not discrimination.
Didn't the insurance company *explain* why they were denied? Why not
call them and ask, instead of accusing the insurance company of
negligence and threatening to call the insurance commissioner?
I'm just not seeing the crux of the matter has been flushed out here -
why were they denied?
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by Maegan Z. Posted Wed May 13, 2009 @ 9:50 AM
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I don't know what hospital or clinic you've been going to, but the one
I work at doesn't change the price of visits and procedures based on
who has insurance and who doesn't. If your visit is $90 and you have
Blue Cross, it's going to be $90 if you are uninsured or have another
carrier.
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