In Colorado, an insurance company recently denied a baby health care coverage because of a pre-existing condition. Setting aside the question of if it is physically possible for an infant to have a pre-existing condition and what implications that holds for uteruses everywhere, you are probably wondering what condition was so horrible that a child so new his skin was still pruney would be denied insurance. You see, 4-month-old Alex Lange is “obese.”
Look ma! I made the front page!!
Charlotte, I have seen multiple stories on this & it is a tragedy! Nowadays, almost anything is a reason to deny with the insurance companies.
Yes, healthcare is a volatile subject right now & I did a post on it last weekend linking to the Keith Oberman special comment & to freeclinics.us who sponsor the free healthcare clinics around the country.
I don't care what anyone says, nobody should be voting for death over life. Because somebody is richer, that means they live & poorer AND "middle class" die because they can't afford healthcare.
And if you have heard the whistleblower on the insurance companies who has been interviewed on MSNBC and others that have talked to special panels in Washington… pretty scary!
Also, the rhetoric out there is just plain horrible!
Great article, very well written! I can't believe that something like that could LEGALLY happen! I just seems ridiculous! I'm so shocked by it that I'm actually calling family members and telling them to read it and be appauled as well!!
Awesome you for putting a light on it! 🙂
I thought I read on MSN the other day that the insurance company had decided to provide coverage… not that it ever should have been an issue anyways. Even if everyone was at an ideal weight, someone would have to be in the 95th+ percentile, which is the number the company claimed they can't provide coverage.
I lived for two years without insurance after my insurance company wouldn't renew my coverage after I was diagnosed with breast cancer. And of course, no new company would accept me because of my condition. Thank God I have military insurance now!
This boggles the mind.
Thank heavens I live in Canada, where, even though it may not be a perfect system, no babies are denied medical care because they are chunky monkeys.
This is the exact reason why I want to remain in Canada (or if I move, to another country that has nationalized healthcare)- even though presumably I'd have healthcare coverage if I was working as a lawyer, I don't really want to live in a society where others are denied such a basic level of care.
I love my unlimited health care- I am not afraid of getting the flu, because I know if I need to be put in an ICU, I will be. And after being in said hospital, I'd still be able to pay for law school! That being said, the mental health care here does need some serious improvement…
The American system makes no sense- it would be ok if there was a way for everyone to be guaranteed a basic level of insurance from private companies.
I guess it's easy to fault the American system, just because I really like how Canada does it…
Did you know that 'healthcare' is one of the few things that Canadians will get riled up about. Try to take away our hockey or our healthcare, and you will have a riot on your hands.
In addition with finding this insanely messed up, how is it possible to have an ideal weight for someone so young? There tends to be a huge variance at such a young age, and no one in the situation has control over the child's food intake/weight.
Furthermore, this is morally unconscionable. If a baby gets sick, there's a solid chance it could go downhill rapidly, and in a bad way. At least with an adult, they have a developed immune system. What if this baby gets sick and has no health care?
Hmph. I could ramble on for days on this topic.
KUrunner – yes, the company did change their stance after all the media pressure. I cover that as well in my full article!
Can you say freaking ridiculous? What morons! I'm glad they finally changed their minds. Good for you guys, making sure people heard about it. We should all be squeaky wheels more often. 🙂
I just saw this on my news tonight! Crazy. It actually happened to another faimly down here in arizona!
and it's even more crazy cause all three…yes all three of my boys are at least or higher than the 95 percentile!
YAYAYAYAY
(uh
for the front page
not for the content which is appalling.)
YAYAYAYAYAY.
huge blogger coup, woman.
Absolutely hysterical article. Not about the denying-health-coverage, but the tone of your writing. I think the whole thing is ridiculous. Along those lines, I wonder what the cutoff is for being obese as an infant. My daughter was below the charts when she was born (being a whole 6.5 weeks early and weighing 4lbs, 13oz). She caught up by four months, but then she kept going. For a while she was hovering around 92nd for height and weight. Gladly, I didn't get one of those calls about denying coverage. That's just ridiculous. On a side note: I'm glad my daughter tapered off some (she's now almost 2.5 yrs and around the 70th); for a while there I thought I was going to have an Amazonian in my house. Or a Glamazon, if she prefers to be one, as long as she's not like those girls you refereced again the other day. Yikes; tangent ended. Sorry.
