Health insurance across America is leaving many without adequate coverage, a recent report said.

Families USA, a national organization for health care consumers, released Thursday the first 50-state survey of states' regulatory oversight, revealing that a majority of consumers have few rights and state protections.

The survey, which was presented to each state's insurance commissioner, was composed of 14 questions, touching on such subjects as whether or not the state prevents insurance companies from revoking coverage, denying coverage to people with pre-existing health conditions and extorting premium limits.

Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said the survey was put in place to educate consumers about what was available to them and hopefully to get legislation in motion.

"The report examines on a state-by-state basis the protections that do and don't exist," Pollack said. "Unfortunately, there are many insurance company abuses."

Pollack announced there are five main areas of popular interest among consumers. They include whether or not a consumer can get coverage with a previous health condition, premium amounts, denial of coverage for a pre-existing condition, revoked coverage and appeal rights in the event of a revocation.

The findings revealed that only five states prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage to certain individuals, or "cherry picking."

In 35 states and the District of Columbia, there are no limits to how much insurance companies can raise premiums based on health conditions.

In 21 states and D.C. insurance companies can exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions.

In 44 states and D.C. insurance companies can revoke a policy without advanced review by the state.

And, finally, in 29 states and D.C. insurers are allowed to deny claims to current customers who have medical conditions, alleging that they customer should have known about the "pre-existing" condition.

"There are two important lessons to be learned from this survey," Pollack said. "The health insurance market has many abuses and there is very little being done to correct these abuses."

Nevada, according to the survey, does not require insurers to sell coverage to all applicants, does not require affordable coverage alternatives for uninsurables and does not require a state review of insurers' request to revoke coverage.

Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Attorney General, works for the state helping people gain access health care despite denials from insurance companies. He said he feels strongly that the system is flawed.

"A great contribution of this survey is the fact that not only do we need more insurance, but also good insurance," Blumenthal said. "So often we confuse the two and accept any insurance as adequate, but there can be very severe abuse in that."

Blumenthal said he is working to push legislation in Connecticut to remedy the shortcomings that this survey has found.

"Right now, we are only reaching a small fraction of many individuals who need this protection around the country," Blumenthal said. "For a nation that is civilized like ours, we should not permit this."

For more information about this survey's findings, visit the Families USA Web site at www.familiesUSA.org.