Baby Denied Insurance Coverage

In a country where health insurance standards continue to drop, it is still surprising to me that a  four-month old baby was denied individual insurance coverage at 2 months old because he was deemed “too fat”.

Now four months of age, Alex Lange is 19 lbs. heavy and is regarded obese. He is happy and healthy and his parents, Bernie and Kelli Lange jokingly refer to him as “Chunky Monkey.”

“We certainly were not going to deny him when he wanted to eat,“ reflects Bernie, “You don’t deny a baby food when he’s hungry.“

Insurance underwriting regulations state that children above the 95th percentile are deemed overweight and thereafter are uninsurable due to “financial risk.” Baby Alex was in the 99th percentile for his age group, yet still considered healthy by medical standards.

The insurance guidelines were recently implemented and according to medical experts, are unsound.

“I think that the guidelines they used were just ridiculous. They just aren’t helping anybody and are actually probably pushing some people into being uninsured,“ states Robin Baker of the Bell Policy Center.

Bernie Lange, the local TV anchor, took matters in his own hands, telling his story within the local news report. Rocky Mountain Health Plans immediately fell victim to immense public outrage, causing them to revise their guidelines in response to “provide coverage for healthy infants regardless of their weight. “

Bet new mommy Kelli Lange never thought her baby would become a symbol of one of the many faces of insurance reform.