Consumer Shift to Individual Health Care Coverage Gives Insurers Free Rein

Americans could find themselves in more medical debt as employer-sponsored health coverage declines and some elected officials push for more consumer-driven health care plans.

According to a report by Families USA, insurance companies in most states are free to deny health coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and refuse to pay for services needed to treat common ailments. The report also found that insurance companies are allowed to tack on huge premium surcharges for people with family histories of health problems, yank coverage and deny payment when consumers face hefty medical bills.

“Moving people from employer-sponsored group coverage to individual insurance, especially in a more deregulated context, would make a bad situation worse for health care consumers,” Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA said in a press release. “It would mean that more and more consumers would fall prey to abusive practices of too many insurance companies.”