Pre-existing Condition Insurance You Can Afford

Millions of Americans are buying "pre existing condition insurance" that don't deliver on their promises. Roberta Reynolds considered herself a fairly savvy health care consumer. A diabetic since the age of five, the 43-year-old Tampa, Florida resident knew that if she went without health insurance coverage for even a short stint, insurers would label her diabetes a preexisting condition and deny coverage for a year.

When she lost her job as an employment counselor last January, Reynolds hopped online and signed up for a plan offered by the Benefits Association. Its Web site said she would get "insured benefits" from doctors, hospitals, and other providers for $169 a month.

The health benefits sounded good, but her plan knocked just 50 cents off her $75 bottle of insulin. Then, in April, when she landed a job that provided health insurance coverage, the health insurer denied coverage for illness related to her diabetes for a year. Why? Because, it told her, Benefits Association sells discounts from medical-care providers, not insurance. "I can't believe I was such a sucker," says Reynolds.

Lawsuits have been Filed in Florida and Texas accusing the discount health Pre Existing Conditions Benefits Association of misleading consumers into thinking its discount plans are health insurance.

A rising tide of complaints arose across the US about fraud by medical companies has prompted action by dozens of other states. 20 states require companies that offer pre existing condition insurance to state that discount plans aren't health insurance coverage.

FLY-BY-NIGHT HUSTLERS

Poll results by the Florida Policy Project show as many as 17% of the U.S.'s 40 million temporary and part-time workers -- 7 million people -- say they have health insurance when they actually only have pre existing condition insurance.

Visit health insurance for pre existing conditions for more information.

Ranks of the uninsured Explodes beyond the previously reported figure of 46 million reported by the Census Bureau. The pollsters first asked a sample of nonstandard workers if they had health insurance coverage. It turned out that many had these faulty existing condition plans.

Valid savings are Offered by many insurance companies on services such as doctors' visits and prescription medicines, but because they typically aren't selling health insurance coverage, they're usually not regulated by state insurance commissioners, creating an opening for faulty coverage

Some patients get Hit by outright fraud. That happened to Tina when the 32-year-old resident of Houston, Texas, got pregnant. She paid $289 for what she was told was health insurance to a Dallas company that has since disconnected its phone.

Her doctor would Not accept the plan she had. John Morrison, assistant state auditor for Texas, which cracked down on discount plans last year exclaimed: "There are a lot of illegal plans advertising in misleading ways."

PRICE RELIEF

Many guaranteed health policy holders buy their from more legitimate players, which can provide a much-needed service. In the past decade or so, soaring medical care inflation has prompted the insured and uninsured alike to seek price relief.

Guaranteed pre existing condition health insurance companies can negotiate group discounts of 10% to 30% for individuals, who often can't get the lower prices traditional health insurers squeeze out of health providers. Some medical providers sign on to get new patients.

A big Number of Americans have snapped up as many as 20 million pre existing condition insurance, estimates Vince Wagner, CEO of San Antonio-based Southwest Discount Health Corp.(SDH). SDH alone has 4.5 million members , Wagner says.

The Only in-depth Examination of the industry thus far turned up a raft of similar problems. Last year researchers at University of Texas at Austin Health Policy Institute purchased 5 pre existing condition insurance available in the Austin area. They called 44 medical providers listed as members of the pre existing condition insurance' networks.

The result: Only 16 honored the plan, and only 9 would give an estimated discount prior to performing the service. Only 1 discount health plan listed providers that all offered discounts.

Discounts varied from 4% to 36%, much less than the 80% promised by two pre existing condition insurance. In some cases providers told the University of Texas researchers they offered similar or even greater discounts to uninsured consumers without pre existing condition guaranteed issue insurance.

State governments cracking down on the bad apples, could end up helping the uninsured. Ohio Deputy Insurance Commissioner, Rich Tuborg, is leading the charge to convince his state and others to begin regulations that all states could adopt, which would be a first step in addressing a growing national problem.