This is from the latest HSI report. Might be helpful. Health insurance

A couple of months ago a California arbitrator awarded Patsy Bates a $9 million settlement in her complaint against her health insurance company, which had cancelled her policy to avoid paying for expensive cancer treatments (see the e-Alert "Sweet Comeuppance" 3/11/08).

End of story? Not quite. Insurance industry watchdogs were just getting started.

Let's say it's been more than 10 years since your doctor gave you the good news that your cancer was in complete remission. But you happen to need a new health insurance policy, and when you're signing up you're asked if you've been treated for cancer over the past decade. Happily, you can honestly answer, "No." You've had occasional blood tests to monitor possible recurrence, but no treatments.

So a few months after you sign the new policy, your doctor says you need a hip replacement. But your insurance company rep says no. In fact, the company drops your policy because you didn't inform your rep about the blood tests, which the company classifies as treatments.

Unfair? Completely. But what can you do? You file a complaint. You consider a lawsuit. The red tape and the bills start mounting. Your hip isn't getting any better. You feel lost.

A case similar to this was recently settled when the California Department of Managed Health Care (CDMHC) ordered some of the largest insurance carriers in the state to reinstate the policies of 26 people whose coverage had been abruptly canceled. In each case an insurance company said the customer had given misleading information, and in each case the CDMHC said the company had no reasonable grounds to cancel the policy.

Even better, these case-by-case reviews of dropped policies are continuing and some industry insiders estimate that hundreds, perhaps even thousands of people will have their policies reinstated.