May 16, 2008 | Click here to send an email.
Health Insurance Termination
   

75-year-old Thomas Duncan* never expected that he would lose his health insurance. He had an individual policy with a major insurance provider that he had held for over 15 years. It wasn’t until just a few months after his emergency by-pass heart surgery that he received a letter in the mail from his insurance company informing him that his coverage was being terminated due to a missed premium. Neither Thomas nor his daughter, who was paying his bills during his prolonged hospitalization, ever received a notice from his health insurance company informing him that his premium was due or that he had missed a payment. Even despite Thomas’s immediate attempts to resolve the situation, he found himself in a time-consuming, uphill battle to navigate the channels necessary to reinstate his health care coverage. While some individuals have success in fighting their insurance companies over internal errors, Thomas did not. What he found was there was no process for him to pursue, and he was unable to regain coverage with the company he had done business with for so many years.

This is a frightening situation for any individual who relies on health insurance to pay for medical care. There are claims coming from across the United States that some health insurance companies are terminating insurance coverage – often times for senior citizens or individuals with chronic illness – without any notification or apparent reason. Sometimes it is senior citizens, like Thomas Duncan, who make their payments on time and find that an error within the health insurance company’s system (or the postal system) caused the cancellation. Senior citizens who face emergency situations that temporarily prevent them from taking care of their own bills often come out of the hospital only to find that their health insurance has been cancelled because of a late payment. Sometimes the insurance company claims the payment wasn’t received on time, and therefore cancelled, when the individual’s personal records show a check was sent on time. Whether it is one of a myriad of reasons that causes the payment to not be received on time or an internal error that causes cancellation, the lack of notification of cancellation creates great anxiety, unrest, and financial hardship. And for those individuals with chronic illness, it can be a dangerous and life-threatening situation.

Some individuals have complained that health insurance companies are using a late payment, no matter what the reason, as an opportunity to drop coverage for customers who may not be best for revenue. Elderly customers and customers with chronic illness use their insurance much more than their younger or healthier counterparts, and the difference between what they pay in premiums to the cost of medical services they require is not always to the insurance company’s financial benefit.

As consumers of health insurance, our nation’s most vulnerable citizens deserve to be protected so they do not fall prey to the sudden cancellation of an insurance policy that oftentimes results out of situations beyond their control. In order to address this issue and to help protect our elderly and chronically ill citizens, I have introduced the Health Care Consumer Protection (HCCP) Act, a bipartisan bill that provides individuals the right to reinstate their health insurance coverage that may have been terminated for a number of reasons.

Specifically, HCCP requires that if an insurance company cancels an individual’s coverage under a group plan because they failed to pay their premiums, the insurance company must provide the following information in writing to both the administrator of the plan and the individual covered within 14 days of cancellation:

• Written notice that the coverage has been cancelled;
• The reason for cancellation; and
• Notice that the original terms of coverage may be reinstated if the individual pays the past due premium.

This simple step of requiring written notification of termination and giving consumers the right to reinstate their health insurance coverage if it is cancelled protects consumers from losing access to health care because of situations that may be out of their control. When our health, or the health of our parents, depends on the continuation of health insurance coverage, individuals deserve to have the peace of mind that they will continue to have access to care when it matters the most.

I welcome your comments and suggestions on this legislation and any first-hand information or experiences you have to share with me about a similar situation you or a loved one has encountered with the loss or near-loss of health insurance coverage. You can email me by visiting my Web site, or write to me at any one of my office locations.

* The name has been changed for the purposes of this article to protect the privacy of the individual.

 

 

4 Steps to Reduce Your Home Energy Intake

As summer quickly approaches and gas prices are rapidly climbing, many families begin considering ways to save on energy intake in their homes. Even simple steps, such as turning off the lights when you leave a room, can save you and your family hundreds of dollars a year in energy costs. The Department of Energy provides a list of steps to be more energy efficient.

Step #1: Locate Air Leaks:
Check for indoor air leaks, such as gaps along the baseboard or edge of the flooring and at junctures of the walls and ceiling. Check to see if air can flow through the following places: electrical outlets, switch plates, window frames, baseboards, weather stripping around doors, fireplace dampers, attic hatches, wall- or window-mounted air conditioners. The potential energy savings from reducing drafts in a home may range from 5% to 30% per year, and the home is generally much more comfortable afterward.

Follow this link for more information on replacing your windows, doors, and skylights.

Step #2: Check your Insulation:
Heat loss through the ceiling and walls in your home could be very great if the insulation levels are less than the recommended minimum. When your house was built, the builder likely installed the amount of insulation recommended at that time. Given today's energy prices, the level of insulation might be inadequate, especially if you have an older home.

Follow this link for more information on insulating your home properly.

Step #3: Inspect Heating and Cooling Equipment:
Your heating and cooling equipment should be inspected annually, or as recommended by the manufacturer. If you have a forced-air furnace, check your filters and replace them as needed. Generally, you should change filters about once every month, especially during periods of high usage. Have a professional check and clean your equipment once a year. If the unit is more than 15 years old, you should consider replacing your system with one of the newer, energy-efficient units.

Follow this link for more information on your heating and cooling equipment.
Follow this link for more information on replacing your heating and cooling equipment.

Step #4: Change Your Home’s Lighting
Energy for lighting accounts for about 10% of your electric bill. Examine the wattage size of the light bulbs in your house. You may have 100-watt (or larger) bulbs where 60 or 75 watts would do. You should also consider compact fluorescent lamps for areas where lights are on for hours at a time. Your electric utility may offer rebates or other incentives for purchasing energy-efficient lamps.

Follow this link for more information on reducing lighting in your home.
Follow this link for more information on energy efficient lighting.

Evaluate your home energy costs by using the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Home Energy Audit tool.

Find out how much money and pollution you can save by taking the Home Energy Checkup.

Check out more resources on becoming more energy efficient:
The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network (EREN)
www.eere.energy.gov/

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR
Phone: 888/STAR-YES
Web site: www.energystar.gov 

The Alliance to Save Energy
Phone: 202/857-0666
Web site: www.ase.org

 
 

SPOTLIGHT
 

In Case You Missed It - Gas Prices FAQs

 


Did you miss the most recent issue primer from Congressman Forbes? Follow the link below to read FAQs and answers on Gas Prices by Congressman Forbes.


Follow this link to go.

 


 

Questions on your Stimulus check from the IRS?

 

 


Economic stimulus payments are being issued according to the last two-digits of the main filer's Social Security number. Visit the IRS Stimulus Payment Web page to have your questions on the stimulus payment answered.


Follow this link for resources.

 


 

What happened today in history?

 


The Library of Congress American Memory Project regularly updates their Web page with events that happened today in history.  Use the link below to find out what happened today.


Follow this to go.

 


Other News

May 15, 2008 Congressman J. Randy Forbes (VA-04) Statement on Emergency War Supplemental Vote

May 14, 2008 Congressman J. Randy Forbes (VA-04) Supports Passage of Final Farm Bill Conference Report

May 13, 2008 Congressman J. Randy Forbes (VA-04)
Cosponsors Bill to Address Recent Instability in Housing Market



ON THE HILL
PHOTO GALLERY

Congressman Forbes speaking at the 2008 Congressional Pastors’ Briefing on May 7, 2008.

Congressman Forbes attends the 2nd Annual Dismal Swamp Stomp Half Marathon.
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