Home > Heart Surgery Blog > Recovery > Health Insurance Update: An "Auto-Decline" After Heart Surgery At Blue Cross

Health Insurance Update: An "Auto-Decline" After Heart Surgery At Blue Cross

Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Page Last Updated: July 12, 2025

As a follow-up to our ongoing discussion about insurance (health, life) for heart surgery patients, I just inquired about getting health insurance from a local agent here in Los Angeles. The agent asked me some questions, we discussed my heart valve replacement surgery, and then... he went off to look into an individual health insurance policy for me.

Within three hours, the agent called me back saying that an individual policy would (most likely) not be possible. He informed me that when he called Blue Cross, one of the Blue Cross underwriters told him, "If the valve has been touched, it's an Auto Decline!"

My agent then told me that I would need to set up a group policy for coverage. For me, my wife and our son. The cost would be over $1,000 a month.

That's a lot of money! I now know why over 46 million people in the United States don't have health insurance. Then again 99.8% of the uninsured don't have heart valve surgeries in their medical record (which makes it even more expensive).

I'll continue to update you as I learn more.

Written by Adam Pick - Patient & Website Founder

Adam Pick is a heart valve patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. In 2006, Adam founded HeartValveSurgery.com to educate and empower patients. This award-winning website has helped over 10 million people fight heart valve disease. Adam has been featured by the American Heart Association and Medical News Today.

Follow 450K