Saturday, 31 October 2009
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A Fat Baby Was Denied Healthcare?!
Three-month old, 17-pound baby Alex was denied coverage under his parents health insurance because of his unnerving weight. According to the health insurance company, Alex's weight falls into the 99th percent tile for children his age, and the company does not cover anyone who falls above the 95th percent tile.
His parents, upset by this, have said, "[It's not like] we can put him on the Atkins diet or a treadmill," and they can't understand why their son was denied healthcare despite the fact that he is perfectly healthy.
A doctor with the Rocky Mountain Insurance Company said that, while it is possible for a baby above the 95th percent tile to be healthy, they do not cover anyone above that percent. Admittedly, they explained that the system is clearly flawed.
What do you think about this story? Do you think that all children should have healthcare, despite their weight, or do you feel that weight should be a factor in the decision?
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- From: msenergydrink
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Comments (44)
Hmm... hard to say since I see both sides of the situation.
The policy is there for a reason, but it shouldn't have included babies. Kids, on the other hand... there are more and more morbidly obese and super morbidly obese children nowadays we know that it will only lead to these children having a wealth of problems later on in life. Can the insurance have the right to deny these children? I say yes it's not mandatory.
Is it fair that parents don't do their part in raising their children in a physically and mentally healthy way and then to relegate the financial responsibility of the consequences to the insurance company?
What about the rest of the people who are taking good physical care of themselves? Should they be penalized financially since the costs are divided among the entire pool of people.
What are they feeding him with??? The baby is crazy fat. POOR BABY :C There should be a way to punish the parents without punishing the poor thing. Take THEIR coverage away or something...
how on earth can they have gotten the baby so fat so quick?
Either way, if they're good parents his weight will drop naturally and he'll have health care.
@EuropeBrazil@lovelyish - That picture ISN'T the baby that got denied, that's just a fat baby. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,564501,00.html that's the baby. He's chubby, sure, but nothing huge.
I was 10 pounds when I was born, and grew quite quickly. He's a BABY, his doctor says he's otherwise healthy. WTF?
Health should be the only factor. If the baby's weight does not negatively affect its health (which is possible), it shouldn't be a factor. But the insurance company will suffer too; if the baby is healthy, they will lose profits to whatever insurance company takes the baby.
i think there was another article similar to this about the flaws of health insurance. my response is still the same. it sucks - i really do mean SUCKS - but people have to cover their own asses. in the end, its just business.
i'm torn because i see both sides of the issue, too. and i agree with another poster - there should be a way of punishing the parents without punishing the kid.
All the people who agree with both sides I think don't even have children. Some babies are just chunky..mine is. She is 6 months old and 20 lbs. Its not like these parents are giving their children twinkie flavored formula..some babies are a little heavy for their height because they are about to hit a growth spurt. When it comes to babies it is very hard to control their weight until they are about 4 months old and can start giving them solids which acts as fillers instead of only bottles or breastmilk.
was the baby born fat?? if so, then the baby and parents can't help it! if the parents gave the baby too much food...well.... :( what kind of parents fattens up their baby? I see both sides of the argument. Maybe the parents should pay more for the healthcare?
@tigerdauphin@xanga - Well said :)
aww....i love chunky babiess
@EuropeBrazil@lovelyish - definitely. i also think choosing to neglect your child's diet and health should be a form of abuse.
My daughter is 3 months and weighs a bit over 15 lbs...she's in the 95th percentile for height and weight and my doctor says she is perfectly healthy!
ew whenever I look at that picture I just cringe... I know that's not the baby who was denied healthcare, but still....
I have nothing else to say on the topic. haha
Call the feds, this is child abuse. No child should weigh this much so early in life.
It's horribly unethical to ever deny a child healthcare, but it's especially ridiculous that this child is also in the 95% percentile for HEIGHT. So he's in proportion, just a big baby. Actually not that much bigger than my 3 month old, who is definitely not fat!
My baby cousin when first being born was very fat too. Everyone kept asking "What are you guys feeding him?!" He wasn't eating anything more than the average baby! He was eating regular baby food with a regular amount of breast feeding! He was just fat. His thighs were so big that he couldn't walk at the right age. It's sad and none of their faults. Eventually, when he was around 3, he was normal weight. All I'm trying to say is that it's not right to deny babies healthcare because most likely it's not in their control [most cases]. Maybe if the baby got older and was still in the 99th percentile but at that age it's hard to tell. Plus, it's the age when babies need healthcare the most so I find it horrible to be done that way.
He's a BABY and his mom is breastfeeding him, he can be in the 95th percentile and still be healthy.... really what else are his parents supposed to do?? The fattist attitude of our society drives me mental honestly.
PLUS he's also in the 95th percentile for height!!! Of course he's going to weigh a lot, he's just a big baby all around. Way to punish people for things they can't help. Since I'm way taller than average, would I be denied healthcare in the states because I'm not "normal"??
@Coke0@xanga - agreed. This post is incomplete. In the original article, it is said that the baby is being solely breastfed, and is in the 95th percentile for his height! Being that much taller than other 4-months olds, it's totally understandable that he'd weigh MORE too!
seriously, xanga editors, you should not omit the crucial facts in posts if you expect members to be able to form a fair opinion of any article.
Are you all freaking kidding me? 17 lbs at 3 months is not obscene, an clearly that baby above is not the baby in the article. If your baby is 10, 11 lbs at birth, gaining 7 lbs in 3 months is not unheard of. Heck, my daughter was 7 lbs at birth, and I'm pretty sure that she was 13 lbs or so when she was 3 months old.... that would be a 6 lb gain, an nothing abnormal, as I'm sure that she was in the 75th percentile.
And is this just 95th percentile for weight, or does this take into account the weight/height ratio? My kids have always been in the 75th percentile for weight, 95th for height, but somehow it all evened out when we considered weight/height ratio. This kid could be a lot taller and just bigger overall; not FAT.
Besides, we're talking about a BABY. A baby gets formula or breast milk. At 3 months old, it is highly unlikely that the child is getting anything else, unless he has reflux, which is a whole other issue. You can't overfeed an INFANT.
poor baby :(
In agree with most of the posters here. i am obese, but my son is not. I was told by WIC that he was! He is 2 at 3 ft tall and weighs 27lbs. He raises his arms and you can see under his ribs. I wanted to smack the woman. I think that people are getting so prejudiceagainst those who are over weight. You ask me, they need to ban the fast food restaurants and put federal guidelines on the fat, sugar, and carb contents of food. Then we'll see a difference. Even Japan outlawed High Fructose Corn Syrup and they made it! Truth is many diseases fat people get are common to everyone, so when they do get sick they are penalized for it, assuming that they are to blame that they got the illness. Makes me mad. I see this becoming the trend if this government health care goes through.
I don't think the insurance company should have denied an otherwise healthy baby coverage, but they are a private company and should be able to deny any person for whatever reason they want.
When the government starts regulating private businesses we get into problems. I would never touch a cigarette, but I am against the government banning smoking in the private sector, like it has in many states.
Welcome to America. >.>
Sad stuff.
That insurance company needs their head examined. Clearly something in the babies genes is awry and should be looked into. I wouldn't blame the parents and I surely wouldn't blame the baby.