Are you happy with you health care insurance plan? How do you know? Have you tested it? Will it really be there when you need it? Nikki White (referenced by Nicholas Kristof's Op-Ed Sunday Sept 13, 2009) thought she had good coverage when she was diagnosed with a disease called system lupus erythematosus at age 21. By 27, she could no longer work, and she therefore lost her employee sponsored coverage. From their, her health deteriorated, and she died at age 32 of what should not have been lethal condition.
Unfortunately, too many people find that their health insurance disappears when they need it most. A recent article in The American Journal of Medicine shows that 57 percent of bankruptcies in the US are related to medical bills, and even more surprisingly, 78 percent of the people who went bankrupt for medical reasons had insurance at the time they first got sick. Perhaps, you are happy with your current health insurance, but if it not there when you need it, what good is it?
The solution to this problem is clear, insurance companies should not be allowed to discontinue anyone once they have provided them insurance. Also, when signing up for insurance, insurance companies should not be allowed to consider pre-existing conditions. Both of these ideas are part of the new health reform being proposed, and if they were in place when Nikki White needed care, she would likely be alive today.
