I Was Just Denied Life Insurance — Because I Was Sexually Assaulted-UPDATED
January 15, 2019- I’m pleased to report that my appeal was successful. This should be an example to everyone out there struggling with denials — there is hope. It just takes some courage, organization, and a tenacious spirit. My communication with senior leaders at The Hartford was not fruitful enough to convince them to change their processes (for now) regarding automatic denials based on the first initial form. But nevertheless…. I am relieved to have this coverage, and hope every single day that I never have to use it.
Stay strong, friends. Hope springs eternal.
Original Article:
I was recently eligible to receive life insurance through my husband’s new job. As I’m in transition in my career and all our benefits have now shifted to my husband’s work, I signed up for it, just like I did with our medical, dental, vision, etc. We were sent routine health forms to fill out because you can still be denied coverage for life insurance due to pre-existing conditions. (We didn’t have to fill out anything for our health insurance, #ThanksObama & #ThanksNancy!) So, I filled mine out honestly, and included the fact that I receive treatment for chronic anxiety and insomnia. These are pretty benign conditions, which many people every day are treated for, which don’t increase a person’s chances of premature death, especially when properly treated. My husband is incredibly fit, has no health concerns, and had a pretty blank form. Feeling eager to check a to-do item off my list for that day, I happily handed the forms over to my husband to turn in to HR and didn’t think twice about it.
I was flabbergasted weeks later to receive a letter in the mail from the underwriting life insurance company, The Hartford Group, telling me that I had been denied basic dependent life insurance (half of what my husband is insured for) due to my “Psychiatric, Personality or Bipolar disorder.” The letter stated that this was based solely on my “Personal Health Application.” I couldn’t believe it. I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. Was I really being denied life insurance because I received mental healthcare services? How was my seeking help a risk factor for this insurance company? Wouldn’t I be more of a risk to them if I DIDN’T get help? How could they judge me based on one form? There was no due diligence, no follow up phone call or additional questionnaire to fill out. Just flat out denied for honestly reporting that I receive basic mental health care. (My husband got his letter, and he was all set.)
Knowing how insurance, denials and appeals work for health insurance, and assuming life insurance must be similar, I called to speak to someone regarding this lack luster review process, and seemingly outright discrimination against people receiving mental health treatment. Note: I called to contest this because I know the ins and outs of insurance. Most people who receive this wouldn’t know where to begin, would be so overwhelmed by the process or honestly not have time in their extremely busy lives to fight this seemingly giant insurance company. Most people would stop at this letter, and just assume they would go without any life insurance.
I called the number listed on the letter, which was the main customer service number. I asked to speak to someone about my coverage denial. I spoke with a kind and lovely woman named Vivian, who apologetically told me my only recourse was to write a letter in response to this denial, along with a vague description of the“medical records” I should use for supporting documentation, to “explain myself” to The Hartford Group. She had no idea that I’m a nurse case manager who does nothing but help people navigate and many times fight their insurance companies, or that I was probing to see what kind of information every day people were being given when they called in, brave enough to start the appeals process. She could not tell me exactly what kind of “medical documentation” would suffice in this situation; did they want notes from my psychiatrist, or my primary care doctor, or would recent notes from my gynecologist that has my list of medical conditions be ok? When asked what kinds of things needed to be in my explanation letter, she said “oh, just, you know, explain yourself so the underwriters know about you and your situation. It’s their chance to get to know what your story is.” They were not interested in my situation or story before throwing me under their bus, but now that I’ve decided to fight it, now they care about who I am. And all I can think the whole time is “ordinary, everyday people do not have a chance in this system.” Not knowing these things, not knowing how to do this or what questions to ask is exactly how most people fail when they go up against a machine.
So knowing now that the appeals process consists of me sending back a letter explaining myself to this insurance company, providing “medical records” along with a copy of my denial letter, here we go! I’ve decided to invite the public along for the ride, because I’m so angry and frustrated that I want everyone to see the indignities people are forced to endure to get coverage for basic things, like life insurance. Why do this to myself, put all this out there, and risk negative repercussions? Because if I’m going through this, so are other people. If my story, my example, my bravery can help others, then it will be worth it. And if just maybe this can make companies change their screening process, or make the appeals process less insulting, demeaning or overwhelming, then it will definitely be worth it!
Here goes:
Dear Hartford Group Underwriters,
I was denied dependent supplemental life insurance by your company on December 21, 2018. I had applied as the spouse of a new employee eligible for life insurance through his work. I was told that the rationale for my denial was that I had answered in the affirmative to a history of receiving mental health treatment for anxiety and insomnia, which then triggered my automatic denial of coverage. When calling to ask about the appeals process, I was told that I must write to you and “explain myself.” This seems like a completely degrading task, being forced to give you the details of my extremely painful past in order to justify to you that the mental health treatment that I am receiving is not something that will increase my risk factors for a premature death, which would then of course, cost your company money. But in the event of my unlikely and untimely death, I do not want my family to be without any kind of financial security, so I guess I have no choice.
You asked for an explanation, so here it is:
Right before I turned 16, between my first and second semester of my sophomore year in high school, I was violently sexually assaulted. That experience was so traumatic that my parents, seeing my abrupt and catastrophic change in mood, emotional stability, school performance and basic daily functioning, pulled me out of school to start an intense outpatient psychiatric program. I was placed into a distance learning program in hopes of keeping me on track for graduation. Through some extremely hard work in this therapy, I was able to gain the coping skills I needed to help me navigate my life as I headed into adulthood. Luckily, I am a bit of an autodidact and was able to graduate high school on time. I was able to attend WMU and graduate with my Bachelors of Science in Nursing. Since that time my husband and I were married, we’ve had four beautiful children, and I’ve had a successful career. I’ve even run for public office, twice. I hadn’t needed any additional psychiatric care and was doing well for nearly 17 years.
That was until in October 2017, when the #MeToo movement began to avalanche. I was triggered every single day. I started having flash backs again. I stopped eating. I stopped sleeping. I needed help. My former therapist had long since retired, and the thought of starting all over with someone new was, frankly, exhausting. I put it off as long as possible. There had been times in the past 17 years that I had been concerned about panic attacks and insomnia, but it was never persistent enough that I forced myself to follow through with a new mental health provider. This time was different. I knew I was in trouble and needed help. So I turned to a trusted psychiatrist I knew professionally. Since that time she has been helping me cope with this chronic anxiety and insomnia that I know now that I won’t ever be able to fully shake. But I did the right thing. I asked for help when I needed it.
Having to share this with you, just to beg for basic benefits that come with my husband’s job like dependent life insurance, is humiliating. I would strongly recommend in the future a process improvement. When someone has a troublesome item returned on your basic survey, perhaps a follow up survey to find out more information regarding that particular area of concern is in order, or maybe even a quick phone call to do a phone screening. If you had done that, you would have known that I am no danger to myself or others, and that I put your company at no additional risk for having to pay out a claim. But putting people through the heartache of dealing with a denial for coverage, and asking them to plead their case to you in a cumbersome manner is not an acceptable way to practice.
Enclosed you will find copies of my medical records. I hope they are sufficient for you, as the customer service representative I spoke with was unable to give me a specific item of medical documentation you require.
So, The Hartford Group Underwriters, I hope this letter will suffice as my degrading “explaining of myself”. I am asking you to reconsider your denial of my supplemental life insurance policy. I do not believe the trauma that I will spend the rest of my life coping with increases my chances of dying. In fact, I think I’ve proved that I’m a survivor.
Sincerely,
Julia A. Pulver, RN, BSN, CCM, Survivor
