Health Insurance for HIV Positive People
There are many critical issues for persons with HIV trying to obtain health insurance. Although some governing bodies can step in and force carriers to offer health insurance coverage, the image is hard to shake off. Holding onto the coverage and getting claims paid will likely require you jump many hurdles. Insurance companies are frequently involved in activities that many deem inappropriate like discriminating against HIV infected people. Below are some points you should watch out for. Underwriting is a crucial component of all insurance carriers. It is used to determine the potential risk involved in insuring an insurance applicant. The underwriter uses the information obtained to determine if the applicant meets the companies criteria for extending the applicant a formal insurance policy. The agent who writes the policy will ask you a series of health questions approved by the State Department of Insurance. California residents are protected from an insurance company from testing blood for the presence of antibodies, which has been determined as a likely cause of AIDS. Insurance companies are prohibited under law from assessing a persons risk on the basis of sexual orientation. This is a common area where insurance companies discriminate without probable cause. Many companies have been found declining single males within certain age categories who live in areas considered as gay friendly. It is common for insurance companies to exclude what are deemed pre-existing conditions. These are conditions or illnesses that the applicant had before submitting the application to the insurance company. The insurance company has to right to issue the insurance policy with these conditions excluded from the policy coverage. In case of persons infected with HIV, often the symptoms are easy to detect by the insurer being that they know what to look for and review these medical aspects on daily basis. If the insurance company suspects that a person may be HIV positive, the policy is written in such a manner to avoid claims in future if the person becomes HIV positive in the future. To limit future liabilities, insurance carriers have used the application process as a loophole for denying claims. If a policyholder tests positive for HIV, some carriers have declined medical claims on the grounds that the policy holder did not provide accurate medical history on the application. Many state courts have ruled that the insurance companies must prove that the applicant purposely withheld information or pay the claims. Hubert Miles is a blogger for many websites and the webmaster of Medical Articles and Health Articles websites. |