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Medical insurance may not cover your serious condition

I talk all the time about the importance of having enough uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage on your automobile policies.  Often, people say to me, "Why do I need that?  I have medical insurance."  I tell them that when a catastrophe happens, you need all the insurance coverage you can get -- because there are loopholes you don't even know about in your medical insurance coverage.

A recent article in Business Week magazine says the same thing.  A study has shown that people with medical insurance pay almost as much out of pocket as do uninsured folks when it comes to very serious medical conditions.  How does that happen?  Insurance companies are not in the business of handing out money, and once you appear on their radar screen as having a serious medical condition, they start to work to figure out a way to deny coverage.  And, since they wrote the policies and know better than you where the loopholes are, they often are successful in cutting off your benefits.

The article also cites a study that found in 2001, illness or medical expenses contributed to 50% of bankruptcies.  

I'm not saying don't get health insurance.  We need all the help we can get.  But it makes me mad that once again the individual gets taken advantage of by huge corporations.