Are Changes Coming for Health Insurance Companies?January 2008
According to
Kaiser Daily Health, a group of insurance executives recently presented a proposal that is intended to increase access for people seeking to purchase
medical coverage on the individual market, including those who previously have been denied coverage by health insurance companies because of health issues.
It's a horrible truth, but those who suffer from sickness are not likely to get the insurance they need to help them with expensive and life-saving treatments. According to new data from the American Cancer Society, a patient with grade 2 cancer has a 90% survival rate at five years if the patient is insured. A patient with grade 1 cancer (a better stage to have) has an 80% survival rate if the patient is not insured.
Yes, you read that correctly. Not having medical coverage makes you less likely to survive cancer, even if you catch it early.
Under the plan proposed at Kaiser's site, strict guidelines would be enforced to make it more difficult for health insurance companies to withdraw or deny coverage to individuals with pre-existing conditions. It also would limit the cost of premiums that such people could be charged.
Facts on:
Medical Coverage with Pre-Existing Conditions
Did you know...
The uninsured are more likely to die after being diagnosed with cancer, even if they catch it early?
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But in response
health insurance companies argue, as they have always argued, that they can't afford to cover people who have pre-existing conditions, based on the high cost of health care. It's a horrible cycle: people who don't have medical coverage are more likely to get sick, and when they do, they can't get the insurance they need to save them.
Hopefully, this year's elections will bring some much needed change to our health care system. In the mean time the best way to protect your health is to make healthy lifestyle choices, and to find the most affordable medical coverage possible that offers important yearly checkups. Those yearly appointments have proven to be one of the most effective means of stopping life threatening disease before it can even start.
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