Are you having trouble getting approved for a health insurance policy? There could be a reason for that. Studies show that health insurance companies deny at least 20% of the people who apply for policies, as a matter of routine. In some areas, the percentage is even higher than that.
My husband and I just filled out a lengthy application for health insurance. It took around two hours to fill out. There were tons of questions about whether or not either one of us had any one of a number of diseases, disorders, or conditions. At this time, we are still waiting to see if we are approved or denied for health insurance.
I’m starting to wonder how good our odds are of being approved, though. There are a lot of studies that show that health insurance companies routinely deny at least 20% of the people who apply for health insurance. Often, it isn’t for any rational reason.
According to the federal Department of Health and Human Services, Anthem Blue Cross in Kentucky rejects one out of every five applicants. Other insurers in Kentucky have higher denial rates. Humana rejects somewhere between 26% and 39% of the people who apply for health insurance, and UnitedHealthCare denies around 38% to 43% of applicants.
In Georgia, the insurer Aetna denies around 15% of all applicants, Kaiser Permanente denies 47%, and John Alden Life Insurance turns down a whopping 67% of applicants. In Maryland, Kaiser Permanente denied 32% of applications, but the same insurer only denied 17% of applicants in Colorado.
According to a 2009 study that was done by America’s Health Insurance Plans, (which is an insurance industry trade group), 87% of the people who apply for an individual health insurance policy, across the United States, are denied.
This number includes the people who were flat out told “no”. It also includes the people who were denied for the policy they originally applied for, but were then offered another policy instead. The new policy was either more expensive than the one they tried to purchase, or it had fewer benefits than the policy the person wanted to get.
There is a federal website that keeps track of denial rates for all 50 states, and the District of Columbia, as well as U.S. Territories. It is updated frequently. It shows that in the first three months of 2011, health insurance companies were denying at least 20% of applicants, (as a matter of routine).
Which insurance companies are the most infamous when it comes to denying health insurance applicants? There are two: John Alden Life Insurance, and Time Insurance. Both of them are owned by the same company (Assurant Health). Data shows that in nearly every market, these two insurers had denial rates that are at least twice the rate of other insurance companies in the same location. Good luck getting approved by either one of them!
In general, if an insurance company thinks that there is the slightest potential that an applicant might end up costing them money, they will deny the application. Essentially, this means that the people with the most serious health conditions are the least likely to be able to get health insurance. It also means that healthy people may get denied for the smallest of reasons.
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