In article , PocoLoco415
@hotmail.com says...
What a boat, what a ride, what a fantastic week! I *will* go for another cruise
on the "Disney Magic", regardless of the number of kids aboard!

The service, food, entertainment, and atmosphere were much more than I expected.
I had taken three paperbacks to read, along with a new Nikon D70 book, to read
rather than be bored.

I finished none of them.

However, we had some bad news waiting for us. My older daughter underwent an MRI
which showed three breast tumors. Biopsies showed two to be benign, but one is
malignant. Now the younger daughter is very concerned, and wants to have a test
of her genes to determine if she inherited the BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene from her
mother, who died of 'abdominal' cancer. She, however, is concerned that if the
test comes back positive, she will lose her health insurance. Has anyone ever
heard of that?

Sorry to hear the news John.

Cannot stand the thought of my kids sick. Hope the best for her quick
and effective treatment.

jps

"PocoLoco" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 01:47:33 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:


"PocoLoco" wrote in message
. ..
What a boat, what a ride, what a fantastic week! I *will* go for
another
cruise
on the "Disney Magic", regardless of the number of kids aboard!

The service, food, entertainment, and atmosphere were much more than I
expected.
I had taken three paperbacks to read, along with a new Nikon D70 book,
to
read
rather than be bored.

I finished none of them.

However, we had some bad news waiting for us. My older daughter
underwent
an MRI
which showed three breast tumors.



I'm so sorry to hear that John. She is in our prayers.

Biopsies showed two to be benign, but one is
malignant. Now the younger daughter is very concerned, and wants to
have a
test
of her genes to determine if she inherited the BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene
from
her
mother, who died of 'abdominal' cancer. She, however, is concerned
that if
the
test comes back positive, she will lose her health insurance. Has
anyone
ever
heard of that?

No. They can't drop her.. If she has group insurance, she can even
switch
to another group and can't be turned down. However, if she has
individually
medically underwritten insurance, she'll have a hard time switching
insurance plans if she ever decided to switch later on.



Thanks.

She is in a group plan under her husband's job. He works for a big
defense
contractor. I'm glad to hear they can't drop her.

I would check into the insurance laws of the state she lives in. That
will govern all the "what if's"


--
John H

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant:
It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

Ronald Reagan

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 21:20:47 -0500, PocoLoco wrote:


Thanks for quoting Harry's response. It seems to lend credence to what my
daughter has heard.

I just did a little search on this issue. Depending on the state, not
only might she have insurance problems, she might also have employment
problems. Not common, but still possible, depending on circumstances. I
would suggest Harry's idea about maintaining anonymity might be best.
There is federal legislation to address this, but . . .

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/353/9/865

thunder wrote:
On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 21:20:47 -0500, PocoLoco wrote:


Thanks for quoting Harry's response. It seems to lend credence to what my
daughter has heard.

I just did a little search on this issue. Depending on the state, not
only might she have insurance problems, she might also have employment
problems. Not common, but still possible, depending on circumstances. I
would suggest Harry's idea about maintaining anonymity might be best.
There is federal legislation to address this, but . . .

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/353/9/865

But seeing how NOYB lives in Naples, and is the best at everything
there ever way, he knows everything, so the federal government couldn't
possibly be right.

"thunder" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 21:20:47 -0500, PocoLoco wrote:


Thanks for quoting Harry's response. It seems to lend credence to what my
daughter has heard.

I just did a little search on this issue. Depending on the state, not
only might she have insurance problems, she might also have employment
problems. Not common, but still possible, depending on circumstances. I
would suggest Harry's idea about maintaining anonymity might be best.
There is federal legislation to address this, but . . .

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/353/9/865

Since John's daughter is already insured under a group policy, she can never
be rejected (or quoted a higher premium) by another group because she is
protected by COBRA.

She *could* have problems with medically underwritten individual plans
though.

"NOYB" wrote in message
ink.net...

"thunder" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 21:20:47 -0500, PocoLoco wrote:


Thanks for quoting Harry's response. It seems to lend credence to what
my
daughter has heard.

I just did a little search on this issue. Depending on the state, not
only might she have insurance problems, she might also have employment
problems. Not common, but still possible, depending on circumstances.
I
would suggest Harry's idea about maintaining anonymity might be best.
There is federal legislation to address this, but . . .

