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Show Healthy and rich, only insurables If you or a loved one happens to become ill, be prepared foi the fight of a lifetime; not the illness itself, but dealing with the health insurance company. Anyone who has had to deal with a debilitating illness knows the mental and physical drain involved. It can become a daily battle just to muster enough courage to face each day. Then along comes the insurance company, and frustration builds to a breaking point. The insurance horror stories are many and varied. Unfortunately, Unfor-tunately, it seems as though anyone who has dealt with health insurance has a story. A young woman who is expecting her first child next month called the insurance company, as instructed, for a preauthoriza-tion preauthoriza-tion number. The adjuster mechanically repeated rules of the ', game to her. The number is good only for admittance to the hospital if she is actually having a baby. If she is in false labor, ; she is to call for another preauthorization number. If she enters : the hospital, she is to call the insurance company within 24 ; hours or the number is void. Should she be in labor for 23 ; hours and happen to fall asleep before that all-important call to ; the insurance company, things may get really bad. ; A man in his mid-forties discovered he had cancer. He was employed and had health insurance through his company. On the weekend that the gentleman passed away, the insurance company was arguing that the cancer was a pre-existing condition. condi-tion. It is as though they reached into a magic hat to pull out any reason to make it difficult for survivors to file a claim. A medical condition must be dated from the time it is diagnosed. If not, where will this ridiculous pre-exjsting' nonsense stop? If a person is bom, there may be some predisposition to any number of diseases. Are these people all to become uninsurable unin-surable s? And what of those who-can't get any insurance. Health in-I in-I surance companies are hell-bent on denying anyone who may actually need insurance. Literally hundreds and hundreds of ; people with illnesses cannot obtain insurance. Insurance companies com-panies claim that insurance is available, for a cost. A cost that ; is totally prohibitive is the same as no insurance available. Insurance companies are dragging in a phenomenal profit. How can they in good conscience, or in any conscience at all, ' I not put some of that money aside and use it for people who - need help with medical bills. There would still be enough money to pay executives and personnel enough money to live ; ' the good life, while those with illnesses could at least survive. It is absurd the way the insurance companies have tons and tons of verifications, signatures, deductibles, comparison of 'reasonable appropriate' charges and the myriad of other forms they devise to confuse the applicant. - - The plan to swamp applicants with too many forms, in a ;" language that is unintelligible, and printed with threats of legal ' ; - action if filled in with any mistakes, is a ploy to discourage ap- I plicants from even trying to file a claim. I No other private business in the world would expect to stay . - in business if they handled billing and customer relations the - ! way health insurance companies do. The reason insurance companies get away with this unjust treatment is that they are - taking advantage of people when they are sick and unable to ! expend the effort it takes to fight the unfairness. ' - People who are dealing with a dying loved one seldom have -the time to take on the battle of the insurance company. Often, ; " they just let things go, much to the joy of the insurance com- ; ; pany. -; Insurance companies are battling with all they have, even '. parting with some of their precious profits, to prevent any kind ' of national insurance coverage. They know what they will be ; - losing. The problem could be greatly alleviated if the bottom , " line of profit for insurance companies was not the only bottom line. Deadlines could be 'reasonable and appropriate,' forms . could be clear. Most of all, insurance should be made available to those who need it, not just the healthy and wealthy. |