What a boat, what a ride, what a fantastic week! I *will* go for another cruise
on the "Disney Magic", regardless of the number of kids aboard!

The service, food, entertainment, and atmosphere were much more than I expected.
I had taken three paperbacks to read, along with a new Nikon D70 book, to read
rather than be bored.

I finished none of them.

However, we had some bad news waiting for us. My older daughter underwent an MRI
which showed three breast tumors. Biopsies showed two to be benign, but one is
malignant. Now the younger daughter is very concerned, and wants to have a test
of her genes to determine if she inherited the BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene from her
mother, who died of 'abdominal' cancer. She, however, is concerned that if the
test comes back positive, she will lose her health insurance. Has anyone ever
heard of that?

--
John H

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant:
It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

Ronald Reagan

"PocoLoco" wrote in message
...
What a boat, what a ride, what a fantastic week! I *will* go for another
cruise
on the "Disney Magic", regardless of the number of kids aboard!

The service, food, entertainment, and atmosphere were much more than I
expected.
I had taken three paperbacks to read, along with a new Nikon D70 book, to
read
rather than be bored.

I finished none of them.

However, we had some bad news waiting for us. My older daughter underwent
an MRI
which showed three breast tumors. Biopsies showed two to be benign, but
one is
malignant. Now the younger daughter is very concerned, and wants to have a
test
of her genes to determine if she inherited the BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene from
her
mother, who died of 'abdominal' cancer. She, however, is concerned that if
the
test comes back positive, she will lose her health insurance. Has anyone
ever
heard of that?

--
John H

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant:
It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

Ronald Reagan

Good news......but rather bad news. Sorry to hear about the latter.

"PocoLoco" wrote in message
...
What a boat, what a ride, what a fantastic week! I *will* go for another
cruise
on the "Disney Magic", regardless of the number of kids aboard!

The service, food, entertainment, and atmosphere were much more than I
expected.
I had taken three paperbacks to read, along with a new Nikon D70 book, to
read
rather than be bored.

I finished none of them.

However, we had some bad news waiting for us. My older daughter underwent
an MRI
which showed three breast tumors.



I'm so sorry to hear that John. She is in our prayers.

Biopsies showed two to be benign, but one is
malignant. Now the younger daughter is very concerned, and wants to have a
test
of her genes to determine if she inherited the BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene from
her
mother, who died of 'abdominal' cancer. She, however, is concerned that if
the
test comes back positive, she will lose her health insurance. Has anyone
ever
heard of that?

No. They can't drop her.. If she has group insurance, she can even switch
to another group and can't be turned down. However, if she has individually
medically underwritten insurance, she'll have a hard time switching
insurance plans if she ever decided to switch later on.

"NOYB" wrote in message
ink.net...

"PocoLoco" wrote in message
...
What a boat, what a ride, what a fantastic week! I *will* go for another
cruise
on the "Disney Magic", regardless of the number of kids aboard!

The service, food, entertainment, and atmosphere were much more than I
expected.
I had taken three paperbacks to read, along with a new Nikon D70 book, to
read
rather than be bored.

I finished none of them.

However, we had some bad news waiting for us. My older daughter underwent
an MRI
which showed three breast tumors.



I'm so sorry to hear that John. She is in our prayers.

Indeed.

On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 01:44:37 GMT, Shortwave Sportfishing
wrote:

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 20:35:42 -0500, Harry Krause
wrote:

PocoLoco wrote:
What a boat, what a ride, what a fantastic week! I *will* go for another cruise
on the "Disney Magic", regardless of the number of kids aboard!

The service, food, entertainment, and atmosphere were much more than I expected.
I had taken three paperbacks to read, along with a new Nikon D70 book, to read
rather than be bored.

I finished none of them.

