Submission + - Acne can Make you Uninsurable
The Washington Post reports that health insurers have issued guidelines that deny coverage to people suffering from such conditions as acne, hemorrhoids and bunions. Documents obtained from a California insurance broker show that other uninsurable conditions included pregnancy, and being an "expectant father" was grounds for "automatic rejection." There was also this more general disqualifier: "currently experiencing/experienced within the last 12 months symptoms for which a physician has not been consulted." As Congress works on legislation to overhaul the nation's health-care system, one of their main objectives is to stop insurers from denying coverage on the basis of health status. Proposed legislation would prohibit insurers from denying coverage to individuals with preexisting conditions or charging them higher premiums because of their medical history — practices known as medical underwriting. The internal insurance company documents reveal that insurers deny applicants based on occupation, age, weight, use of a wide range of common prescription drugs, minor health conditions or mere "symptoms" that have not been reported to a physician. "What these documents show is the lengths to which insurance companies are willing to go to make a profit," said Jerry Flanagan, health-care policy director of Consumer Watchdog, a nonpartisan consumer advocacy organization. "What it shows is that insurance companies want premiums without any risk.""