Guaranteed Healthcare

Even Insured Get Stuck With the Tab

"I thought I had good coverage through the health insurance provided by my employer, Great-West," recalls Loveta Baker of Weaverville, N.C. "Due to our family history of colon cancer, I had a colonoscopy that led to the discovery of a mass. It was followed by a quick surgery that went well, without complications at all."

"In a few weeks the bills started rolling in. I knew I'd take a larger than normal hit because I've never had any luck finding an in-network provider in my area. The closest in-network gastrointestinal specialist provided by Great-West was over an hour away, and when I called the office, it was in fact a psychiatrist's practice and not a gastrointestinal doctor at all."

Treatment Delayed for Months, But Insurance Cancelled When Just One Day Late with Payment

"I have been an RN since 1978. Last year I was hospitalized with a white blood cell count of 1.6. My WBCs improved, but I remained very sick—pain, fatigue, short of breath, and suffer subluxation of both hips and one shoulder. I did not have Family Medical Leave Act protection because I had only been at my job for eight months. I was 'asked' to resign," said Lisa Kelleher of Kernersville, N.C.  "I collected private disability for six weeks, and then because of a history of Ehlers-Danblos syndrome in my family, I was told that no further payments would be issued until I was seen by a geneticist.

Christopher Bishop of Chapel Hill, North Carolina is a small business owner with a wife in law school. "I wanted us to purchase health insurance that was more than just emergency insurance, and we paid about $250 a month," Bishop recalls. "When my wife, Alia, started law school, we moved from Austin, Texas to Chapel Hill, North Carolina in the middle of a heat wave. I developed chest pains and called my insurance company to ask where I should go to find an in-network provider.

"Even though they're a national company, they told me that there were no providers in North Carolina. I was kept in the hospital and on an IV for three days and ended up with a bill of over $5,000.  My health insurance did not cover even half of my costs, since I was out of network. We had no way of paying the bill, and are begging the hospital not to turn us over to collection agencies.