Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Stupid Quote of the Day

From Georgia's own Phil Gingery:

One hundred and twenty nine million people with pre-existing conditions! They would all have to have hang nails and fever blisters to have pre-existing conditions and if you believe those statistics, I’ve got a beach to sell you in Pennsylvania.

You know, Phil, pre-existing conditions are used by the insurance companies to deny coverage. It's not a mqtter of whether or not those conditions are themselves serious. Remember Otto Radatz?

Here was a man lining up to get surgery for cancer. The hospital appointment was booked when, surprise, the insurance company decided to rescind the policy. Why? Because Otto had failed to disclose the fact he had acne as a teen! This was a serious pre-existing condition and likely an indicator he would get cancer later in his life. His failure to disclose it justified rescission.
(source)
Yeah, acne. Obviously acne is not a serious medical condition. That isn't the point. The point is that his insurance company was able to use this extrememly minor condition as an excuse to cancel his coverage when he had an extremely serious medical issue. And don't think that they're above denying someone say, open heart surgery, based on their having had hangnails and fever blisters.