Death by Spreadsheet - is there any liability?

[tinrobot]

So, when a health insurance company rescinds coverage to someone who is sick and then dies, what are the legal consequences - particularly when the coverage was wrongly rescinded (there have been many cases)

Is the health insurance company/employee who wrongly denied coverage in any way responsible for the death from a legal standpoint? Could the employee be tried criminally for murder or manslaughter? Could the employee or company be held responsible in a wrongful death suit in civil court?

Personally, I think these insurance companies are directly responsible for people's deaths, sometimes to the point of murder, but I don't see them being held responsible for those deaths in any way.

[liberalhistorian]

1. I think hospitals, clinics and medical professionals who refuse

to treat people whose insurance has been dropped or who are uninsured should definitely share in the liability as well.

[Cleita]

6. Not really. That's what the insurers would like. It absolves them of the

responsibility of killing someone because they denied coverage and private practitioners, clinics and hospitals can't absorb the cost of this without overcharging those who can pay. This is the system we have today. We need a system that gets people the health care they need regardless of their ability to pay and that pays those who deliver the health care. A system like that doesn't need middle men insurers who are taking money but not delivering health care. Really, there is no place for insurance in genuine health care reform.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

2. It's all in the contract

the insured signed with the insurance company.

I suspect that document contains every possible out for the insurance company, making it just about impossible for the survivors to sue them.........................

[billyoc]

3. The spend hundreds of millions to develop that fine print in the contract you accepted.

That's not to say that there *isn't* any liability, only that they've put a lot of thought into it.

[drm604]

4. What if it's your child?

Can you sign away someone's liability for harm to your child?

[billyoc]

7. I have no idea, because I can't make heads or tails of that sanskrit.

[drm604]

8. But I don't think the sanskrit matters.

Regardless of what it says I don't think that you can legally sign away someone's liability for harming a person other than yourself. Only the person harmed can do that, and a minor can't be held to a contract even if they were to sign it.

[billyoc]

10. Oh! I'm thick. I see what you mean, how can I sign away someone *else's* rights?

Excellent line of reasoning.

[Cleita]

5. I really think they should be charged with negligent homicide.

I don't know who the brave prosecutor is going to be that can bring up a case about it, but truthfully that is what it is.

[drm604]

9. If I'm not mistaken, all he has to do is convince a jury

and that shouldn't be difficult with the right case.