Parents of "chunky"("too fat" 4 mo old denied insurance) infant weigh in on health insurance reform

[kpete]

Source: Denver Post

Parents of "chunky" infant weigh in on health insurance reform
Frustrated parents of a big infant who is being denied insurance view the system as "absurd."
By Nancy Lofholm
The Denver Post

GRAND JUNCTION — Alex Lange is a chubby, dimpled, healthy and happy 4-month-old.

But in the cold, calculating numbered charts of insurance companies, he is fat. That's why he is being turned down for health insurance. And that's why he is a weighty symbol of a problem in the health care reform debate.

Insurance companies can turn down people with pre-existing conditions who aren't covered in a group health care plan.

Alex's pre-existing condition — "obesity" — makes him a financial risk. Health insurance reform measures are trying to do away with such denials that come from a process called "underwriting."

Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13530098

[zonkers]

1. They'd have a field day with this kid....

http://videogum.com/archives/backlashes/everybody-freak-out-about-this-1_051691.html

[jemsan]

5. My son at 3 mos weighed 18.5 lbs, totally breastfed...

He's now 34 years old, 6 ft 2 in, and has never had a weight problem!! Another example of the greedy health insurance companies looking for an excuse.

[etherealtruth]

26. My youngest was exclusively breastfed ...

... (as were all of my children)and was a very chubby (read fat) baby. He is now a very solid (almost) 14 year old football player that no one would consider fat (much less obese). Excluding an infant for a "pre-existing" condition such of this, is nothing less than corporate greed.

[hedgehog]

2. At 17#, 25 inches, his BMI is 19.1. He may be at the 99th percentile

for infants his age, but he is not obese. Overweight starts at a BMI of 25, obesity at 30. He'd have to weigh 27 # to be obese!

[XemaSab]

12. Does BMI even count with babies?

Babies are supposed to be fat.

If a baby is thin, then there's something wrong. :(

[hedgehog]

14. I think that folk wisdom recognizes that at different stages

of life we are built differently. I suspect the chubbiness we associate with healthy babies is not the same thing as similar chubbiness in an adult at all.

[tblue37]

36. Not necessarily. Both my kids were thin babies, but also very healthy.

Both are very athletic and thin adults, too--but very healthy. They run marathons.

A lot of it is genetic. Thin babies run in my family.

[rebecca_herman]

39. thin babies can be perfectly healthy

I've known chubby babies and thin babies, and most were healthy, I think it's more about if they are maintaining their own growth rate rather than if they are on the skinnier or heavier side for their age.

[StatGirl]

20. Actually, you can't apply adult cutoffs to children . . .

Children's BMI is generally lower than that of adults, so the cutoff for the 95th or 99th percentiles are also lower.

According to the WHO Growth standards based on a worldwide sample of breastfed children, see http://www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/wfl_boys_0_2_percentiles.txt, this child is somewhere between the 95th and 97th percentiles for weight-for-length.

Nothing wrong with that, and if a sociopath were capable of being ashamed, I'd say this insurance company should be ashamed of itself for thinking that the concept of "obesity" applies to a child who hasn't developed enough to be physically active. Since shame isn't possible, regulation is clearly necessary.

[Peace Patriot]

3. Good God! That is TERRIBLE! nt

[kestrel91316]

4. My BIL, who is as healthy as a horse and a runner to boot, has two chronic

(but well managed) health issues that he takes medication for. He is pretty much stuck forever in the job he has had for nearly 30 years already, because if he left, he'd be uninsurable. Good thing he loves his job and wouldn't leave anyway - he's a nuclear pharmacist.

My niece is 24 and out of college now, and has inherited one of his chronic conditions, which is well managed. She has only a catastrophic care package, but is otherwise uninsured. And probably uninsurable if she ever drops that package.

I have no medical insurance. My area has the highest permiums in the nation. Good thing I am in good health so far. I am under the Republican "Don't Get Sick" Plan.

I love Amurka.

[Warpy]

6. They did well to go to the media

especially since their pediatrician didn't voice any concerns about the kiddo's weight gain.

It's just more proof that insurance companies are going to do anything they can to deny us coverage, care, and reimbursement to load the bottom line and fatten the executives. I often think all the former Enron sleazebuckets flocked to health care when Enron went under.

The sooner those bastards are all out of business, the better.

[Bette Noir]

7. How can his weight be "pre-existing"?

Just a few months ago, the Right would have fought for him vigorously.

