However, nothing keeps the insurance carriers from selling double and triple coverage and there is no thought of refunding premiums, either with or without interest. The best example of this is the "Cancer" policy which, in whole or in substantial part, will be covered by a family's health and accident policy. To compute its rate on the incidence of cancer without adjusting the rate for existing coverage for the person involved is like taking candy from babies.
Trust Is Missing
They don't deserve trust. They have consistently proved themselves to be untrustworthy. The main thing preserving the force of insurance now is its being so interwoven legally into the fabric of our lives. But nobody with keen powers of observation really trusts an insurance carrier anymore. If you are injured they may or may not pay your doctor. The probability they will pay only a portion of your bill is a realistic assumption. Ask any chiropractor. Ask any MD. Ask any dentist, psychologist, podiatrist, or anyone in the healing arts.
Adjusters Not Trained to Be Fair
If you have property damage the "adjusters" can leave you holding a large bag if they forget they are part of a service industry. They can afford to forget it as long as legislators keep them in business, but sooner or later, the legislator will be called to account, and things will begin to change. No one, as Napoleon himself proved, can go on creating enemies forever. Eventually the revenge of the consumer will be expressed in the pocketbook and ballot box.
Indulging in Prejudices
Last, but certainly not least, is the indulgence in prejudices which are costly to everyone, degrading to whomever is being discriminated against, and misleading in the extreme, as they can usually be shown to be contrary to facts. Carriers have no right to behave in this manner; certainly it is against the publics' interest.
Proofs From Their Own Sources ... Embarrassing
From the carriers' own computers comes proof that chiropractors have consistently gotten comparable injury patients back to work in half the time, at half the cost, with half the residual injuries. From universities and research centers across the world comes proof that 34 percent of sprain injuries will require treatment up to 2 to 8 years and that 12 percent of those injuries result in permanent impairment.
Do carriers care? Yes, they try to eliminate chiropractors, and that failing, try to curtail their activities; either one of which, if successful, would increase medical costs, while out of the other side of their mouth they insist "cost containment." In the annals of time this deceit may prove to be one of their costlier blunders; but until the medical costs increase enough, they will continue to ignore it.
A Few Words of Summary
A cap must be put on their profits; they must be forced to account fully for all their business(es); they must be forced to assume some responsibility for the uninsurables; they must not be allowed to create a poverty class while generating unconscionable profits for themselves; and for a first step, must be held accountable for their prejudices.
All of the above points were taken from depositions or reports of trial testimony which are recorded in trials dating from 1971 or later; or refer to Attorney Generals Opinions (JM-301 in Texas) or from Texas State Board of Insurance letters which were widely circulated in 1986 or later.
One study conducted in 1982 by the Council of Better Business Bureaus placed insurance 11th in the top 15 consumer complaint categories and more than 60 percent of the insurance complaints related to unsatisfactory service and settlement disputes.
But only in litigation can the full attitude of carriers toward their insureds be seen with clarity.
Oh yes, people sometimes do defraud insurance carriers, as recorded by the New York Insurance Department's Fraud Bureau. In 1983 almost 3,000 complaints were filed against consumers for fraud. However, in that same year more than 52,000 complaints against unfair insurance behavior were recorded.
Fifty-two thousand compared to 3,000. It isn't fair. Both figures need to be reduced to zero; but you can't see where the starting point needs to be.
Walter Rhodes, D.C., F.C.C.C.
Fort Worth, Texas