Insurance Companies Define DV as a “Pre-existing Condition” in Order to Deny Coverage

[Triana]

“But, in DC and nine other states, including Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Wyoming, insurance companies have gone too far, claiming that “domestic violence victim” is also a pre-existing condition.

Words cannot describe the sheer inhumanity of this claim. It serves as yet further proof that our insurance system is broken, destroyed by the profit-mongering of the very companies who’s sole purpose should be to provide Americans with access to care when they need it most. In 1994, an informal survey conducted by the Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice of the United States Senate Judiciary Committee revealed that 8 of the 16 largest insurers in the country used domestic violence as a factor when decided whether to extend coverage and how much to charge if coverage was extended”.

SOURCE:

http://www.seiu.org/2009/09/domestic-violence-victims-have-a-pre-existing-condition.php

_ _ _ _ _

DV as a pre-existing condition? It’s actually a worldwide epidemic, but since women still generally aren’t considered human, only property, it’s never considered as such. So while they’re grossly minimizing the problem, they’re simultaneously using it as an horribly cruel and inhumane excuse to deny coverage on the basis of its existence.

This just underscores the extent to which for-profit insurance companies are psychopathic entities. Conscienceless.

:mad:

[nightrain]

1. knr. Thanks. That's so cruel... Horrifying.

[Triana]

2. And just after I posted this, I saw the Norma Rae thread...

...it absolutely DEFIES any sense of morality or logic as to WHY or HOW anyone in this country cannot see that FOR-PROFIT health care IS the problem here (ie: the insurance companies).

DUH.

Sheesh.

[nightrain]

6. I'm beginning to believe what Jane Hamsher and Cenk of TYT have been

saying this past week--the Administration is making deals with the corporations so that their huge donations go to Dems rather than Repubs in the 2010 elections. If there's a chess game going on, this might be it. Democracy is circling the drain...??

[elleng]

3. Tell seiu what you think about this.

I did.

[elocs]

4. This does cry out for some further expanation. How is this being done?

For instance, a woman goes to the hospital because her husband has broken her nose and the insurance company refuses to pay because of how it happened? They would have paid had she simply fallen and broken her nose? Would they consider being uncoordinated a pre-existing condition?

[rbrnmw]

29. as a DV survivor it is insulting but par for the course

I have been asked why I stayed been told I must have not been in that bad a situation or I would have left. just another way to say it is your fault I am so use to it As I am sure a lot of us are I had to go back to my abuser because nobody would help me and I had 4 kids to feed

[HamdenRice]

5. What's next? Dihydrogen Monoxide dependency syndrome as a pre-existing condition?

That means the need to drink water to survive.

[hobbit709]

7. They would try if they thought they would get away with it.

[ixion]

8. This is the kind of crap the needs reform

and exactly what we're not seeing proposed.

[Celebration]

9. and, you are wrong

Pre-existing condition limitations would be out the window with the Democratic proposals.

[ixion]

10. well, on paper, perhaps

but they do allow the companies to jack the rates sky-high, which doesn't really solve the problem.

[bettyellen]

13. oh yeah it's only in the legislataion- on paper! it should be wrtten where lese exaclty?

[Posteritatis]

19. Or require a 96% deductible or something, yeah (nt)

[Triana]

18. supposedly - "health insurance reform"

includes disallowing insurance companies from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. Or, so Obama has said.

But - I'll believe it when I see it. Until then, it's a plug nickel - and I'm so disgusted with what we're likely to end up with at this point that I'm WAY cynical.

THEN there's the worldwide human rights issue of DV on top of that isn't being dealt with - other than being used as an excuse for psychopathic entities to deny health care to those who need it most - like battered partners/spouses.

DISGUSTING - the whole damned thing. :puke:

[GeorgeGist]

11. I'm so relieved that President Obama will ...

make it mandatory for victims to buy health insurance; regardless of their condition.

[TicketyBoo]

12. If the woman is aware of this…

how likely is she turn to the police (or anyone else) for help?

She would have her health insurance canceled in addition to having the injury to contend with.

She would have to say, "I fell down the stairs" or "I tripped over a rug" or some other such nonsense in order to keep from losing her coverage.

Insane.

[AuntPatsy]

34. apparently this is already an issue..another reason reform needs to happen

[tosh]

14. Kick.

[Indy Lurker]

15. This dosen't make sense

Are you covered is a paroled felon breaks into your house and harms you?

Prison time would seem to indicate a "pre-existing condition"

Come to think of it does health insurance cover criminal attack?

Or do you have to sue the attacker?

[Posteritatis]

20. Awesome line of reasoning, isn't it?

They already drop people for becoming sick; this means they can drop them for becoming injured for other reasons too! Hooray!

[Bluenorthwest]

16. Obama says those companies deserve to profit thusly

That is his word of choice. They deserve it. He has not said if this practice is part of why he thinks they deserve to profit in excess.

[prolesunited]

21. You lie

[HCE SuiGeneris]

17. Hoorah for the "Best Health Care In The World!"

Can we storm the Bastille yet? If not, why not?

[the blues]

22. One word: WHAT?!

[Blue_In_AK]

23. Shannyn Moore posted a related story a while ago.

http://shannynmoore.wordpress.com/2009/08/28/the-kennedy-option-a-matter-of-life-and-death/

[grahamhgreen]

24. Scum. We must not for e people to buy insurance from private sources.

[DearAbby]

25. Abused by the spouse, to be abused by the system

one step forward, three steps back.

[Mithreal]

26. Yeah, health insurance isn't broken. nt

[WatchWhatISay]

27. This is why red flags need to go up when they start talking about

giving "the public the right to buy insurance across state lines" which is code for the first stage of the deregulation of the health care industry that they plan on completing once they have successfully defeated the public option.

Specifically, they want to move to states where regulations are lax and consumer protection is practically non-existent, so they can get away with flimsy excuses for denials such as domestic violence. We might save a few bucks on premiums in return, but that would be minimal compared to the loss in real benefits of that purchased coverage. And the various states would go on a deregulation frenzy trying to attract the insurance companies that could now sell policies nationwide.

Hell, what else is "tort reform" that they keep bringing up, but deregulation via establishment of impotent remedies for poor coverage and negligent choices designed to increase profits.

Nobody is paying attention to this. When I see one of them bringing up tort reform and "across state lines" ideas, in reply to the question "What would Republicans do to reform healthcare?", the Democrats at the table don't even know what's hit them, they don't even understand what's going on. Obama even mentioned considering some aspects of "tort reform" in his speech last week.

[intaglio]

28. No one has seen the really bad news in this

That bad news is that a DV victim will not admit that it is DV to avoid insurance costs.

[moonbatmax]

30. This one needs to go in a political ad

Have a woman being interviewed by a claims adjuster,
telling him about the abuse she's been suffering,
and then the adjuster explains that because it's
domestic abuse, her claim is being denied.

I wonder how many people will wake up a message like that?

[BlooInBloo]

31. So.... if a woman ever makes a claim, and they find out she was *ever* hit by a guy...

They can drop her coverage.

(Just another aspect that I don't think was mentioned in the thread.)

[watrwefitinfor]

32. Bingo. Someone gets it.

This explains why I was asked on a doctor's visit last year if I had ever been a victim of domestic abuse. I asked them why they wanted to know and they said it was just office policy to ask.

Now I see - it wasn't a benign question for my medical history - it was a setup by the insurance company. Good thing Medicare doesn't apply pre-existing conditions. But what about everybody else who might answer in the affirmative?

Wat

[DearAbby]

33. Children are also involved in Domestic Violence

this is the reason these companies should be regulated