The Miami Herald asked several other major Florida insurers -- Aetna, Humana and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida -- for copies of their underwriting guides. All refused, saying they contained propriety information and were confidential.

Searching the Web, The Miami Herald found underwriting guidelines for Coventry Health Care, which owns Vista; Wellpoint; Assurant Health; and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska.

Among the health problems that the guides say should be rejected: diabetes, hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, quadriplegia, Parkinson's disease and AIDS/HIV.

Some guides echo Nebraska's warning on the Web that it's "intended as a reference tool only, " with final decisions made by managers.

COVERAGE VARIES

Insurers have different criteria. Sleep apnea and fainting for no known cause are reasons for denial for the Nebraska plan, but not for other plans. Vista doesn't want to cover severe acne, but other guides seen don't mention it. Insurers often use measures of body mass index to reject those who are too heavy or too thin.

For cancer, the key is how patients have been doing in remission. Wellpoint, a national insurer, rejects applicants who have had breast or prostate cancer within the past five years. With other types of cancer, 10 years must have passed. Assurant Health, based in Milwaukee, rejects most patients whose cancer has not been in remission for at least eight years.

Other reasons for automatic denial by various companies: alcohol-related problems of people who have not been abstinent for at least six years, chronic bronchitis, severe migraines, and a cardiac pacemaker installed within the last two years.

Some insurers will automatically reject applicants who are using certain prescription drugs. Wellpoint denies anyone who within the past year has taken Abilify and Zyprexa for mental disorders as well as Neupogen, which is used to treat the side effects of chemotherapy. Vista lists the anticoagulant Warfarin and the pain medication Oxycontin. Both companies list insulin.

The medications, of course, are indications of specific health problems. To make sure that applicants are not lying, insurers hire a data-gathering service -- Medical Information Bureau, Milliman's Intelliscript or Ingenix Medpoint.

Intelliscript and Medpoint do computerized searches of a person's drug use, gleaned from pharmacy benefits managers and other databases. The two companies say they comply with privacy laws. "Ingenix requires each Medpoint client to obtain the authorization of the individual applicant or insured person, " said Ingenix spokeswoman Karin Olson.

Last year, the Federal Trade Commission accused both companies of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act by not offering to provide consumers with information about them. The companies agreed to settlements in which they promised to let people see their personal information.

What do they have on you?

By law, data-mining companies are required to tell you what they're telling health insurers about you. To ask for your file, contact:

Ingenix MedPoint Compliance

Write: 2525 Lake Park Blvd., West Valley City, UT 84120

E-mail: MedpointCompliance@ingenix.com

Milliman Intelliscript

Call: 877-211-4816

E-mail: IntelliScriptSupport@milliman.com

Medical Information Bureau

Call: 866-692-6901

NOTE: Milliman and Medical Information Bureau say they will have files on you only if you have applied for individual insurance.