It’s so infuriating that I’m going to have to do some deep breathing before I can go find a pic to go with this one…
By the numbers, Alex is in the 99th percentile for height and weight for babies his age. Insurers don’t take babies above the 95th percentile, no matter how healthy they are otherwise.
“I could understand if we could control what he’s eating. But he’s 4 months old. He’s breast-feeding. We can’t put him on the Atkins diet or on a treadmill,” joked his frustrated father, Bernie Lange, a part-time news anchor at KKCO-TV in Grand Junction. “There is just something absurd about denying an infant.”
Bernie and Kelli Lange tried to get insurance for their growing family with Rocky Mountain Health Plans when their current insurer raised their rates 40 percent after Alex was born. They filled out the paperwork and awaited approval, figuring their family is young and healthy. But the broker who was helping them find new insurance called Thursday with news that shocked them.
” ‘Your baby is too fat,’ she told me,” Bernie said.
Cuz, of course, height/weight charts (especially for children – and especially ESPECIALLY for babies) are oh so accurate and predictive of health. One sec while I beat my head against the wall…
And, ya know, BMI is like the most accurate tool ever made – ESPECIALLY for children and ESPECIALLY ESPECIALLY ESPECIIIIIIIIAAAAAAALLLLLLYYYYYYY for infants.
But, let’s forget about all that. What the heck kinda health care system denies four month olds anyway? Does that baby deserve less care (or even no care) because he hasn’t taken up his own personal responsibility to not be so fat? What is up with infants these days??!! Like… ya know… all they do is eat and sleep and OMG BABY DEATH FAT!!! Someone needs to put that kid on a treadmill. Do they make diet breast milk these days?
Hahahahaha… idiots…
Deep breaths…
Thanks to my hubby for finding this one. To read the full version of the insanity, click here.
–AngryGrayRainbows
Angry Gray Rainbows 
That’s appalling.
Even aside from the accuracy issue — i.e., whether any currently-used metric (let alone the ghastly BMI!) can actually predict what a “healthy” weight for a particular baby will be — won’t there always be people in the 95th-99th percentiles? Isn’t that what a percentile *IS*? Even if everyone falls within the “healthy” range of BMIs, there will still be some who are heavier than others, even if they’re only five or ten pounds heavier (or, if they’re babies, a couple ounces). Being in a high percentile doesn’t say anything, except that you’re bigger than x% of other people your age!
….if he’s in the 99th percentile for both weight AND HEIGHT, doesn’t that mean he’s just big for his age, not fat? *headdesk*
(It wouldn’t be more excusable if he actually was fat, but still, wtf?)
Lindsay said what I was going to. A percentage is a percentage. Duh.
Those poor parents. It is hard enough having a new baby but being rejected for insurance? I can’t imagine how stressed they must be.
I wonder if healthcare reform will take care of this nonsense by getting rid of pre-existing conditions. Man, what a horrible thing to be told as a parent. One more reason why we need universal healthcare.
Peace,
Shannon
I’m speechless! Pissed but speechless!
Yup. I can believe this. My insurance refused to pay for acne medication (a sulfur wash) because I was over 25. Maybe I should tell my dermatologist that people can’t get acne over the age of 25, because BC/BS said so. Might give him a good laugh!