"Buying Across State Lines" Isn't What It Sounds Like
Senator John McCain has been talking about allowing Americans to buy health insurance "across state lines." That might seem innocuous, but to me it sounds a lot like a proposal pushed by Senator Enzi (R-WY) a few years back that would have allowed health insurers to avoid state regulation and sell bare-bones, junk coverage.
Dana Christensen could tell Senator John McCain a thing or two about how these companies effect real Americans. Dana and her husband Doug bought a junk insurance policy unknowingly after
being assured that the coverage would pay for Doug's chemotherapy if his
bone cancer recurred. It turned out that Dana and Doug's plan paid only $200 a day for
hospital costs and $1,000 a day for chemotherapy even though actual
costs were twenty times higher. When Doug passed away, Dana was left
with $450,000 in unpaid medical bills.
Consumer Watchdog is pushing for new regulation of health insurance companies that would cap the amount of money that patients have to spent out of pocket each year.
Watch the PBS "NOW" exposé on junk insurance plans.