"People live in fear’ over pre-existing condition rules" - Kansas City Star

[KansasVoter]

You might say Dean Goering was scared to death.

He had known for months that something was wrong. The pain running through his leg was a lot like what he had experienced seven years ago when he was laid up in the hospital with a potentially lethal blood clot.

Goering had health insurance back then. And after years without coverage, he signed up recently with another health plan. He was just afraid to use it.

A paragraph in his new policy warned that he’d have to wait 12 months for coverage of a pre-existing condition.

Pre-existing condition. It’s an insurance term that has become one of the scariest phrases in health care. For millions of Americans, these clauses make it virtually impossible to get their health problems covered.

Even the health insurance industry acknowledges that pre-existing conditions keep some people from getting into a health plan. Key provisions of the health care reform bills in Congress are aimed at getting rid of these exclusions.

With his history of blood clots, Goering, 50, was convinced he had a pre-existing condition.

So he never went to the hospital. He didn’t see a doctor. Last month, when a blood clot likely shot up to his lung, there wasn’t enough time for the ambulance to get him to an emergency room.

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http://www.kansascity.com/2010/03/15/1815230/people-live-in-fear-over-pre-existing.html