(no subject)

[theweaselking]

American health insurance in a nutshell: Your miscarriage is an "elective abortion" and so is not covered. And Blue Cross/Blue Shield's policy is apparently to deny *all* claims outright until you call a lawyer, regardless of coverage.

Comments

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

You know the industry is screwed up when John Grisham novels are used to make policy.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Grisham wasn't inventing that situation.

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

Or, as someone mentioned in the comments to that article, the "DENY EVERYTHING" scene of The Incredibles.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Also based on fact.

Health insurance companies are not in the business of providing health care.

They are not in the business of sharing risk across a great number of people.

They are in the business of taking in as much money as possible, and putting out as little money as possible.

This means that they *want* to take your premium and they *want* to give you nothing. They are doing things right and "winning" at business if EVERYONE gives them money for insurance and NOBODY gets a claim, however valid, paid.

[lafinjack.livejournal.com]

I didn't mean to imply real insurance companies weren't scoundrels. :)

[jagash.livejournal.com]

That only functions to a point. Insurance companies are like diseases; the successful ones allow their host (customers) to survive to support them. The unsuccessful ones die out when they kill their hosts. They want to take your premium, and only pay out the minimum for you to stay alive and capable of paying your premium and producing others who can join in future generations.

[torrain.livejournal.com]

I suspect that the successful ones have enough other customers that it doesn't really matter to them if you die when you will cost more than your premium will bring in.

Especially not if you've already bred.

[torrain.livejournal.com]

It's the distinction between a disease not resulting in the death of cells (individual insurance holders), and a disease not resulting in the death of the host (or losing customers to the point where there is no longer a base sufficient to sustain the company).

(And on a further note? Invisible hand my ass.)

[mcfnord.livejournal.com]

i go to a competitor company, LifeWise, which is new in my state... the state tracks complaints about providers, and LifeWise had more complaints than Blue Cross. i do appreciate the consumerist guerilla tactics. i've launched "fax attacks" but only against the gas company. against an insurance company, i bet the best tactic is toxic press coverage.