No Going Back!
Infant Denied Health Insurance Because "Obese"
In case we needed further proof that Health Care is getting out of control, a story out of Denver is guaranteed to make you march up to Congress.
The Denver Post is reporting that four-month-old Alex Lange has be denied health insurance because of what the insurance carrier feels that little Alex has a "pre-existing condition-obesity."
Little Alex was born what is considered a normal baby at 8 1/4 pounds. He has been strictly on a breast milk diet since birth and is now in the 99th percentile for height and weight for babies his age.
"I could understand if we could control what he's eating. But he's 4 months old. He's breast-feeding. We can't put him on the Atkins diet or on a treadmill," Alex's father, Bernie Lange, told the Post. "There is just something absurd about denying an infant."
Alex's mother, Kelli Lange, added, "I'm not going to have him screaming because he's hungry."
Really? It has come to this? Mothers are lectured that breast milk is the best method for feeding a baby because it keeps them healthy. Now this mom can not get insurance?
It is reported that insurance companies do not accept babies for coverage if they are even in the 95th percentile.
The good news is that the insurance company had a change of heart after the Post broke the story.
"A recent situation in which we denied coverage to a heavy, yet healthy, infant brought to our attention a flaw in our underwriting system for approving infants," said Steve ErkenBrack, president and CEO of Rocky Mountain Health Plans in the Post. "We have changed our policy, corrected our underwriting guidelines and are working to notify the parents of the infant who we earlier denied."
The bad news is that this is the state of healthcare. Adults face the same issues. Any adult who has a body mass index of 30 and above is also denied coverage.
But we do not need reform right?
Article submitted Tuesday, October 13, 2009 & read 455194 times.
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