Can a health insurer cancel your policy for refusing to get a screening mammogram?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Can a health insurer cancel your policy for refusing to get a screening mammogram?
A health insurance company keeps harassing me with letters and robocalls to get a mammogram. The last call asked me to call them and the automated call started asking if I planned to get one. When I pressed the option for no, then they wanted me to select a reason from a menu and at that point I hung up. I know the next call will be from a person asking the same questions. I have done my independent research and realize there is a great controversy about the risks and benefits of mammograms for women in their early 40s. What they are doing is coercive. This is a fee for service plan not an HMO.
Asked on November 10, 2011 under Insurance Law, New Jersey
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Whether or not one's health insurer can cancel an insured's plan for refusing to get a screening mammogram depends upon the terms and conditions of one's insurance policy. Most likely your policy may not have such a provision since you have been getting automatic calls regarding a screening for such.
There are also personal choice issues as well on your part about having such a test. Even if your insurance policy had a provision stating you had to have a mammogram, the provision most likely would be in violation of certain medical ethics in your state and across this country as to forcing someone to have a procedure that he or she may not want.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.