My husband and I cancelled our health insurance policy from Anthem Blue Cross. Previous to doing so, I asked the phone representative that I spoke with to send me a list of everything that Anthem considered to be “preventative care”. That list arrived today.
When I was speaking with the telephone representative from Anthem Blue Cross, I asked her to send me a list that gave me details about exactly what this insurance company considered to be “preventative care”. I was unable to locate this information in the booklet they sent me, hence, the need to give this insurer a call.
The phone conversation between me, and the insurance representative, was a bit disturbing. It was clear that the insurance company wasn’t giving its phone reps very much information about what was covered in the health plans. First, she told me that it was on the website, (but neither she, nor I, could find this particular information anywhere online). Then, she said that she couldn’t send me a list of “preventative care”, because they “didn’t have a list”.
With a little pushing, I eventually got the rep to mail me a list of preventative care benefits. It arrived today, several days after we had canceled the health insurance policy. This is not her fault. She didn’t know we were going to cancel the policy that quickly.
So, now I have a list that corresponds to a health insurance policy that has already been cancelled. After reading it over, I am certain that I made the right choice about canceling it. The list is filled with footnoted “loopholes”, and it doesn’t match up too well with what the federal government has designated as “preventative care” (that insurers cannot charge people to receive).
Here is an example of what I mean. The first page says: “Our health care plans cover 100% of the services listed in this flyer as preventative care”. That sentence is followed by a little number one.
At the bottom of the page, there are tiny little words that connect to the number one. Those words read “Preventative Care Services that meet the requirements of federal and state law, including certain screenings, immunizations, and physician visits”. I feel like this is giving the insurer the potential to “cherry pick” either state, or federal, rules, in order to find a way to deny coverage for something.
Here is another disturbing part of the flyer I was sent:
“Preventative care is precautionary. Diagnostic care is used to find the cause of existing symptoms. For example, if your doctor suggests that you have a colonoscopy because of your age, that’s preventative care. But, if your doctor suggests a colonoscopy to see what’s causing your symptoms, that’s diagnostic care, and you may need to pay part of the cost (this is your “cost share”).”
In other words, this insurance company is saying that they are intending to use this “loophole” in order to deny coverage for many of the things that are on it’s list of preventative care. I cannot help but wonder how this could be legal, considering the laws put in place by the federal government that specifically designate things, like a colonoscopy, as “preventative care”, (which insurers are not allowed to charge policyholders for).
Image by Carlota Soc on Flickr