[madmom]

8. When my son was born he was 24 1/2 " long and weighed 11 + lbs, I was

told by a pediatrician (not mine) that he "would probably die young because he is so big" That was while I was still in the hospital from having him. Today he is 36, 6'4" 180 lbs and healthy as a horse. He stayed "chunky" up until he started to become active and was always active after that. So these nay saying ass wipes can go fuck themselves as ch**ey so eloquently put it.

[EFerrari]

11. My son was almost that and he kept doubling his weight

until he started walking -- at 7 months. (Edit: or that's what I remember , the nurses grabbing him to show off in the office). He's trim and fit at 32 and has never had a problem with weight :crazy:

[pattmarty]

9. Put 'em out of business, Medicare for all!!!!!!!!

[Vinca]

10. A million years ago when I was in nursing school

(didn't finish, hated it), I remember being told that newborns who were much larger than normal were apt to have underlying physical problems. If people with acne can't get coverage, fat babies are definitely out.

[Quantess]

13. The article said he weighed just over 8 lbs at birth.

But now he's a big, chubby, 4 month old.

Once he starts walking, he'll most likely be as fit as any other kid.
I don't think you can make any predictions about future obesity, based on a 4 month old baby's weight.

[hedgehog]

15. Take two infants, both weighing 9 pounds. One has a father who is six foot tall, and

that infant is perfectly healthy. The other has a mother who suffered from Gestational Diabetes, and that baby may have problems. Weight is only one factor in evaluating the health of the infant. Being larger or smaller than normal may be a flag for further investigation but I don't think it is diagnostic in and of itself.

[pitohui]

18. this has turned out to be the case w. a lady i know

her baby was freakishly big and ate constantly, i could see right away that something was wrong w. him although i don't know what the ultimate dx will be

he has severe psychiatric issues that has put another of her children in physical danger

[Sheltiemama]

32. That rings a bell.

I remember reading a magazine article about a condition that causes children to eat constantly, to the point that their parents have to padlock the refrigerator and cabinets. I can't remember the name of it, though.

[SharonAnn]

37. Prader-Willi syndrome. It's a horrible disease.

[bertman]

16. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!! And our elected "representatives" just can't seem to get the

need for reform into their thick, corporate-sponsored skulls.

Recommend.

[Nikia]

17. I'm glad that we didn't have that insurance

My baby, exclusively breast fed, was at the 95th percentile or higher in weight at his 2 month, 4 month, and 6 month appointment. He's slimming down as a more active baby. This isn't unusual for babies. Insurance has no business to deny insurance to heavier young children. For many children, it is part of their normal growth and development and efforts to decrease their weight would be more harmful to their health.

[hedgehog]

22. Are there two sets of charts for babies who are breast fed vs babies who are bottle fed?

[StatGirl]

38. There are older charts and newer charts

The oldest standard I know of is the NCHS 1978 charts, which were based on a sample of mostly formula-fed babies from Iowa.

In 2000, CDC came out with a revised set of charts which were based on a larger sample and more sophisticated models, see http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/clinical_charts.htm, but I think the infant sample was still primarily bottle-fed. (It may have been the same set of kids out of Iowa; I'm not sure.)

Around the same time, the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study was collecting data on breastfed children of well-off parents at a number of different sites around the world. The idea was to chart the growth trajectory of children who had all the educational, nutritional, and health care advantages and were breastfed according to recommendations. It was already known that breastfed and formula-fed children had different growth trajectories over the first two years of life, particularly in weight. See http://www.who.int/childgrowth/mgrs/en/ for information on that.

The new charts and tables, based on breastfed children, came out a couple of years ago, and both breastfed and formula-fed children can be measured against this reference.

[hedgehog]

41. I don't have time to research this, but I am curious: do you

have any idea if different ethnic groups have different curves. In recent years, it has been observed that genes have some capacity to "remember", that if for example there were dry conditions for a generation, the genes remember this and one set expresses in the next generation and if there were wet conditions another set expresses. If there have been several generations of steady food supply I'd expect babies to have one growth pattern. If there is a history of a famine or recurring famine, I'd expect babies to have another.

[StatGirl]

44. I'm not aware of any studies that have enough data . . .

. . . on different ethnic groups. I do know that children in some poorer countries tend to be taller than children in other poor countries, and others display the "short and stocky" body type. But whether it's genetic, or due to under-nutrition (perhaps generational as you point out), I don't know. But I'm not up on all the research.

[hedgehog]

46. It's research that's just begining, and I suspect it will take a couple

of centuries to really put the story together.

[cleverusername]

19. Baby fat is under attack now?

My exclusively breast-fed baby was affectionately dubbed "Bowling Ball Baby" by his pediatrician. His pediatrician was not concerned about it. Now, he's a skinny teen and I'm trying to fatten him up a little.

