Post hoc underwriting is the process the medical insurance companies use to cancel a customer’s policy after the customer develops a serious illness. If the individual develops a condition that is likely to result in large medical costs the insurance companies scour the customer’s medical records to see if there is any basis for contending that the customer had a medical condition that materially affected the customer’s health. Even if the customer did not know of the condition and the failure to disclose was completely innocent the insurer will frequently deny the claim.
According to CNN http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/16/health.care.hearing/ and the NPR podcast on This American Live Podcast at http://podcast.thisamericanlife.org/podcast/386.mp3 the practice has saved the health insurers over $300,000,000 over the last 5 years. That is a huge savings to the insurance industry and a cruel burden to the ex post facto uninsured consumer.
If that happens to you consult a lawyer immediately.
