Thursday, October 22, 2009

Child Too Small For Health Insurance: What Next? You're Too Tall, Too Short, Too Skinny, Too Fat?


As a mother of an eight year who often gets confused as a kindergartner, reading the news released today of a two year old insurance has denied to cover because she is too small is rather frightening.

Wednesday morning "The Today Show" covered the story of 2-year-old Aislin Bates. With a weight of 22 pounds and in the 3rd percentile of children her age, United Health Care has decided to deny this child insurance. They claim she doesn't meet height and weight requirements of others her age. Her doctor has described her as perfectly healthy; never having been sick with anything more than a cold. [via Yahoo News]

NBC's medical expert Dr. Nancy Snyderman was more pointed in her criticism: “This is just so bogus. A pre-existing condition for a child this age is birth, let’s be real..... This is why things have to change."

Just last month my daughter and I went for her yearly well check up and learned she is in the 5th percentile of her age group. She's always been small and our doctor's have said this is due to us, her parents, being small also. Could she be denied on our next re-up with these companies (and that's what they are: for profit companies)? Will her premium be raised due to this newest addition to what is thought of as a pre-existing condition?

This is enough of health care and their bogus claims of pre-existing conditions. This is the way they get around having to pay for much at all. They can charge astronomical amounts of money a month for coverage and when it's time for them to pay the bill for coverage of routine check ups and doctor's visits because of a colds, they wimp out. In turn, you are denied because of some new addendum to their insurance policy handbook.

So many people are against a universal health care system but the need for legitimate reasons behind the denying of coverage needs to be addressed.

I would love to hear some feedback from those in the insurance industry. Why are these reasons the way they are and do they change on a case by case basis or does it just seem this way?

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