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/353/9/865

Since John's daughter is already insured under a group policy, she can
never
be rejected (or quoted a higher premium) by another group because she is
protected by COBRA.

She *could* have problems with medically underwritten individual plans
though.



From the link

"Few Americans have health coverage from organizations that pick and choose
whom to cover on the basis of health, using what is called medical
underwriting. More than 160 million Americans receive coverage through an
employer, whether their own, their spouse's or partner's, or that of another
relative. Few large-scale employers ever selectively provided health
coverage on the basis of an employee's medical condition; the federal Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 prohibited almost all
employers but those in the smallest businesses from using such medical
underwriting and from considering genetic risks as preexisting conditions.
More than 80 million Americans are covered by federal or federal-state
programs - notably, Medicare and Medicaid - that do not use medical
underwriting. Very few of the more than 40 million Americans without health
coverage lack it because of genetic discrimination; most simply do not
qualify for governmental coverage and either cannot afford or choose not to
pay for employer-provided or individually underwritten coverage. That leaves
only about 10 to 15 million Americans who buy their own, individually
underwritten coverage, along with perhaps an equal number with coverage from
very small employers. Only the people in these two groups can be at risk for
genetic discrimination by insurance companies. But the same health care
financing system that limits the possibilities for genetic discrimination by
insurers encourages such discrimination in employment. Employers have an
incentive to reduce their future health insurance costs by not hiring or by
firing people who have predictably high health care expenses, for genetic or
other reasons.

The law provides a second barrier against genetic discrimination. In the
past decade or so, all but 3 states have adopted laws limiting genetic
discrimination for some kinds of health insurance, and about 40 states have
fairly strong rules against discrimination by small employers or companies
that sell individual health insurance. More than 30 states ban or limit
genetic discrimination in employment.5 The coverage, definitions, and
enforcement mechanisms vary enormously from state to state; none of the
relevant laws appear to have been defined or tested in any reported
appellate-court decisions. In addition, the federal Americans with
Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, may more broadly prohibit genetic
discrimination in employment, depending on whether the genetic risk is
considered a disability. Another federal law, the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act, prohibits an employer from discriminating against current
employees on the basis of their existing or projected health care expenses.
Although the exact reach of these federal laws is unclear, they - along with
state laws and the prospect of more stringent legislation in the future -
have largely deterred insurers and employers from practicing such
discrimination."

On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 02:54:03 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:


"PocoLoco" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 01:47:33 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:


"PocoLoco" wrote in message
...
What a boat, what a ride, what a fantastic week! I *will* go for another
cruise
on the "Disney Magic", regardless of the number of kids aboard!

The service, food, entertainment, and atmosphere were much more than I
expected.
I had taken three paperbacks to read, along with a new Nikon D70 book,
to
read
rather than be bored.

I finished none of them.

However, we had some bad news waiting for us. My older daughter
underwent
an MRI
which showed three breast tumors.



I'm so sorry to hear that John. She is in our prayers.

Biopsies showed two to be benign, but one is
malignant. Now the younger daughter is very concerned, and wants to have
a
test
of her genes to determine if she inherited the BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene from
her
mother, who died of 'abdominal' cancer. She, however, is concerned that
if
the
test comes back positive, she will lose her health insurance. Has anyone
ever
heard of that?

No. They can't drop her.. If she has group insurance, she can even switch
to another group and can't be turned down. However, if she has
individually
medically underwritten insurance, she'll have a hard time switching
insurance plans if she ever decided to switch later on.



Thanks.

She is in a group plan under her husband's job. He works for a big defense
contractor. I'm glad to hear they can't drop her.


Nondiscrimination - A requirement that group health plans not discriminate
against you based on your health status. Your coverage under a group health
plan cannot be denied or restricted, nor can you be charged a higher
premium, due to your health status. Group health plans can restrict your
coverage based on other factors (such as part time employment) that are
unrelated to health status.

http://www.cobrahealth.com/insurancedefinitions.html


Thanks again! That's some good info.

--
John H

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant:
It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

Ronald Reagan

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 23:12:37 -0500, "P. Fritz"
wrote:


"PocoLoco" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 01:47:33 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:


"PocoLoco" wrote in message
. ..
What a boat, what a ride, what a fantastic week! I *will* go for
another
cruise
on the "Disney Magic", regardless of the number of kids aboard!

