Insurance Agent Noem Supports Denying Pregnant Women Coverage

Kristi Noem says the health care reform law has "some fatal flaws."

Funny—that's the same thing insurance companies say about hundreds of thousands of Americans to whom they want to deny coverage:

The nation’s four largest for-profit health insurers denied coverage to more than 651,000 people over a three-year period, citing pre-existing conditions, according to an analysis of insurer data detailed in a Congressional investigation.

Between Aetna, Humana, UnitedHealth Group, and WellPoint, that averages out to a denial of coverage for one out of every seven applicants, according to an Energy and Commerce Committee memo about the investigation.

...Individuals were denied coverage based on “an extensive list of medical conditions,” the memo noted. One company had a list of more than 400 medical diagnoses used to decline coverage to those seeking it, and common conditions such as pregnancy, diabetes, and heart disease were included on the list [Marian Wang, "Insurers Denied Health Coverage to 1 in 7 People, Citing Pre-Existing Conditions," ProPublica.org, 2010.10.13].

Pregnancy as a pre-existing condition. That's the status quo ante that President Obama and the Democratic Congress are changing. That's the status quo ante that purportedly pro-life Noem would return us to by repealing health care reform. If you get pregnant, Kristi Noem wants insurance agents like herself and her husband to be able to kick pregnant women, those darned financial risks, out of their office.