[7][8] In finance, law, and insurance, rescission is the termination of a contract from the beginning (as if it never existed), rendering it void ab initio.
[14] Public awareness of this practice increased during the 2009 US healthcare debate, when it was described colloquially as "cancel coverage when you get sick".
The practice of health insurance rescission was partially limited starting September 23, 2010,[15] following the adoption of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010.
[16] In 2010, it was revealed that WellPoint specifically targeted women with breast cancer for aggressive investigation with the intent to cancel (rescind) their policies.
[17] The disclosures followed the discovery that Assurant Health similarly targeted all recently diagnosed HIV-positive (AIDS) policyholders for rescission.
The software automatically triggered a fraud investigation on every policyholder recently diagnosed with breast cancer and searched for conditions not disclosed in the application.
[17][21] The MIB Group provides a "Follow-up Service" which allows for a "second chance" to underwrite based on additional, discovered information during the contestable period.