Individual insurance can be difficult to obtain
Like many others her age, 60-year-old Mary Ann Mason fell through one of the biggest trap doors in the American health care system: She's too young for Medicare, with too much retirement income to qualify for Medicaid or similar low-income insurance programs, and with one too many health problems to buy an affordable individual plan on the open market.
Mason, of Venango County, Pa., was insured through her husband's employer for years. But when Brent Mason left his job several years ago because of a disability, she was without coverage once their COBRA benefits were dropped.
"Mary Ann was denied several times" by companies including Aetna and United Healthcare, Brent Mason said. Her psychiatric condition, bipolar disorder, had made her practically uninsurable, and the couple says they couldn't afford any of the higher-cost "guaranteed issue" policies available through Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers.
"As soon as you mention 'bipolar disorder' to an insurance company, it's an automatic no," Brent Mason said. Beyond the condition itself, he said, lithium, a medication commonly used to treat it, has been known to cause liver complications.
"When I applied for new insurance, it became apparent I was not going to be able to buy a reasonably priced policy," Mary Ann Mason said.
The Masons, like millions of other Americans, have learned that buying an individual health insurance policy on the retail market is a bit like asking out the homecoming queen: Be prepared for rejection.
Obtaining a comprehensive individual health insurance plan can be fraught with denials. Roughly a fifth of applicants for a particular policy will be turned down initially. Many more will see a final monthly premium that's higher than the originally quoted base price.
Last year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services began aggregating the cost, and rejection rates, of health insurance policies available for purchase in each state and market region. It has found rejection rates vary by state and by company.
United Insurance Health Plan - News
Obtaining a comprehensive individual health insurance plan can be fraught with denials. Roughly a fifth of applicants for a particular policy will be turned down initially. Many more will see a final monthly premium that's higher than the originally
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