"The Health Claim Game
It happens 500,000 times a day: an insurance company denies a health claim. Here's how to fight back when your insurer says no"
By Caroline E. Mayer, AARP magazine Nov/Dec 2009

So what happens when you get denied by the government health organization? Who are you going to appeal to then?

Additionally, I am looking at my copy of the Constitution, and I don't see any clause that grants Congress the power to guarantee the "right to not be denied a health claim", but maybe I'm just missing it.

Go Amendment X of the Constitution to learn why that is such a foolish statement.

Does kudzu9 really believe that everything worth doing must be done by the federal government?

The system is definitely rigged. Even if you DO have health insurance you can go broke trying to get well again. Why can't we have affordable health care like they do in Europe?

Insured but Not Really Protected
Tens of millions of Americans have coverage so skimpy a medical crisis could mean financial ruin

By: Sharon Kay : Source: AARP Bulletin Today : September 25, 2009

"According to a study conducted by Harvard Law and Medical Schools and Ohio University, in 2007 an American family filed for bankruptcy in the aftermath of illness every 90 seconds; three quarters of them had insurance. In fact, medical bills are responsible for nearly two-thirds of all bankruptcies in the United States, with an average out-of-pocket medical cost of $17,943 per family."

A link that might be useful:

bulletin.aarp.org/yourhealth/policy/articles/insured_
but_not_really_protected.2.html

And, yes, I know all about Amendment X. I don't want to have to worry about whether I have certain services, rights, or safeguards -- particularly health care -- depending on which State I live or work in.

Yes, the Federal Government is terrible in many ways...that's only exceeded by how incompetent many of the States are. Nonetheless, I want my country to improve as a whole, and not in some piecemeal fashion that depends on the whims of State lawmakers. As dreamgarden says above, why can't we have affordable health care like other industrialized countries? And why do we have to fight to get coverage, keep coverage, get needed medical services, and not worry about going bankrupt over it? I don't think supporting health care reform somehow makes one a traitor to the founding principles of the country.

If you're happy with how the health care system works now, that's great for you. Many people think there's room for improvement. No health care system is or will be perfect, but I've lived, worked, and received medical treatment in foreign countries, and I have members of my family who have had to be treated for serious conditions while working abroad. I also have foreign friends who are speechless at how care is arbitrarily denied in this country. I've seen firsthand that other first-world systems generally work better, and I know we can do better. Reform wouldn't mean everyone could expect to get whatever care they need whenever they wanted it, but it could mean that the routine denials that happen by the thousands every day become a thing of the past. That's all. If you don't like this point of view, that's your right; just don't try to read more into it than I intended.

Ok, I'm done. I'm not going to take the bait anymore...

They are absolute crooks! By blocking healthcare reform, we are supporting these crooks. Healthcare should not be profit making. They can do whatever they want and we either pay these ridiculous premimums or have nothing.

There are millions of government run programs and services we take for granted. Medicare, social security, medicaid, roads, bridges, museums, libraries, hospitals, VA, on and on. Why should we continue to line these insurance CEO's pockets with our money? We don't get what we pay for because no one is doing anything about it. It's time for the American citizen to demand decent, affordable healthcare that does not profit these crooks.

The CEO of United Healthcare received a 5 million dollar bonus last year. Why? That is your money. Unless you work in healthcare, you don't realize what profit making goes on by denying claims for patients. No one talks about this. When the auto companies used private jets everyone was outraged. Why is no one outraged over the money these insurance companies steal from us and the lousy care they dole out.

I work in healthcare and see the struggle and misery these companies cause people and get away with it. No one regulates them. They answer to no one. It is time we change that.

I think the answer to that is, I've seldom met anyone who likes the way healthcare works once they've experienced claim denial. But many people have not made (yet) large claims against their policies and thus, have no idea how thin their insurance protection might actually be. I know very few people who could tell me the cancer limitations on their healthcare insurance, for example - even though that is a critical issue to know in advance.

Do I think health insurers are crooks? No, I actually don't. But they ARE for-profit, publicly traded stock companies. Their mandate is to make profit. The trouble is that mandate is diametrically opposed to PROVIDING top-quality catastrophic coverage.

If more people were willing to speak up to their congressional reps (you can email your rep very easily) in support of a public option plan, we might finally get one that has enough 'teeth' to at least even the odds a little in favor of the consumer, rather than all the odds (politically) favoring the insurers.

If you will recall - insurers fought against the Medicare drug plan, saying the same kinds of inflammatory things they (and many others) are saying now. But now that the dust has settled, we see that in fact, insurers were able to shade the legislation to favor them. Medicare pays them more than if Medicare itself ran the drug program. And the dreaded 'donut' hole hurts only consumers, not insurers.

Jane