Insurance Won't Cover Smartphones, When Pricey Alternatives Exist 419
consonant writes "The NY Times has an article on insurers refusing to cover cheaper devices such as iPhones and netbooks which may be used by the speech-impaired, and instead requires them to acquire devices that cost from 10 to 20 times as much. The reason? 'Insurance is supposed to cover medical devices, and smartphones or PCs can be used for nonmedical purposes, like playing video games or Web browsing.' From the article: 'For the millions of Americans with A.L.S., Down syndrome, autism, strokes and other speech-impairing conditions, the insurance industry's aversion to covering mainstream devices adds to the challenges they face. Advocates say using an everyday device to communicate can ease the stigma and fear of making the adjustment. At the same time, current policies mean that the government and private insurers may be spending unnecessary dollars on specialty machines.'"
Re:Ah, American insurers ... (Score:2, Funny)
I haven't heard of them eating puppies yet, but that's only because they haven't found a way to monetize it.
Wow (Score:4, Funny)
like my states new medical marijuana program (Score:3, Funny)
Re:It's government's fault (Score:0, Funny)
Re:IT'S MADONNA'S BIRTHDAY TODAY! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Fraud-bait... tort-bait (Score:3, Funny)
You can tell I grew up in a country with universal healthcare.
No, but I can tell that you threw in a useless addendum to an otherwise insightful post.
Re:Fraud-bait... tort-bait (Score:3, Funny)
If a doctor signs-off, and says "person X has condition Y" and the policy covers condition Y, then anything that does the job of helping with condition Y should be fair game.
Hey, what are you doing, man, talking sense on /.? Don't you know it is a treasonable offense? Go wash your mouth with soap. Or your keyboard, whatever. Just do it!
Say what? (Score:2, Funny)
I'm a little surprised to hear the iPhone referred to as a "low end" device.
The rest of the summary makes me think what it would be like if the Auto Industry did the same. Isn't that ludicrous? It seems like the cell phone insurance industry should be sued. Insurance is insurance, if I pay to have my device insured -- that exactly what I expect. That's what I pay for.
Re:like my states new medical marijuana program (Score:4, Funny)
If, like the iPhone, marijuana was legal without a medical claim, the number of frauds would fall off.
This is the United States... (Score:3, Funny)
We don't have sensible health care coverage here. Maybe soon, but not now.
Re:Fraud or stupidity (Score:3, Funny)
"...And then I had this dream that my whole family was just cartoon characters, and that our success had led to some crazy propaganda network called 'Fox News'."
Best. Simpsons. Quote. Ever. (Though IMHO Fox is a symptom of the problem, not the cause.)