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3/24/2010
Another day, another mandate
Should you be forced to buy a health insurance policy that covers you for injuries that occur after you’ve consumed alcohol or used illegal drugs? The State of Wisconsin (well, the Senate, so far) apparently thinks so.
Check your policy. As I understand it, some policies will not cover the cost of your care if you’ve been drinking alcohol or using illegal drugs and become ill or sustain an injury – regardless of the cause. Some families don’t think that’s right, especially when someone in the family is caught needing medical care (for whatever reason) and alcohol has been imbibed.
The example cited at the bill’s hearing was a 17 year-old teenage girl who had one or more drinks, hopped on her bicycle and was hit by a car – due to no fault of her own. The family’s health insurance contained the alcohol/drug exception clause and insurance did not cover the needed medical care.
When SB 483 was first taken up in the Health, Health Insurance, Privacy, Property Tax Relief and Revenue Committee, Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) introduced an amendment that would have narrowed the exclusion somewhat – the insurance company would not have to pay only if the insured was “at fault for the injury due to his or her alcohol consumption or use of a controlled substance.”
Makes sense to me. Take personal responsibility for your well-being and your actions – right? Well, the amendment went nowhere. The amendment that ultimately stuck was offered by Senator Jauch (D-Poplar) and Senator Lazich and would allow an insurance policy to not cover medical care “in connection with any illness or injury incurred by an insured as a result of engaging in an illegal occupation or committing or attempting to commit a felony.”
Better than nothing, I suppose.
If you prefer (and believe it wise to consider) what would most likely be a less expensive policy that would exclude coverage if drinking or using drugs, you’re dead out of luck. Of course the same thing holds true if you decide to buy a policy that doesn’t cover cochlear implants or autism or any of 34 other coverages mandated by the State of Wisconsin.
The Senate voted 32 to 0 to mandate the alcohol and drug use-related coverage. What am I missing?
Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net
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