Insurance Companies Shouldn't Change Coverage Mid-Year

Imagine you have cancer. Unfortunately, I don’t need to imagine it. I’ve lived through it.

Cancer can be complicated to treat, and often expensive. As a cancer patient, now imagine your health insurance company suddenly jacks up the cost of your medication during the health plan year, or even worse, drops coverage of your medication.

We have to stop this practice. That’s why I recently joined nearly 200 cancer patients, survivors and their loved ones at our State Capitol to urge our legislators to make the fight against cancer a top priority this session. Lawmakers need to pass legislation to prohibit health insurers from dropping coverage or increasing their prices during the health plan year. I’m grateful we were able to meet with many of our Westchester/Rockland legislators and their staff, including Ellen Jaffee, David Carlucci, Shelley Mayer, Sandy Galef, David Buchwald, Amy Paulin, Tom Abinanti, and Pete Harckham, who sat down with me and my fellow volunteers to talk about protecting patients from this practice.

A health insurance contract is just that, a contract. Yet insurers can change the terms of the contract during the plan year, but patients must honor the contract. Shouldn’t insurers honor the
contract too? I hope lawmakers act quickly and put patients first by passing this legislation.

Marcia Earle

Volunteer, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN)

Ossining, NY