Somewhat OT: pre-existing

[Benjamin Barrett]

On Oct 28, 2012, at 4:55 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

> I may be missing the point, but isn't it the case that you're required
> to undergo a physical exam and, if anything is found to be wrong with
> you, you can simply refused health insurance to begin with, because
> you have a "pre-existing condition."
>
> In my own case, though it could be easily ascertained that I'd had
> glaucoma for at least a dozen years before I sought treatment for it,
> my current, ongoing, very-expensive treatment by an ophthalmological
> neurosurgeon is, nevertheless. beyond a fifteen-dollar copayment,
> fully covered by the Harvard University Health Service plan, even
> though I've retired.
>
> OTOH, if my coverage by them had ended at my retirement and I then had
> to get my own insurance, my glaucoma would have become a "pre-existing
> condition" that no other insurer would have been required to cover
> except, essentially, at my own expense.

As an aside, I couldn't get health insurance because of a pre-existing condition in Washington State. There was a way to join the state program, which is followed by private insurance not being able to deny you, but it is expensive.

By forming a corporation, I was able to get private insurance for myself ("all of my company's employees") without a problem. Because of the lack of media coverage on this vital area, it took me years to get health insurance.

Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA

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