Life: Have you ever been sick?

More stories from Orange County, CA...insurers still looking for the perfect patient..and no doubt there is some type of query that determines pay out amounts over premiums paid somewhere along the line since they refunded her premiums after the fact...State of California Managed Care Department is still investigating...as she stated in the story, it's as if she had no insurance at all....BD

When Karen Knee filled out an online application for health insurance four years ago, she scanned her address book and her memory. She wrote down the names and numbers of her doctors and listed her recent health history – anti-depressants after a death in the family, a normal Pap smear and a bladder infection. She never thought to mention that her back sometimes felt sore after playing soccer or that she'd once taken pain pills after a muscle spasm.

More than a year later, Knee had accumulated $30,000 in medical bills – the most expensive for removing benign cysts on her scalp. She then received a letter from Blue Cross informing her that the insurer had reviewed her medical records and found that she had not disclosed a preexisting back condition. As a result, Blue Cross dropped her coverage retroactively and refunded her monthly premiums.  Knee appealed unsuccessfully and then paid her doctors with proceeds from the earlier sale of her house, figuring she was powerless. But this New Year's Day, she decided to do something. She's in the process of joining a class-action lawsuit.  Denise Wheeler, 49, of Laguna Beach had her Nationwide insurance canceled in 2006 for failing to disclose a heavy menstrual period.

Life: Have you ever been sick? | health, insurance, blue, medical, knee - OCRegister.com