Rescission is the term health insurance companies use for their practice of dropping you after you’ve encountered catastrophic injury or disease by finding chickenshit errors in your paperwork that they can use to justify canceling your policy.

WellPoint health insurance actually gave scores on a 1 to 5 scale in employee evaluations to encourage the practice. One underwriting executive saved Wellpoint $10 million for doing such a good job screwing people over.

How many of you reading this have Florida Blue Cross Blue Shield? Well BCBS rescinded Robin Beaton’s insurance last year after she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. Blue Cross said this was because she had neglected to state on her forms that she had been treated previously … for acne.

WTF? indeed.

However, under some state laws the practice is legal if done within the allowable time frame (typically up to two years after a policy is issued).

Fortis Insurance Co. rescinded Otto Raddatz’s health insurance after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma because Raddatz did not include in his paperwork a prior CT scan showing an aneurysm and gall stones.

The kicker … Not only had Raddatz’s docter  never told Raddatz about the results, but they were “very minor” and didn’t require treatment.

The outcome? Fortis refused coverage until the state attorney general intervened. The delay caused Raddatz’s window of opportunity to treat the disease to shut, and he died.

I’m not saying the current healthcare reform package is the best answer to our healthcare disaster … but it does outlaw recission.

This most recent Daytona interstate accident occurred yesterday on I-95. Pamela Reid of Palm Coast actually caused two separate accidents. The first occurred on U.S. 1 and no one was hurt. That was just shortly before she caused the fatal I-95 crash.

Reid crossed the median on I-95 and crashed head-on into a 2003 Chevy. The wreck spun the car and caused it to roll, ejecting both occupants. Bruce Castle, 42, of Port Orange was killed and Trevor Luce, 34, of Palm Coast was critically injured. Reid was seriously injured.

An investigation is ongoing and charges are pending. Troopers believe Reid was under the influence of alcohol when the crashes occurred.

If Reid does not have insurance or does not have adequate insurance, I pray that Luce has under/uninsured motorist coverage or he will be looking at a hefty bill once he recovers. More people are forced into bankruptcy from medical bills than any other reason. The right insurance coverage can save you from the same fate.

I wish Luce a speedy recovery, and hope he has adequate insurance. If not, there may be one way he can recover from Reid. See my previous blog  Tragic Highway Death Sober Reminder of Importance of Underinsured Motorist Coverage to learn more.

The guy who caused the accident was arrested for drunk driving and is uninjured. Hopefully justice will be served in the future for this driver because nothing about the accident was just in my eyes. Why is it that the drunk driver is completely unhurt while one innocent woman died and a family of three was seriously injured?

Mark Lester Wolf, 39, of Palm Coast was speeding southbound in his Mercedes and did not even hit the brakes before rear-ending a ‘06 Nissan Frontier driven by Christopher T. Reaney, of Port Orange. The Frontier spun clockwise, overturned with its roof hitting a metal sign pole. Everyone inside was wearing their seatbelts but Kelly L. Frates, 35, of Port Orange died from her injuries.

Chris Reaney, Catherine Reaney, 66, and William Reaney, 68, also of Port Orange were taken to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach with serious injuries.

I pray the Reaney family members recover fully from their injuries, but they likely face a long road back. While my heart goes out to them and to the family of Kelly Frates, as a lawyer, my thoughts are also drawn to the legal implications.

For everyone reading this blog, this is a stark reminder why you need underinsured motorist coverage. I haven’t seen Wolf’s insurance policy but I wouldn’t be surprised if he does not carry enough bodily injury insurance to cover the damages he caused. Someone who is reckless enough to drink and drive so irresponsibly does not strike me as the kind of person who will carry lots of insurance to protect others.

That is why it’s so important for us, the responsible drivers to protect ourselves. Insurance companies do not explain the importance of underinsured coverage because it is not in their best interest to do so. The Reaneys may not have even heard their agent mention those words. If Wolf’s insurance won’t cover the damages and the Reaneys don’t have adequate underinsured coverage, they might be looking at out-of-pocket payment for their medical bills. The majority of US bankruptcies are due to medical expenses. I hope it doesn’t come to that.

It may not if the Reaneys can avail themselves of a recent court case that could allow them to collect punitive damages from Wolf’s insurance company. Normally, auto insurance companies do not have to pay for the punitive damages caused by a drunk driver. However, a wrinkle in insurance law says that if certain conditions exist, then the insurance company can be on the hook for punitive damages.

If Wolf is underinsured or uninsured and the Reaneys do not carry underinsured coverage, this punitive damages strategy is likely the only avenue for the Reaneys to cover their medical expenses.

For more information about auto insurance, how to protect yourself and pay for your injuries, visit this car accident lawyer site.