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Infants, Toddlers, & Preschoolers
Denying Health Care for Skinny Kids
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Anonymous
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Our DS is a little skinny, so I find this worrisome.
Apparently, United Health Care was able to deny this 2 year old insurance for being too skinny. Her mom said that she's been following the 3 percentile curve, so she's healthy, just skinny. There's a Today Show clip from yesterday at the bottom of the page: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_hl951 |
Anonymous
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DH brought this story to my attention, as our DD is also in the 3rd percentile. It is scary. However, just about a month ago I had seen a story on MSN about a toddler turned down for insurance because he was chunky.
Health care reform now. |
Anonymous
AGREED! The health care system just sucks as it is. |
Anonymous
| Agreed - especially for my 5% and under boys... |
Anonymous
They mentioned this story in the link. The chunky kid was also in Colorado. Aren't the percentiles just averages? How can everyone be in the 50th percentile? You need some kids that are heavier and some kids that are lighter just to get an average! |
Anonymous
| Not to mention that these averages were determined several decades ago on white European children. My little Asian dude is tiny, but that's just genetic. |
Anonymous
Ha! It is actually worse than that. The CDC charts are based largely on U.S. formula fed kids. They used a bunch of studies to get the average, including a number based on WIC kids -- i.e. low income kids with less than ideal home conditions or diets. WHO charts are based only on breast fed kids with "ideal" home conditions (e.g., no smoking in the home). My DC was 3rd percentile on CDC charts but 15th on the WHO charts. No one is going to call him chunky, and frankly, I agree that he should weigh more than he does, but getting him to sit still long enough to eat is impossible (unless I turn on the TV and let him eat mindlessly, and that seem more likely to result in long term health issues than being on the skinny side). |
Anonymous
| I think the big thing for this case is that the child was in therapy because she is a picky eater. This would give them reason to exclude her with a pre-existing condition. I was under the impression though that as long as one has coverage that doesn't lapse more than 63 days they can't be denied due to a pre-existing condition. |
Anonymous
| I find it appalling that they can turn down health care for any reason. They are KIDS! It's not like they smoked for 20 years and then developed lung cancer. I know, I know, it is to stop people from buying into health care only after their children develop something, but still. We're talking weight here. It is all averages. I have had friends with kids on both ends of the spectrum - and their kids are very healthy - just large or small for their age. |
Anonymous
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to 23:17
If coverage has not lapsed for more than 60 or 63 days (not sure of the exact number), you cannot be denied a HIPPA compliant policy. You can be denied a medically underwritten policy. Generally, a HIPPA compliant policy is double or triple the cost of a medically underwritten policy. And, HIPPA compliant policies are very strict about adherence to the deadline, and have much lower coverage levels. For example, a friend on a HIPPA compliant policy had no/little coverage for asthma Rx, so in addition to premiums of ~$1000 per month (mom + children), she had Rx costs of ~$1000 per month. |
Anonymous
Even though the treatment wasn't prescribed by a doctor? The mom said that it wasn't mandatory; it was just something they wanted to try. So, not a 'prescribed treatment'. What if they had enrolled her in a cooking class for kids because they wanted to get her to try different foods? (just a hypothetical) |
Anonymous
What about kids who go to therapy for language development or motor skills development? My DS is a late talker. The pedi said if he doesn't have enough words by the next appt, we should consider sending him to the County program to get some help. Now, I'm worried that if we do this, he'll get 'labelled' as having a development issue and we'll have insurance coverage issues down the line.  Maybe I should just wait it out before being to quick to sign him up for therapy. But, I definitely don't want him to have issues later with his speech.
What exactly counts as a pre-existing condition. |
Anonymous
| To PP 09:19, he will not have insurance problems down the line! Our preemie was in the county program for more than a year, and it did not change anything... it is so much more important to treat delays in a timely fashion than worry about potential insurance problems in the future! |
Anonymous
| I don't get the pre-existing condition thing. Are kids who have medical issues the ones who need insurance the most? I will never be able to stay home with my kids b/c I get great health care through work. |
Anonymous
| I don't get the pre-existing condition thing. Are kids who have medical issues the ones who need insurance the most? I will never be able to stay home with my kids b/c I get great health care through work. |