However, we had some bad news waiting for us. My older daughter underwent an MRI
which showed three breast tumors. Biopsies showed two to be benign, but one is
malignant. Now the younger daughter is very concerned, and wants to have a test
of her genes to determine if she inherited the BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene from her
mother, who died of 'abdominal' cancer. She, however, is concerned that if the
test comes back positive, she will lose her health insurance. Has anyone ever
heard of that?

Sorry to hear of your familial problems, John. Hope your daughter has a
successful outcome.

As to your younger daughter's concern, it is very real. Some employers,
future employers and insurance companies show an undue interest in the
health of their employees or prospective employees. Your daughter should
arrange to take the test anonymously, with absolutely no recording of
her personal particulars. She'll pay for the test herself, of course,
but no one need know of the results but the young woman.

Why do I know about this?

Let's just say I've spent more than 10 years as a consultant to
companies offering health insurance, and while they did not
discriminate, I saw case histories of competing insurers who did.
Since them, more employers have gotten into the act of snooping into
worker health records. Certain forms of discrimination on such a basis
is illegal, but it still happens.

I second Harry's advice.

If she is that concerned, have it done anonymously paid for by her for
herself only.

Then again, why take the test? She could carry the gene and never
have BC - what's it going to prove?

Perhaps she needs to increase her awareness of changes and
possibilities, but perhaps it's better not to know.

Thanks for quoting Harry's response. It seems to lend credence to what my
daughter has heard.

If one tests positive for the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, their chances of getting
breast and/or ovarian cancer are many times higher than for those who test
negative. One can then decide to have a prophylactic double mastectomy and
hysterectomy, which greatly reduces the chances of either forms of cancer.

--
John H

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant:
It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

Ronald Reagan

On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 01:47:33 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:


"PocoLoco" wrote in message
.. .
What a boat, what a ride, what a fantastic week! I *will* go for another
cruise
on the "Disney Magic", regardless of the number of kids aboard!

The service, food, entertainment, and atmosphere were much more than I
expected.
I had taken three paperbacks to read, along with a new Nikon D70 book, to
read
rather than be bored.

I finished none of them.

However, we had some bad news waiting for us. My older daughter underwent
an MRI
which showed three breast tumors.



I'm so sorry to hear that John. She is in our prayers.

Biopsies showed two to be benign, but one is
malignant. Now the younger daughter is very concerned, and wants to have a
test
of her genes to determine if she inherited the BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene from
her
mother, who died of 'abdominal' cancer. She, however, is concerned that if
the
test comes back positive, she will lose her health insurance. Has anyone
ever
heard of that?

No. They can't drop her.. If she has group insurance, she can even switch
to another group and can't be turned down. However, if she has individually
medically underwritten insurance, she'll have a hard time switching
insurance plans if she ever decided to switch later on.



Thanks.

She is in a group plan under her husband's job. He works for a big defense
contractor. I'm glad to hear they can't drop her.

--
John H

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant:
It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

Ronald Reagan

On Sun, 30 Oct 2005 20:53:50 -0500, " *JimH*" wrote:


"NOYB" wrote in message
link.net...

"PocoLoco" wrote in message
...
What a boat, what a ride, what a fantastic week! I *will* go for another
cruise
on the "Disney Magic", regardless of the number of kids aboard!

The service, food, entertainment, and atmosphere were much more than I
expected.
I had taken three paperbacks to read, along with a new Nikon D70 book, to
read
rather than be bored.

I finished none of them.

However, we had some bad news waiting for us. My older daughter underwent
an MRI
which showed three breast tumors.



I'm so sorry to hear that John. She is in our prayers.

Indeed.


Again, thanks!

--
John H

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant:
It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

Ronald Reagan

PocoLoco wrote:
What a boat, what a ride, what a fantastic week! I *will* go for another cruise
on the "Disney Magic", regardless of the number of kids aboard!

The service, food, entertainment, and atmosphere were much more than I expected.
I had taken three paperbacks to read, along with a new Nikon D70 book, to read
rather than be bored.

I finished none of them.

