Insurance: the good, the bad and the ugly.

Yes, I am alive. Many of my loyal readers have been begging me to start writing my blog again. Peer pressure works folks, so here is my best new rant.

This week a friend of mine called me and said that her brother was in the hospital and needed to have blood clot removed from his foot due to diabetes. This man worked for a small company and his employment was terminated while he was in the hospital. The man’s doctor advised him that since he did not have insurance, they would need to amputate his foot instead of breaking up the blood clot in a last ditch effort to save his foot.

I explained to my friend that her brother did in fact have insurance….state continuation (being a small employer under 20 lives) was available to him. So, the poor guy had to call his carrier, Principal, and enrolled in the 6 months of State Continuation. The doctor was able to save his foot and do the more expensive blood clot removing surgery…but only because he had insurance.

Who is at fault here, if you believe in fault. The doctor for not wanting to make money? The patient for not taking care of his health and getting diabetes? The employer for terminating the guy cause he wasn’t showing up for work? The insurance company for not offering him State Continuation right away? Who knows, and since the man still has two feet…who cares.

Not to pat myself on the back here, but when it comes to specific health insurance issues- you need a good, educated agent. Did you know that State Continuation is available? Does the average person know about SB 51, COBRA, or how to contact their insurance company? Possibly not….but a good agent does.

Always looking out for consumers,
Misty B.