I knew this was coming, but it pisses me off nonetheless:
ehealthinsurance.comDear Mark,
We regret to inform you that your application for health insurance coverage has been declined. BlueCross BlueShield of Montana will contact you directly to provide more information about their decision. eHealthInsurance has not been informed why your application was declined.
We understand this is not the result you had hoped for. If you don’t have an employer-sponsored health insurance alternative available, here are some other options you may wish to consider:
* Public Health Coverage and Assistance Programs. The Foundation for Health Coverage Education, a non-profit private organization, sponsors the U.S. Uninsured Help Line at 800-234-1317 and the Coverage For All website, where you will find a list of the options available in your state. Use their helpful tools and expert assistance to find and apply for a broad variety of state-sponsored health coverage and public assistance programs.
* Social Security and Medicare. If you have a disabling condition which has lasted or is expected to last 12 months or longer and you are unable to perform any work activity, you may be eligible. Contact Social Service Coordinators for an eligibility evaluation at no cost to you at 1-866-440-2983 or online at: http://www.sscdisability.com\ehealth
If we can be of any further assistance, please call us at 800-977-8860. We’re available Monday through Friday, from 5am to 8pm Pacific Time.
Gary Matalucci
Vice President of Customer Care
eHealthInsurance Services, Inc.The #1 service to compare and buy health insurance
Note: 1) Matalucci doesn’t involve himself or his company in seeking to find insurance. That’s not his job. eHealthinsurance Services, Inc. is a private company contracted with the health insurance industry to sift through the population and find profitable clients. They are interested in making money, period.
2) This is precious – they suggest I find some sort of public assistance, Medicare or Social Security. That’s is the private insurance business model – to cherry-pick the best, and dump the rest on government.
Are there a more contemptible set of leaches than the private insurance industry? They are useless appendage – “lice on the body politic” (Koopman, circa 2005). The best we can do for ourselves is to find them a productive outlet for their talents. Maybe they can pack boxes and load freight cars down at the Styrofoam factory.
Anyway, this is what it’s like out in the real world.
Piece of Mindful 
I always wanted to know one one these phantom uninsured.
I guess you’re number one, only 44,999,999 to go.
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Swede – you parade your ignorance as if it were a virtue. You’re a shameful spectacle of an ignorant and insulated man.
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Swede-
You’re talking to a guy who’s in his 50s, has never had any type of heart ailments, cancer, or major surgery in his entire life… and he’s being denied coverage under your vaunted private insurance system.
And you seriously think the other 44,999,999 are made up? What the hell is wrong with you?
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My comment was more intended to poke fun at this random number 45 million than it was to insult your dad.
I emailed the people who did the study for the govt, not once but twice, asking for the data on just exactly who these people were. No answer.
I’m sorry (really) about your dad’s situation, but tell me, did he have insurance before and was declined, or did he just start shopping later in life?
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Can I speak for myself? I had insurance through a part-time employer in Billings, who discontinued his program. He was not big enough to qualify for COBRA, so we were all on our own. My wife and I had preexisting conditions, and so no insurer would touch us. So, through her son, we did fake employment and got on a group plan in another state. He sold the company, and we were out in the cold again, but this time COBRA applied, so we had eighteen months of coverage at a ridiculously expensive price ($1,300 a month). When COBRA ended, we (my wife and I) formed a company and got on a plan through Insure Montana, which started out at $1,500 per month, and ended up at $1,900 per month. Eventually we dropped that, and entered MCHA – a high deductible and very expensive program for people who insurers refuse to insure.
That’s what it’s like out here Swede – this system is absurd, and health insurance companies are making billions of dollars on it while refusing to insure people who they think might not be profitable. As you can see from the letter above, they dump them on government.
I applied again with BCBS thinking that all of the negative publicity about refusing to insure people might have changed them a bit – no way.
By the way, Swede – the 47million number comes from the Census Bureau. It’s not that hard to find and see borken down into its various elements – young people who don’t want insurance, people who can’t get insurance through work and can’t afford it otherwise, people like us with preexisting conditions, legal aliens, temporarily unemployed – I don’t see why you’re having problem unless you’re looking for someone to tell you the number is fake.
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Actually, I was looking for the number of fake Americans. But got nowhere.
Seems to me when it comes to choosing career paths if insurance was a priority you’d choose a large firm, Anderson Elderling comes to mind. My accountant has medical and dental.
Its all about choices, working for yourself has advantages, unfortunately participating in a large insurance pool isn’t one of them.
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So, they guy that has been fixing mufflers all of his life (you know this guy, for your car with over 120k miles)…
He works in a small town for an employer that can’t afford/isn’t large enough to offer some form of health insurance for his his employees. What about him? Is your answer that he was too stupid to find a better job? I love the logic you’re casting here, and the huge segment of our population you’re throwing under the bus. Can you hear Sinatra singing, “I Did it My Way” in your righteous might? You are inept.
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I went to Max’s dog and pony show yesterday in Lewistown. 3 aides, (no Max) but they were well spoken. They walked a crowd of over 60 through a fancy power point, and a short panel discussion. The powerpoint spelled out problems (we all know the problems) and the goal (we all know the goals). There was a big gap, though. We needed about about half a dozen bullet points under each of the goals to make this a productive meeting. Unfortunately, Max is keeping these up his sleeve. The comments, though polite, projected a simmering discontent. I questioned how balanced Baucus’s input into the problem solving process really is. I brought up his May 5 and May 12 “roundtables”, during which Baucus had all 13 people (mostly doctors and nurses) who rose in support of Single Payer arrested, handcuffed, and charged with Disruption of Congress (some have already been arraigned–trials this fall). No single payer advocate was allowed to speak. I reviewed this incident with Baucus’s aides, and told him to communicate two things to Baucus. (1)As my “Hired Hand” (Baucus’s folksy term for himself in the power point) I don’t want him treating people like that. (2) As an architect, I can tell him, he won’t find a solution to our problem if he sweeps viable solutions off the table without examining them–especially if those solutions are the same ones that are used in the 30 or so countries that have cheaper health care and better outcomes than the US does.
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Well said – thanks for going to the meeting. It is, as you said, a dog and pony show.
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You’re just another deadbeat looking for a free ride or at least a big discount. If health insurance were so important to you, you’d fork over the big bucks for it. Or you would’ve put money aside all these years to pay your own doctor bills in cash. But no. You’d rather whine about inurance company leeches when you’re the leech wannabe. Pay your own way scumbag.
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Max – STFU
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Mark, sorry to hear about your situation. As to the government providing health care, forget about it. The Social Security system for getting either disability or SSI is designed to drive people away from sheer frustration. Much as I imagine Obamacare will do as well.
An interesting note, Fedex has insurance for their employees in this state that are a fraction of what we other mere mortals pay. When I asked why, it was because their insurance was from out of state. A significant portion of our price is dictated by our regulations.
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Don’t worry about my situation, Steve. Fact is, we can afford to pay high premiums – I am one of the fortunate ones. That sets me apart. What about those self-employed carpenters and plumbers and tile installers … they can’t afford the $1,500 a month that we now pay for high-deductible insurance.
You bring up an interesting point, however. Something like half of the medical bankruptcies in this country are by people who had medical insurance – they just didn’t have enough, and of course they did not know it until it was too late.
This was McCain’s bright idea for health care – to override state regulations and allow people to shop for insurance. State regulations force insurers to offer adequate coverage. Naturally, people are drawn to the lowest premiums and slickest salesmen. They will be underinsured, which is all that FedEx is doing. You’re on the wrong path.
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