Women Pay The Price For Health Insurance : NPR - 0 views
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Elisa Maser on 01 Sep 09Women Pay The Price For Health Insurance by Sarah Varney April 2, 2009 Listen to the Story Morning Edition [4 min 40 sec] * Add to Playlist * Download * Transcript In Depth Search For Health Insurance Learn About COBRA Read About A Government Subsidy For COBRA A State-By-State Guide to Health Insurance text sizeAAA April 2, 2009 During the last economic bust, I got laid off and couldn't afford the monthly COBRA payments for my health insurance. I applied for an individual plan through Blue Cross. I was 28 at the time and had no health problems. I was thin and athletic. In fact, I'd done a triathlon and biked from San Francisco to Los Angeles twice. I got a letter from Blue Cross saying I was denied. They told me it was because my medical records showed I'd gone to the doctor complaining of stomach pain. The pain had long since gone away, but Blue Cross said if I wanted insurance, my doctor would need to fax a note guaranteeing I didn't have stomach cancer. He faxed the letter, and eventually I got a plan. It makes you wonder, though, if Blue Cross didn't want to insure me - a healthy 20-something - how on earth do actuaries determine who's a good risk and who's not? "It's very scientific and fact-based," says Jeff Fluke a senior underwriter with the risk management company Ingenix in Minneapolis. Fluke says actuaries first calculate average health costs over a broad population like 28-year-old women or 50-year-old men. Then the underwriter adjusts those averages based on your medical history and health status - your height and weight, and whether you have high blood pressure, asthma or hay fever. "Maybe there's a heart condition," Fluke says. "How long ago was it? What were the treatments? Are you on treatment now? What are the medications you're taking? Because some medications [are] expensive and some aren't." Complex Calculations These complex algorithms boil down to: Will you cost the insurance company more money than the insurer c -
Elisa Maser on 01 Sep 09Women Pay The Price For Health Insurance by Sarah Varney April 2, 2009 Listen to the Story Morning Edition [4 min 40 sec] * Add to Playlist * Download * Transcript In Depth Search For Health Insurance Learn About COBRA Read About A Government Subsidy For COBRA A State-By-State Guide to Health Insurance text sizeAAA April 2, 2009 During the last economic bust, I got laid off and couldn't afford the monthly COBRA payments for my health insurance. I applied for an individual plan through Blue Cross. I was 28 at the time and had no health problems. I was thin and athletic. In fact, I'd done a triathlon and biked from San Francisco to Los Angeles twice. I got a letter from Blue Cross saying I was denied. They told me it was because my medical records showed I'd gone to the doctor complaining of stomach pain. The pain had long since gone away, but Blue Cross said if I wanted insurance, my doctor would need to fax a note guaranteeing I didn't have stomach cancer. He faxed the letter, and eventually I got a plan. It makes you wonder, though, if Blue Cross didn't want to insure me - a healthy 20-something - how on earth do actuaries determine who's a good risk and who's not? "It's very scientific and fact-based," says Jeff Fluke a senior underwriter with the risk management company Ingenix in Minneapolis. Fluke says actuaries first calculate average health costs over a broad population like 28-year-old women or 50-year-old men. Then the underwriter adjusts those averages based on your medical history and health status - your height and weight, and whether you have high blood pressure, asthma or hay fever. "Maybe there's a heart condition," Fluke says. "How long ago was it? What were the treatments? Are you on treatment now? What are the medications you're taking? Because some medications [are] expensive and some aren't." Complex Calculations These complex algorithms boil down to: Will you cost the insurance company more money than the insurer c
