Comments on: Insurance Company Drops Woman after Rape

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 19:29:00 +0000

This is astonishing.

However, what’s also unfortunate is that she conflates sexual assault with “being a woman” as her campaign suggests. If you take it a step further (and actually check out the website), this also hints at another cultural phenomenon in which we view only women as being targets of sexual assault. The video at her website describes “domestic violence” and conflates this with womanhood as well. While it’s important to identify issues surrounding intimate partner violence, I think it does a disservice to the overall message to suggest that only a subset of our population is vulnerable to violence.

The message should be: “Violence is not a pre-existing condition.” Or, since the website also mentions pregnancy and Cesarean section, “There should be no ‘pre-existing conditions.’”

By: Craig

Craig — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:36:59 +0000

Actually, anežka, coming up with some shallow reason to deny the humanity of a group you dislike (you seem to accept without complaint the badge of “anti-American”) and relish their misfortunes as a kind of rough justice, is the _opposite_ of the “broader sociological perspective.” It’s just the same old demonizing of the other we’ve been doing since we developed language. But do keep trying.

By: Leigh

Leigh — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 01:29:58 +0000

This is so frustratingly sad.

I dread the day that I will actually need to use our health insurance. When I was having my daughter I begged the Doctor not to give me a transfusion because my HMO (with a $730 a month premium) did not cover blood or blood related services beyond simple testing.

By: Bagelsan

Bagelsan — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:34:53 +0000

Pretty sure he was jk’ing. :p At least, I hope so.

And yes, total props to this woman. That’s incredibly brave, because although we all think that her story is horrifying and she is awesome plenty of people will be like “whatev, slut. Buy your own retrovirals.” (Because people can be assholes. Also, this reminds me so, so much of the whole Palin-making-rape-victims-pay-for-their-own-rape-kits thing it isn’t even funny.)

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:34:51 +0000

A system where the majority of people get their insurance though their employers so the individual doesn’t have a choice over which insurance they buy into and rendering individual buyers powerless is free market?

By: Waltham Dan

Waltham Dan — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:29:25 +0000

But this is the natural result of an unregulated free market, and that’s a GOOD thing!

Seriously, why don’t you mention the name of the vile nosurance company that dumped her? They deserve the publicity.

And: has nobody mentioned that this woman is a HERO? No meek presumption of victim’s shame for her, she is making noise! I’m in awe.

By: Lindsey

Lindsey — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:07:52 +0000

Your last comment rings so true; in the UK car insurance in mandatory and the companies have absolutely no qualms whatsoever about not paying out, no matter how many witnesses or how much evidence you have that the accident (or whatever you are claiming for) was not your fault.

By: caity

caity — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:59:12 +0000

A good reason to pay for things electronically!

By: A

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:14:47 +0000

I don’t watch much news at all, but this is still the only source where I’ve seen this story reported. Contrast that with the large baby who was denied insurance coverage, a story I saw multiple times.

By: A

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:08:18 +0000

Ah, yes, I’ve read of insurance companies “losing” payments from “difficult” customers before, specifically with a cancer patient.

By: Meems

Meems — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:16:22 +0000

Not only did they drop her, but they claimed she had missed a payment, when, in fact, they had chosen not to cash her check.

By: gem

gem — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:43:03 +0000

What happened to democracy?

As a side note, I have never seen any studies showing how health insurance impedes worker mobility. I would guess it would affect it quite significantly but I have never seen any numbers.

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:32:12 +0000

You have to understand that American individuals are given one vote among millions. (And we usually have to choose between two people who will both sell us out in an instant.) Our voices are usually drowned out by the special interest groups. Banks and businesses are much more powerful than individuals here, and as you already mentioned they are interested in making money, so they protect their own interests at the expense of the individual.
Yes there is a lot of greed and corruption here, but the ones suffering from that greed and corruption are rarely the ones who instituted it in the first place.

By: Beelzebub

Beelzebub — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:51:01 +0000

Yes, because Americans chose this. Public opinion wasn’t manipulated by moneyed interests while opposing points of view were ridiculed as idealistic and unworkable. Nope. Not one bit.

Actually, if you believed that, you would be wrong. Just so you know.

By: anežka

anežka — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:17:44 +0000

Well, that post of mine that you were referring to seems to be censored for whatever reason again. I guess some degree of anti-americanism as a taboo point of view here in Sociological Images.

Anyhow, from individual point of view these things are always a tragedy. This case being one of the most disturbing ones I have seen. But then again, from broader sociological perspective companies behaving like this is undoubtedly a result of the values that USA has or has had as a nation. I do not think that it is completely fair to blame these insurance companies. Yes, they are completely morally corrupt. But in the end of the day they are just businesses making money by whatever means legal, not to worry about moral issues. If americans did not want these things they would not have voted for politicians with excessively liberal market policies. I guess the outrage here is about the “victims” –cannot really say a victim if this was legally correct thing– of these companies being US citizen, for once. To me it seems that these fair people just get what is coming for them.