The service, food, entertainment, and atmosphere were much more than I
expected.
I had taken three paperbacks to read, along with a new Nikon D70 book,
to
read
rather than be bored.

I finished none of them.

However, we had some bad news waiting for us. My older daughter
underwent
an MRI
which showed three breast tumors.



I'm so sorry to hear that John. She is in our prayers.

Biopsies showed two to be benign, but one is
malignant. Now the younger daughter is very concerned, and wants to
have a
test
of her genes to determine if she inherited the BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene
from
her
mother, who died of 'abdominal' cancer. She, however, is concerned
that if
the
test comes back positive, she will lose her health insurance. Has
anyone
ever
heard of that?

No. They can't drop her.. If she has group insurance, she can even
switch
to another group and can't be turned down. However, if she has
individually
medically underwritten insurance, she'll have a hard time switching
insurance plans if she ever decided to switch later on.



Thanks.

She is in a group plan under her husband's job. He works for a big
defense
contractor. I'm glad to hear they can't drop her.

I would check into the insurance laws of the state she lives in. That
will govern all the "what if's"


--
John H

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant:
It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

Ronald Reagan


That's the next thing on the 'to do' list. Thanks!

--
John H

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant:
It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

Ronald Reagan

On 30 Oct 2005 18:27:27 -0800, wrote:


PocoLoco wrote:
What a boat, what a ride, what a fantastic week! I *will* go for another cruise
on the "Disney Magic", regardless of the number of kids aboard!

The service, food, entertainment, and atmosphere were much more than I expected.
I had taken three paperbacks to read, along with a new Nikon D70 book, to read
rather than be bored.

I finished none of them.

However, we had some bad news waiting for us. My older daughter underwent an MRI
which showed three breast tumors. Biopsies showed two to be benign, but one is
malignant. Now the younger daughter is very concerned, and wants to have a test
of her genes to determine if she inherited the BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene from her
mother, who died of 'abdominal' cancer. She, however, is concerned that if the
test comes back positive, she will lose her health insurance. Has anyone ever
heard of that?

--
John H

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant:
It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

Ronald Reagan


Oh crap, John. Very sorry to hear about your daughter. (I had no idea
you were a widower).

In what state does your daughter reside? I would think each state
insurance commissioner and statutes will vary just a bit on what her
patient's rights are going to be. My sister-in-law, at age 56, has
consumed a few million dollars worth of medical care (seriously) due to
a heart condition. She has reached the "lifetime maximum" with a couple
of companies- but just her good luck, each time she does the
organization she works for changes hands and she gets a "fresh start".

Odds are that her current insurance company cannot just dump her, but
if she ever loses coverage due to firing, layoff, company bankruptcy,
etc she might, in some cases, have some difficulty getting a private
policy on her own. Several years ago we passed alaw in Washington that
said people who lost group medical insurance had the right to buy
private insurance (at a market rate) and could not be turned down for a
pre-existing condition. Several insurance companies left the state as a
result. (Good riddance).

Best wishes for your daughters successful treatment and a full
recovery. They are treating cancer far more effectively than ever
before- but even so it's a rigorous and demanding course of treatment
and it won't be easy for her.

Tell your younger daughter to get an annual mammogram, (if she isn't
doing so already), and to hope that some of the very latest news about
a promising "vaccine" to prevent breast cancer might bear fruit.

Thanks Chuck. The mammogram will be done. The next question is the BRCA1 and 2
tests.

--
John H

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant:
It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

Ronald Reagan

On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 03:01:51 GMT, Don White wrote:

PocoLoco wrote:
snip..
However, we had some bad news waiting for us. My older daughter underwent an MRI
which showed three breast tumors. Biopsies showed two to be benign, but one is
malignant. Now the younger daughter is very concerned, and wants to have a test
of her genes to determine if she inherited the BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene from her
mother, who died of 'abdominal' cancer. She, however, is concerned that if the
test comes back positive, she will lose her health insurance. Has anyone ever
heard of that?


Sorry to hear that John. I hope she gets through this with a minimum of
problems. We had our scare last summer when my wife went to a
specialist who discovered polyps in the uterus. They got her in early,
did the partial H deal and she's fine. That seems to be the
trick...catching it early. Best of luck to her.

Thanks Don. The malignant tumor is about 1.5 cm in diameter, so they think
they've gotten it pretty early.

--
John H.
On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD