A Health Insurance Company Horror Story

A HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANY HORROR STORY -- (House of Representatives - July 22, 2009)

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Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. A health insurance company horror story about Robin Beaton, a 59-year-old woman who was a registered nurse for 30 years, healthy, with health insurance. She retired to set up her own small business and got an individual policy with Blue Cross/Blue Shield. She went to the dermatologist for acne. A word was written on her chart that, interpreted incorrectly, as meaning precancerous. Here are her words, Shortly thereafter, I was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer and was told I needed a double mastectomy. The Friday before the Monday I was scheduled to have my double mastectomy, Blue Cross red-flagged my report due to the dermatologist's report. The dermatologist called Blue Cross directly to report I had only acne and pleaded not to hold up the surgery. Then Blue Cross called to inform her that they were launching a 5-year medical investigation into her medical history and that she would not be able to have the surgery. She was frantic. Then she found out that the insurance policy that she had been paying premiums on was canceled altogether. She says, The sad thing is Blue Cross took my premiums, and when I was suspected of having cancer, they searched for a reason to cancel me. This happened, and 7 months later the tumor doubled in size, went into her lymph nodes; and now her prognosis is worse.

We have an opportunity today to bring peace of mind to all Americans and pass health insurance reform.

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