Can your health insurance company raise your rates after you get sick?
kenyetta asked:
I’ve heard about pre-existing conditions and all, but what about getting seriously ill AFTER you have insurance? Let’s say you’re generally healthy, and already have heath insurance which you pay for yourself, at a reasonable rate. Then you get a long term illness, or get into a terrible accident, and need years of expensive care. Of course you keep your policy up to date… Can the company raise your rates by triple (or worse) if you get sick this way?
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I’ve heard about pre-existing conditions and all, but what about getting seriously ill AFTER you have insurance? Let’s say you’re generally healthy, and already have heath insurance which you pay for yourself, at a reasonable rate. Then you get a long term illness, or get into a terrible accident, and need years of expensive care. Of course you keep your policy up to date… Can the company raise your rates by triple (or worse) if you get sick this way?
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If you get the insurance through the company – no, they can not raise your rates.
Insurance on your own – not sure.
Probably yes.
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No. Any raise would have to be normal and with the approval of the State Insurance Commissioner and must apply to all policy holders
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No, and they can’t cancel you, either. Once you’re in, you’re in. It’s not like car insurance.
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No they can’t.
What will happen to you in the scenario you just described is:
Nothing unusual, your rates will rise at the same rate as all policies of the same type as you own.
That’s it
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This is part of the health care problem; the insurance companies do whatever they think they can get away with in order to improve their profits. I think it’s illegal, but you would probably have to take them to court to fight it, and they have good lawyers. Good luck.
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No, the whole point of the insurance is in the event something like that happens, you, or whoever, will be taken care of.
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it’s possible, yes. But I think there are laws against them doing it any way they please.
Contact your state insurance department. Let them know + they will tell you what the ins. company can or cannot do.
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You can lose your claim free discount, thus raising your rates. Your rate can also increase just because of a general rate adjustment based on the groups claim history and experience.
You will not lose your insurance by cancellation by the company unless you have met your pay out limit. When you hear that someone was cancelled after they got sick, it’s because they have met their pay out limit. Check your policy. Some pay up to 1 million and some carry a limit of coverage up to 8 million. It’s a large range. Of course, the lower the limit, the cheaper the coverage. That’s the problem with worrying about rates vs coverage.
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If you’re talking about individual insurance, the answer is no. The company can’t raise premiums for one policyholder just because that person got seriously ill. What they CAN do is cancel your coverage if they are able to find some detail in your medical history, however minor, that you didn’t tell them about.
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yes, health insurance comapnies are evil,
unfortunalty they can do this.
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No, this is illegal. The only rate increases you would be subject to would be the same rate increases anyone in your underwriting class or age band are subject to. It is against the law to charge different rates after you are put on the books, however you can be subject to a rate increase or rider during underwriting that affects either your coverage, rates, or both. After the policy is issued, the company has to give you the exact same rates of anyone else in your class of insured no matter how sick you become.
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I don’t think so, it’s not like car insurance. This is the reason you get insurance inthe first place, so you are covered when youare sick. WHy auto and property insruance get away with dropping you after you have 1 claim is beyond me but health insurance are not allowed to do that!
Whoever said health insurance companies are evil is ignorant. Health insurance industry is one of the most regulated industries in this country. The gov’t literally contrals every aspect of what health insurance company can sell, make, and collect. There is a target loss ratio that if insurance comp makes aboe that they have to give back their profit. You have to let them make at least 1-5 % profit for god sake, they are businesses that need to pay the bills and employees!
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99% of the time the answer is no they can’t. Your medical bills are shared by everybody. That’s why when people abuse the system it drives the cost of care up for everyone. So, the next time that you’re in the emergency room bleeding and you see someone with a ‘bad cough’ then be angry at them. Emergency rooms are for emergencies and people that use them needlessly are abusing the system.
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Hope this help,