What to Do When Health Insurance Is Cancelled?

Dealing with health insurance companies can be a nightmare when trying to sort through claims. Some people even wrestle with the question of whether or not to have insurance in the first place. For those who have had insurance, if it is canceled on the part of the insurance company or because of your inability to pay the premiums, it is good to know your options.

Know Rights

• If your insurance is canceled, then you may opt to file for an appeal. Sometimes insurance companies may drop someone who contracts an illness or condition that will require expensive treatment, which means money lost for the insurance company. An insurance company may try to claim that you made a mistake on your application, giving them cause for canceling your insurance. However, some states protect you from this by requiring insurance companies to prove that the application was purposefully misrepresented.

Examine Termination Letter

• If your insurance was canceled because of a missed payment, then you can probably work things out with your insurance company. Taking a closer look at the termination letter may give you some clues as to what to do next. If you are being accused of omitting withholding information or for another reason, then you may have grounds for an appeal, which should be detailed in your termination letter. If there are not details, such as time limits, for the appeals process, then you need to contact your insurance company immediately.

After Appeal

• If your appeals process does not work and you feel that you have been mistreated by the insurance company, then the next step would be to contact your state's department of insurance. The consumer division of this office deals with complaints about insurance companies. At this point, you may also want to consider contacting a lawyer for a lawsuit against the insurance company.

Community Awareness

• Educate others in your community about what has happened and what can be done about it. Contact your state and national representatives in Congress asking your policymakers to consider a bill that gives more health care rights to consumers. If your state does not have a law against insurance companies canceling insurance based on the claim of misinformation on the application--other than purposefully leaving out pertinent medical history--then that could be part of the details of your public campaign.

Surviving Without Insurance

• It is best to know what your options are for free community health care. Many communities offer free walk-in clinics that offer sliding scales, reduced cost or free services and prescriptions for low-income individuals. Some local health departments continue to service the community at large; however, there are also some that have closed their doors to the community except for those with Medicare or Medicaid coverage. Going without insurance runs the risk of having large debts if something serious were to happen, and that could lead to serious stress and hardship for you and your family. Although hospitals and vocational rehabilitation services have been known to help individuals with medical debt or even forgive the debts completely, there is the chance of having long-term payments. The good news about having long-term payments for medical debt is that hospitals may not charge interest.