Background
The use of medical underwriting by health insurers denies children access to the health care system. Pre-existing condition exclusions clauses, waiting periods, medical testing for insurability, and rated premiums are accelerating in use.
A new and disturbing trend occurring in the health insurance market is the use of these medical underwriting techniques to deny coverage for children with common childhood illnesses.
To aggressively counter the inappropriate use of medical underwriting techniques by health insurers, the AAP's Committee on Child Health Financing developed this statement to: (1) support legislation and AAP advocacy efforts in this area; (2) inform parents of the use of pre-existing conditions exclusion clauses; and (3) educate pediatricians on how their practice is affected by medical underwriting detrimental to children.
