Prohibiting health-insurance companies from dropping people based on pre-existing conditions would stop things like this from happening:
Previously undisclosed records from Mitchell's case reveal that Fortis had a company policy of targeting policyholders with HIV. A computer program and algorithm targeted every policyholder recently diagnosed with HIV for an automatic fraud investigation, as the company searched for any pretext to revoke their policy. As was the case with Mitchell, their insurance policies often were canceled on erroneous information, the flimsiest of evidence, or for no good reason at all, according to the court documents and interviews with state and federal investigators.
Jerome Mitchell, who successfully sued Fortis/Assurant to reinstate his coverage, learned he had HIV at 17. I'm sure there are some people who would argue that Mitchell shouldn't have had premarital sex and that catching HIV and subsequently being denied coverage are the "deserved" consequences of his behavior.
Alternately, I suppose you could argue that people like Mitchell should be denied coverage because Nancy Pelosi wants to use a common Congressional procedure to help pass the health-reform bill. The first argument, while abhorrent, at least acknowledges some of the human consequences of failing to pass health-care legislation. The latter is petty beyond belief.
-- A. Serwer
