Healthy 2-year-old denied health insurance coverage

[Questioninggeller]

I just saw this:

Too small for insurance
October 21, 2009
By Mike Krumboltz
Yahoo News


Embattled health insurance companies are taking a page from Goldlilocks. Last week, a 4-month-old child was denied insurance for being too heavy (the company has since changed its mind). Now the Web is buzzing about a toddler who was denied coverage for being too small.

On Wednesday morning, "The Today Show" covered the story of 2-year-old Aislin Bates. Though she weighs just 22 pounds (in the third percentile range for kids her age), her doctor has described her as being perfectly healthy, never having been sick with anything more than a cold. Still, United HealthCare didn't buy it, saying that the child didn't meet height and weight standards. So, no insurance for Aislin.

The story has inspired a slew of searches. After the segment aired on NBC, queries on young Aislin surged from zilch into triple digits. United HealthCare is wisely responding to what could be a PR crisis. In an article from Denver's ABC affiliate, a company spokesperson for United HealthCare said the company's height and weight requirements "are based on several medical sources, including the Centers for Disease Control, and are well within industry standards."
...

Full article (with video): Link


Two stories today related to this:

Democrats go after antitrust exemption for health insurers
By DAVID ESPO, AP
Associated Press
October 21, 2009


WASHINGTON – Democrats launched a drive at both ends of the Capitol on Wednesday to strip the insurance industry of its decades-old exemption from federal antitrust laws, part of an increasingly bare-knuckled struggle over landmark health care legislation sought by President Barack Obama.

If enacted, the change would put an end to "price-fixing, bid-rigging and market allocation in the health and medical malpractice" insurance areas, said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy said he would seek a vote on the plan when the Senate debates health care legislation in the next few weeks.
...

Full article: Link

'Die quickly' congressman creates namesofthedead.com; GOP cries foul
Jordan Fabian and Molly Hooper
The Hill
10/21/09 02:53 PM ET


Rep. Alan Grayson, whose "die quickly" remark gained him much attention, has created a new website based on his meme called "namesofthedead.com."

On the site, visitors can log the names and stories of friends and relatives who died because they lacked health insurance. Users are prompted to enter their name, address, zip code and e-mail address, as well as their friend's or relative's name, hometown and story.

"I have created this project in their memory," the site, funded by Grayson, says. "I hope that honoring them will help us end this senseless loss of American lives ... Help us ensure that their legacy is a more just America, where every life that can be saved will be saved."
...
Grayson has frequently cited a Harvard study that claims 44,000 Americans die every year due to lack of health insurance.
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Full article: Link

 

[GreyICE]

You know what? I did disagree with Greyson's presentation.

But I have to think that he still got it wrong. The insurance company's coverage plan is to 'die quickly, preferably on your own dime.' The Republican healthcare plan is to try to protect that system while still claiming their own healthcare plan isn't 'die quickly.'

 

[Fishstick]

bu-bu-but free market and corporate responsibility! How can this be?!