However, we had some bad news waiting for us. My older daughter underwent an MRI
which showed three breast tumors. Biopsies showed two to be benign, but one is
malignant. Now the younger daughter is very concerned, and wants to have a test
of her genes to determine if she inherited the BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene from her
mother, who died of 'abdominal' cancer. She, however, is concerned that if the
test comes back positive, she will lose her health insurance. Has anyone ever
heard of that?

--
John H

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant:
It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

Ronald Reagan


Oh crap, John. Very sorry to hear about your daughter. (I had no idea
you were a widower).

In what state does your daughter reside? I would think each state
insurance commissioner and statutes will vary just a bit on what her
patient's rights are going to be. My sister-in-law, at age 56, has
consumed a few million dollars worth of medical care (seriously) due to
a heart condition. She has reached the "lifetime maximum" with a couple
of companies- but just her good luck, each time she does the
organization she works for changes hands and she gets a "fresh start".

Odds are that her current insurance company cannot just dump her, but
if she ever loses coverage due to firing, layoff, company bankruptcy,
etc she might, in some cases, have some difficulty getting a private
policy on her own. Several years ago we passed alaw in Washington that
said people who lost group medical insurance had the right to buy
private insurance (at a market rate) and could not be turned down for a
pre-existing condition. Several insurance companies left the state as a
result. (Good riddance).

Best wishes for your daughters successful treatment and a full
recovery. They are treating cancer far more effectively than ever
before- but even so it's a rigorous and demanding course of treatment
and it won't be easy for her.

Tell your younger daughter to get an annual mammogram, (if she isn't
doing so already), and to hope that some of the very latest news about
a promising "vaccine" to prevent breast cancer might bear fruit.

"PocoLoco" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 01:47:33 GMT, "NOYB" wrote:


"PocoLoco" wrote in message
. ..
What a boat, what a ride, what a fantastic week! I *will* go for another
cruise
on the "Disney Magic", regardless of the number of kids aboard!

The service, food, entertainment, and atmosphere were much more than I
expected.
I had taken three paperbacks to read, along with a new Nikon D70 book,
to
read
rather than be bored.

I finished none of them.

However, we had some bad news waiting for us. My older daughter
underwent
an MRI
which showed three breast tumors.



I'm so sorry to hear that John. She is in our prayers.

Biopsies showed two to be benign, but one is
malignant. Now the younger daughter is very concerned, and wants to have
a
test
of her genes to determine if she inherited the BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene from
her
mother, who died of 'abdominal' cancer. She, however, is concerned that
if
the
test comes back positive, she will lose her health insurance. Has anyone
ever
heard of that?

No. They can't drop her.. If she has group insurance, she can even switch
to another group and can't be turned down. However, if she has
individually
medically underwritten insurance, she'll have a hard time switching
insurance plans if she ever decided to switch later on.



Thanks.

She is in a group plan under her husband's job. He works for a big defense
contractor. I'm glad to hear they can't drop her.


Nondiscrimination - A requirement that group health plans not discriminate
against you based on your health status. Your coverage under a group health
plan cannot be denied or restricted, nor can you be charged a higher
premium, due to your health status. Group health plans can restrict your
coverage based on other factors (such as part time employment) that are
unrelated to health status.

http://www.cobrahealth.com/insurancedefinitions.html

PocoLoco wrote:
snip..
However, we had some bad news waiting for us. My older daughter underwent an MRI
which showed three breast tumors. Biopsies showed two to be benign, but one is
malignant. Now the younger daughter is very concerned, and wants to have a test
of her genes to determine if she inherited the BRAC1 or BRAC2 gene from her
mother, who died of 'abdominal' cancer. She, however, is concerned that if the
test comes back positive, she will lose her health insurance. Has anyone ever
heard of that?


Sorry to hear that John. I hope she gets through this with a minimum of
problems. We had our scare last summer when my wife went to a
specialist who discovered polyps in the uterus. They got her in early,
did the partial H deal and she's fine. That seems to be the
trick...catching it early. Best of luck to her.