LINA Insurance: What Will Make Insurance Companies Change?

With health care reform on the mind of many legislators, Americans might be wondering if changes to health care could also mean changes to the way insurance like Life Insurance Company of North America do business. Although LINA insurance has agreed to a settlement with California regarding LINA disability claims, there are still many people who were left high and dry by LINA's coverage denials.

LINA Insurance: What Will Make Insurance Companies Change?

Many consumers will welcome changes to the way their insurance companies conduct business. After all, LINA's settlement has come in the wake of a lawsuit alleging that the insurance company denied claims before reviewing or even requesting all the necessary paperwork. The company was further alleged to have ignored new information once the claim was denied—information that that should have been given due consideration and could potentially have validated a claim.

It would be easy to say that at least these people will have their claims reviewed and may even receive compensation for their denied claims. But in some cases, the damage may already be done.

For example, a woman who required back surgery would have found herself in a tight spot when her insurer denied her claim on the grounds that she did not really have a back problem and that surgery was unnecessary. The woman then had a choice: she could either take the risk of going into debt to pay for the surgery herself, or she could risk her physical and emotional well-being—and her job—by going without the surgery.

Can a claim review compensate this woman and other like her for years of pain or the debt they incurred to cover their medical expenses? What about patients who die due to lack of medical treatment? The most infamous example of this being Nataline Sarkisyan, who died at age 17 after being denied a liver transplant by CIGNA, parent company to LINA.

The hope is that the LINA settlement will convince LINA to review its claims handling policies and procedures, and will prevent this situation from happening again.

LINA Insurance: What Will Make Insurance Companies Change?

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