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I broke my hand a few years ago.  I paid $2000 out of pocket while my insurance paid the other $18000.  Are you going to add that to your view, or is it already solidified . 

It is amazing how combative I get in the morning.  I call this my caffeine rage.

That's not too bad.  About 4 years ago I had to have minor surgery on my left hand.  Out of pocket cost was just over $8000, Insurance was kind enough to pay $425.  There are examples of bad experiences with insurance as well as the good.  Bottom line, it shouldn't be this way.

But both you and Lobo were/are in charge of WHICH policies you bought, right?

OR were you covered by some government option type of insurance?

Everyone I know has chosen the policy they want and most of those decisions were made using "how much will I pay out of pocket" as the determining factor:  NOT EVEN "How much will the insurance company pay" because at the point of purchase, the total meds aren't even known so the answer to "how much will the insurance pay" will always be "the rest" at that point before any treatment is sought.

IF you had a choice in which coverages and/or coverage levels to purchase, as is the case with most Americans, you don't get to cast those situations into a "good" or "bad" insurance story:  They are simply what you contracted for.

Now tLIB faced what I would call a "bad" situation:  He got approval before hand, as I understand it, but afterwards, his insurance company wanted to deny the claim.  Now THAT is something we can all rightly say "it shouldn't be this way."  THAT falls under the heading you started out with:  There are good insurers and there are bad insurers."  Fortunately, tLIB did not just roll over and whine:  He fought them and they paid (but he can correct me if I'm wrong).

Now that he's president, if you question his tax policies, energy plans or health-care ambitions, you are “hoping he will fail” — and that, with the help of roundabout reasoning, is tantamount to hoping we cannot transcend race. -Jonah Goldberg, 8/20/09

In my opinion insurance corporations are the great satan that Islam is always talking about, not the US government.

I have NEVER said Wendell Potter's company was the bad one.  What I said was Wendell Potter ONLY KNEW the company he worked for and, even then, was only a Director of Communication and, so, not in any policy-making position with teh company.  But even if everything he said was true, his company's faults do NOT indict an entire industry.

It is so NOT hard to hold insurance companies accountable if you know the policy you purchased from them.  Most all insurance policies are what's called a "contract of adhesion."  That means one party to the contract came up with it ... and the other party just has to stick to it without every having had any input to it.  Because it's a contract of adhesion, the courts will interpret ANY ambiguity in the most favorable terms for the 2nd party (that's you, the insured).

So, you get denied a procedure you know is covered because you did your research before you went in... maybe even checked with your agent or maybe he sent you to the Claims department:  Whatever.  Your first step, of course, is to not let the claim adjuster get away with it.  YOU KNOW it's covered, she says it isn't, she's wrong and you know it whether or not SHE knows it.  Quote the policy to her and if that doesn't work, talk to her supervisor (have her transfer you:  You'll wait).  If she "accidentally" disconnects you, connects you to a dead phone or to the wrong person, or tries to tell you "SHE'S the supervisor" (or an innovation of that one, her supervisor isn't in until next Thursday), talk to ANY supervisor ... and if NO supervisor is around, talk to THE SUPERVISOR'S supervisor.

If you can't get satisfaction at that level, you have a couple of options:  Sue the bastidges for breach of contract (which will get you some relief, but it might take awhile), or file a complaint with, in your case, The California Department of Insurance.  The DOI takes every complaint on as a cause and gives the insurer something like 30 days to respond.  Typically, the insurer will get notice of the complaint and immediately review the file to see if their claim adjuster was right or wrong.  When they are wrong, the supervisor (again, typically) calls the insured, apologizes profusely, and pays the claim.   But, of course, there's a lot of paperwork flying back and forth during this time.

Insurance companies are so heavily regulated, they can't put in new carpeting without 27 people complaining about the noise level in the office.

Now that he's president, if you question his tax policies, energy plans or health-care ambitions, you are “hoping he will fail” — and that, with the help of roundabout reasoning, is tantamount to hoping we cannot transcend race. -Jonah Goldberg, 8/20/09

That's not "my" solution.  I listed it as ONE of the options ... you, of course, snipped it out because it fits the paradigm you've built for yourself.

Read it again.

Now that he's president, if you question his tax policies, energy plans or health-care ambitions, you are “hoping he will fail” — and that, with the help of roundabout reasoning, is tantamount to hoping we cannot transcend race. -Jonah Goldberg, 8/20/09