From 2007 to 2009, the four largest for-profit health insurance companies denied one in seven applicants due to medical history, according to a congressional report released Tuesday.
In 2007, 172,400 applicants were rejected; by 2009, the number of denials had grown roughly 50 percent to 257,100. A total of 650,000 applicants were denied health insurance over the three-year period.
The denials affected those with pre-existing conditions seeking to purchase health insurance on the individual market. In some cases, applicants with a pre-existing condition may be approved for a policy which excludes coverage for ailments that predate enrollment.
Beginning in 2014, new health care legislation will make it illegal for insurers to deny applicants based on a pre-existing condition.
The report estimates that 15.7 million Americans were covered under an individual health insurance policy in 2008.
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