-Joshua
http://techparent42.blogspot.com
The people at this insurance company are a bunch of idiots. IDIOTS! The baby is obese? Really? Well in that case, since he also can't walk yet, do they list his inability to walk, read, speak coherently (if at all), and work as "preexisting conditions" too? Being chubby is part of being an infant! Thank GOD babies like this are healthy and chubby and not sick and malnourished, as too many children in too many places in the world are. These people are complete idiots. I feel sick thinking about this, because if there's ever a time for a person to be left alone, it's… DURING INFANCY.
And I love how the insurance company finally relented, but with reservations, still maintaining that while they are correct, they'll make an exception this one time. And doesn't this whole issue beg the question of what's to be done with babies who are born with heart problems or other birth defects (i.e. REAL medical conditions that require action). Would they be denied too? Ugh…
I tried to post on iVillage and it told me I was spam! I was just trying to add to the ridiculousness of this: that maybe he could go on to be the youngest contestant on the Biggest Loser–maybe the next celeb face on the next big diet book, giving new meaning to "lose the baby weight after pregnancy." Apparently, iVillage doesn't think I'm very funny…
WHAT?! I have no other words.
I could go on and on about BMI. I mean, seriously, if they raised my rates because I'm technically considered overweight, I'd be ticked off. I'm a nutritionist's dream – cook my own healthy food, rarely eat out, balanced diet, and TONS of exercise. But yet, I have a BMI of about 26 or 27. Damn muscle.
But at least I can do something about it. If I really wanted to (and I don't), I could severely restrict my food and not work out so much so I could get my weight down (but honestly, I think I look awesome where I am, it's just the scale that they look at though). This baby has no say in the matter. It's not like he can do anything to burn the calories, apart from crying and waving his arms. At his age, he can't even crawl, can he?
How can a baby being chunky be a preexisting condition?
That is utterly rediculous.
At age 3 or 4 then perhaps try and address a child being very overweight…but a 4 month old? Rediculous…
I'm glad I live in Canada when I read about this…
My insurance would be denied now (fer shure). And would have been denied as a baby. I was born at the time when fat babies were considered healthy babies. My youngest brother was a tub-O-lard on his 1st bday. We have pictures of him billowing out of the highchair, cake smeared all over the place. He was 12 lbs when he was born.
Ummm, pre-existing condition. Yeah. Because at 4 months old, they should probably watch their portion sizes of breast milk and get on a regular exercise program (kicks and arm waves?).
Don't get me started on insurance companies. Like why someone like me who is on no medication and sees a doctor just for checkups and pays the same as some of my coworkers who see the doctor once a month or more can't get a nutritionist, trainer, or sports massages (yeah, I know I'm dreaming here) at least partially covered by insurance. Reactive, not preventative medicine.
Yup, the whole insurance/health care system is a real mess! It needs some serious attention paying by all involved, from patients, doctors, right on through the hospitals and insurance companies! If you are not part of the paying attention solution, you are part of the problem!
I tried to comment over at the full articled, but it told me I was SPAM. So I'll comment here.
My son was almost 10 pounds at 1 week old and weighed close to 15 at 4 months. He was off the charts until 6 months, when he started crawling. He, too, was exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months.
Now, he is 3 and is very long and lean and just below the 50th percentile for weight and is at 90th for height.
The healthcare system is SOOOO messed up, it's sad. That poor baby.
I thought this was an interesting story when I saw it on "Today" yesterday – especially after the study that came out a few days ago from Harvard stating that infants that gain weight quickly early in life face weight problems by the time they're toddlers.
Of course I think it was wrong for the insurance company to deny coverage for the baby, but the Harvard study shows that he may face weight problems in the future, which should concern his parents.
It doesn't matter if he's eating breast milk, formula, cake, or vegetables – if he's eating too much, he's going to get too fat, and that's a problem.
GAH!!!!!!!!
I…just…*explodes*