Whimsi
10-22-2009, 03:11 PM
Maybe she'd be able to get coverage if they hadn't left marks. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/21/insurance-companies-rape-_n_328708.html)
Christina Turner feared that she might have been sexually assaulted after two men slipped her a knockout drug. She thought she was taking proper precautions when her doctor prescribed a month's worth of anti-AIDS medicine.
Only later did she learn that she had made herself all but uninsurable.
Turner had let the men buy her drinks at a bar in Fort Lauderdale. The next thing she knew, she said, she was lying on a roadside with cuts and bruises that indicated she had been raped. She never developed an HIV infection. But months later, when she lost her health insurance and sought new coverage, she ran into a problem.
Turner, 45, who used to be a health insurance underwriter herself, said the insurance companies examined her health records. Even after she explained the assault, the insurers would not sell her a policy because the HIV medication raised too many health questions. They told her they might reconsider in three or more years if she could prove that she was still AIDS-free.
So, being a victim of domestic violence is a pre-existing condition that can disqualify you from health insurance coverage. Being a victim of rape is also a pre-existing condition. So through no fault of your own, you can find yourself without health coverage and completely broke in the event of a catastrophic injury or illness.
Are there seriously people out there who don't see why this system needs a complete overhaul? Seriously?
Christina Turner feared that she might have been sexually assaulted after two men slipped her a knockout drug. She thought she was taking proper precautions when her doctor prescribed a month's worth of anti-AIDS medicine.
Only later did she learn that she had made herself all but uninsurable.
Turner had let the men buy her drinks at a bar in Fort Lauderdale. The next thing she knew, she said, she was lying on a roadside with cuts and bruises that indicated she had been raped. She never developed an HIV infection. But months later, when she lost her health insurance and sought new coverage, she ran into a problem.
Turner, 45, who used to be a health insurance underwriter herself, said the insurance companies examined her health records. Even after she explained the assault, the insurers would not sell her a policy because the HIV medication raised too many health questions. They told her they might reconsider in three or more years if she could prove that she was still AIDS-free.
So, being a victim of domestic violence is a pre-existing condition that can disqualify you from health insurance coverage. Being a victim of rape is also a pre-existing condition. So through no fault of your own, you can find yourself without health coverage and completely broke in the event of a catastrophic injury or illness.
Are there seriously people out there who don't see why this system needs a complete overhaul? Seriously?