The report concerns the insurer Fortis, now part of Assurant Health, which turns out to have had a systematic policy of revoking its clients’ policies when they got sick. In particular, according to the Reuters report, it targeted every single policyholder who contracted H.I.V., looking for any excuse, no matter how flimsy, for cancellation. In the case that brought all this to light, Assurant Health used an obviously misdated handwritten note by a nurse, who wrote “2001” instead of “2002,” to claim that the infection was a pre-existing condition that the client had failed to declare, and revoked his policy.
This was illegal, and the company must have known it: the South Carolina Supreme Court, after upholding a decision granting large damages to the wronged policyholder, concluded that the company had been systematically concealing its actions when withdrawing coverage, not just in this case, but across the board.
That is the unregulated free market at work. Oh dear, how could we ever consider impinging on their freedom to make the magic of the market work by imposing evil, clumsy government controls that could fetter their pursuit of the greater good for all?
Ah, but all we have to do is not "SEE" a problem here then wring our hands about how awful government intervention would be instead. A government office might ration care and decide someone shouldn't get every possible treatment they need.
Wouldn't that be awful, denying medical care to the truly sick and dying? The knights in the insurance companies on white horses would NEVER do something so bad, right?
Makes me want to puke reading stories like this. |
