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Baby Lange Labeled Too Fat by Insurance Company
October 13, 2009 by Cathy Ribble
Filed under Baby Health, News
Baby Alex Lange with Mother Kelli Lange
Baby Alex Lange is only 4 months old, but he has already been labeled “fat” and “chubby” by his insurance company. Alex is now 25 inches long and weighs 18-19 pounds.
His family applied for coverage with insurance company Rocky Mountain Health Insurance Plans because their previous carrier had raised rates by 40% after Alex was born. Rocky Mountain initially denied coverage for the baby saying he was too big a risk. Rocky Mountain claimed he had a “preexisting condition” of obesity.
Sometimes knowing the right people counts! Baby Alex has connections in television. His dad is Colorado Channel 11 News Live Today Anchor Bernie Lange. The family decided to fight for their son’s health insurance and took their story to the media. This morning the story was featured on The Today Show.
Kelli Lange breastfeeds Baby Alex, and she has not changed how she feeds him because of the insurance company’s action. Alex falls in the 99th percentile on growth curves for his age based on his height and weight.
Alex’s father, Bernie Lange has told reporters, “We can’t put him on the Atkins diet or on a treadmill.” The insurance underwriters for Rocky Mountain said this is the first time they had ever actually rejected a baby based on the industry standard of denying coverage to new patients above the 95th percentile. Rocky Mountain Health Plans has now changed its decision and granted baby Alex coverage.
The insurance company’s medical director, Dr. Doug Speedie, told reporters it is possible for a baby to be above the 95th percentile and still be healthy. He admitted the system is flawed.
Dr. Nancy Snyderman, chief medical editor for NBC, has expressed her concern about the insurance company’s rationale. Growth curves are simply charts. Dr. Snyderman stated that someone has to be the 0, and someone has to be the 100. She believes it is crazy to deny coverage of an infant because of something that begins before the child is born. Dr. Snyderman has a nephew who has never been able to obtain coverage because of a medical condition present at birth. People without healthcare insurance often have to wait until a crisis develops before they come to a doctor. That often leads to higher medical expenses for something that could have been treated easily if medical intervention had occurred earlier. She believes changes are needed, and that insurance companies can no longer use pre-existing conditions as a way of combating rising medical care costs.
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