On Recission

Daily Kos: A Walking Pre-Existing Condition

The irony of diagnosed celiac disease as a pre-existing condition is that once you know you have it, it is such a cheap condition to treat. You stop eating gluten -- which is to say, you stop eating wheat, barley, and rye. That's it. Just...stop. If you have good health care, you see a nutritionist a few times to learn the diet.

So when Brianna Rice's insurance company (in case you missed the name, it was the rat-bastards at American Community Mutual Insurance, which the state of Illinois has apparently investigated 12 times since 2007 for rescission) canceled her coverage, it was basically about the $20,000 in expenses leading to her diagnosis. They weren't even trying to get out of something like $5,000 per month for the foreseeable future to get her through chemotherapy. Not that that would be any more acceptable, but that's how short-sighted the profit motive is with these companies, and is allowed to be under our system. They dumped someone whose problems should be over as far as the insurance company is concerned. And in doing so, they basically declared open season on anyone with this autoimmune condition affecting nearly 1% of the population -- and growing. We didn't need another sign of how broken the system is, but we've got it.

Celiac disease is NOT uncommon and is VERY easily treated with nearly no medical intervention required post-diagnosis if you follow proper diet. A great excuse to cut someone off from insurance though.

Health insurance companies are scum.