[chatnoir]

31. "Bowling Ball Baby"

Omg, LOVE it... :D

[valerief]

21. I guess if insurance companies deny everyone medical insurance, then we can all get SINGLE PAYER!!!!

:applause:

[WCIL]

23. My daughter was off the weight charts for years

She was a relatively small 6lbs 14 oz when she was born, but was 32 pounds on her first birthday. She was just hungry, she had no underlying medical condition. She stayed a little on the heavy side until puberty when she shot up to 5'6'' but only weighed 98 pounds. She saw the doctor far more often (and I worried far more often) as a slight teen than as a fat baby. As a child she saw the doctor only for a yearly check-up and some early ear infections. As a teen, she was in at least 6 times a year with bronchitis, pnuemonia, sinus infections - whatever was going around she got and it usually developed into something worse.

Now a young woman, my daughter has put on some weight and her health has improved dramatically.

[Brickbat]

24. My son weighed 20 pounds at almost three months on breast milk alone.

My doctor joked, what, do you eat Haagen-Daas all day?

This story is sick. So we're labeling babies now? WTF?

[Sinti]

25. There must be some law that can be applied

to put this outfit out of business. They are not providing insurance as an offering for the public good from which they also make a profit - it's more like a shell game. It's a total con, and I'm not being hyperbolic. I'm pretty sure there's some kind of fraud statute, or at least false advertising, they could be hit with.

GRRR.... I don't like to feel angry, but for goodness sake, this need to be stopped. As if they could "use" the insurance if anything happened, anyway - usually if you get sick the company won't pay for half of what it costs, aside from deductibles.

[moc]

27. It's VERY common for the growth curve of BF'd babies in the first six months to be much faster than

formula-fed babies. Typically, what we see is a faster growth trajectory prior to six months that flattens out thereafter. The truth is that breastfed infants have a LOWER risk of obesity, not higher

Dumb ass insurance company. :mad:

[gkhouston]

43. Man, you aren't kidding about the growth curve. I had a preemie who went from

45th percentile at birth to 75th at one month to 95th at two months and she's pretty much been in the 90th/95th percentile her whole life. As she's gotten older, the weight's dropped to the 75th/80th percent, but she's still tall. Good thing my relatives send lots of clothes!

[fortyfeetunder]

28. Good f'n grief!

I think the insurance company needs to be hit upside the head with a CLUE by FOUR.

What is an exclusively breastfed baby supposed to look like?
He appears to be chubby because he can't WALK yet!

[aikoaiko]

30. clue by four. i like that

[Trillo]

29. How long before the ULtimate Denial? Birth.

Since you were born, you will die, so we cannot insure you. Too much risk.

Sounds like we need Single Payer Medicare for All.

[gwsuperfan]

33. Pre-existing condition: ALIVE

n/t

[TexasObserver]

34. Shocking, but to be expected.

The fundamental problem in America is a broken health care system, with virtually no regulation by government of quality or costs.

If we don't take it back, our lives will be run by health insurance companies from the cradle to the grave.

[The abyss]

35. Well beyond the cusp-of-madness

[FunkyLeprechaun]

40. I told this to my mum

and she told me another ridiculous health insurance story. A friend of ours divorced and lost her health insurance as a result (her ex-husband's job provided the insurance). She went on BC/BS just fine except for the fact that she has skin cancer (BC/BS won't cover it because they consider it a preexisting condition). She was just at her dermatologist's appointment and they saw a spot that looked like melanoma and wanted to do a biopsy. She told them she couldn't afford the biopsy and her insurance won't cover it.

I sincerely hope health care reform comes quickly for you Americans. I lost my American health insurance three months before I moved to the UK because my dad's family plan refused to cover me because they thought I was too old to be on it (even though I was a student and still living at home).

The greedy health insurance companies have to be stopped.

[Hepburn]

42. I read another article on this ~~ if the baby is too TALL...yep, coverage denied.

So, a very tall Mom like me is suppose to have a short baby? :shrug:

As if there weren't enough problems with health insurance companies: a new report reveals that insurance companies now deny coverage to babies that are above the 95th percentile for height or weight after they are born, effectively considering their size a "pre-existing condition." (Emphasis added)

http://rawstory.com/2009/10/insurer-refuses-to-cover-baby-says-hes-too-fat/

A baby is too tall??? WTF???

[Lars39]

45. My first born would have had coverage denied.

He was *always* in the the 99th percentile for height and weight. He's now normal height for our family...6'6".