(Thumbnail image from The Guardian)
An insurance company in Colorado denied a baby health insurance because he was “too fat." Baby Alex weighs 17 pounds at four months, and doctors say he is healthy. After much media coverage, Rocky Mountain Health Plans revised its policy, but media sources are unanimously appalled by the health insurance system. We bring you perspectives from The Ed Show, KKCO, WFOR, MSNBC and FOX News.
Host of The Ed Show, Ed Schultz, says that insurance companies only care about making money.
“Baby Alex is going to get health care coverage -- that’s great news. But don’t lose sight of the bigger picture and the bigger problem here folks: that an insurance bureaucrat is always between you and your doctor. And their job is to take care of their profits, not you and your family.”
Colorado’s KKCO speaks with a representative from Rocky Mountain Health Plans who says that since insurance is based on statistics, companies have to go on what works for the masses, not for individual cases.
“Unfortunately when we try to sell people insurance… we have to… a number has to be used as a cutoff.”
An anchor on South Florida’s WFOR says such policy exemplifies why some are calling for health care reform.
“It’s interesting apparently, that insurance company said that most insurance companies do not cover kids over the 95th percentile for weight. That’s interesting, I never knew that. And the mom says it’s not like we can put him on the Atkins diet… or a treadmill. A lot of people are saying this is why we need insurance reform.”
A policy expert on MSNBC says the guidelines are flawed.
“I think that the guidelines that they’ve used were just ridiculous. They just aren’t helping anybody, and actually probably pushing some people into being uninsured.”
Baby Alex’s father tells FOX News that he’s grateful that Rocky Mountain Health Plans changed its policy, but thinks the problem is more pervasive.
“I’m sure there are a lot of other parents of young children and adults themselves, who maybe for some other reason or another, can’t get health coverage, so what about them?”
So, do you think the case of Baby Alex could kick-start health insurance reform?
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