Altidude is ToddZ

Karen Knee never thought to mention that her back sometimes felt sore after playing soccer, or that she had once taken pain pills after a muscle spasm. “I played soccer three days a week and was always being knocked down. Yes, my back was sore, but so were my knees and ankles. Big deal.”

In fact, it was a big deal. After scouring her medical records, Blue Cross cited Knee’s occasional sore back as justification to rescind her insurance coverage… and saddled her with a $30,000 medical bill.

Heidi Bleazard had believed she could rely on the policy that she and her husband …purchased from Regence Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Utah in 2005. But five months later, she suffered a pulmonary contusion, three broken ribs, and a brain injury in a devastating mountain-biking accident. At that point, Regence pulled the plug on her coverage — because Keith had injured his back 10 years earlier.

The Bleazards appealed, arguing that they had disclosed Keith’s injury to the insurance agent and the nurse who completed the paperwork, and mentioned it on the initial application. Regence refused to budge…