04-24-2021, 02:54 AM
Sarcany wrote:
[quote=Robert M]
If an insurance provider in a different part of the country offers a package that is well-rounded and affordable, it’s not an option for me. Why? I live in NY and they are elsewhere and, for whatever reasons, can’t offer insurance to me. Doesn’t make sense in my mind.
I had insurance from a company incorporated in another state, but selling policies in my state. Then I needed to use my insurance for a hospital stay and surgery and found out after the fact that they didn't cover the surgery in my state.
All of the policy docs that I had access to said that they'd cover it. But they had secret documents filed with the state of Illinois that said they wouldn't cover my surgery.
When I complained to the attorney general's office in my state, they told me that I had no recourse because the company was regulated in Illinois.
I was on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars.
When I complained to the attorney general's office in Illinois they said that the paperwork filed in Illinois was clear and therefore exempted the company from prosecution for fraud. Somehow, I was legally obligated to know about the secret documents filed in Illinois that I had no access to until the attorney general's office sent me a copy.
Obamacare made this practice illegal. Insurance companies had to be registered with each state and subject to the laws/regulations of each state where they sold policies. Withholding plan documents in my state would have been unlawful if those rules were in place just a few years earlier.
(One of the first things 45 did was reverse this rule.)
So... I don't agree that insurance companies should sell health insurance across state lines. It's better that they don't.
Dumb question but was it possible to get the surgery done in the state the insurance company was incorporated in? Sorry you had to shell out so much money.