The problem is though insurance is abused in this country. We have people that visit the emergency room for non-emergencies. Or go to the doctor for simple things like a cold or the flu. People should not be allowed to visit the doctor for simple ailments like a cold or the flu. There is nothing the doctor can do, it just simply needs to run its course. Now of course if you develop pneumonia or something more serious yes. But if its simply you are stuffed up and weak drink plenty of hot and cold fluids, take some vitamins and rest. This is what drives health care costs up is stupid people going to the ER or the doctor for no reason when the doctor will say the exact same thing.

If you read the report, you'll see that private insurance will go up over
$3,000 per year for a family without reform. Reform will just make it
all the worse.

That young fella looks like Porky Pig reincarnated! Ba Dee Ba Dee Ba Dee Ba Dee Ba Dee . . . that's all folks! Seriously, that little guy is just a crispy kreme away from a major cardiac event, stroke, or both. Mom and dad need to cut back on his happy meal and donut smoothies for a while. On the YouTube video clip did you notice the real time TIA's he was having?

The insurance company made the right decision in denying coverage for that little ticking time bomb. But the heavy media pressure made them abandon their good business sense in favor of positive PR. There goes this year's annual retreat in the tropics. Also poked some holes in the CEO’s, CFO’s, and management team's golden umbrellas. It’s going to be costly coughing up money for mri's, cat scans, catheterizations, angioplasties, stents, and quad bypasses, not to mention the brain surgery to treat the stroke damage and to remove the alzheimer's aluminum plaque that's built-up in the four months since he popped into this world.

What right minded insurance company with a proper system for weighing risk against benefit would have issued a policy for this little porker who plainly has adopted irresponsible eating habits and is already on a low road in life. The education system has already failed him.

Of course, the real problem in this matter is the inherent conflict of interest between coverage for quality health care and the mandate that the insurance company's management team maximize profits, the latter of which can only be accomplished by denying coverage to those like this little Michael Moore mini-me. The child needs to be sent back to his class in insurance company management 101. Then he'll realize that the company had no choice but to nix his application to join the company's entourage of ship -sinking balls and chains.


[edit on 10/15/2009 by dubiousone]

Originally posted by stevegmu
How is not insuring someone who is a high risk greed? Insurance is a business, not welfare or a charity. They are private companies who can choose who they will or will not insure. That kid looks like he will have diabetes by the time he's on solid food.
Would you call an auto insurance company greedy is they refused to insure an alcoholic?

I must be misunderstanding something about the health care system in your country... actually no Im not. Discrimination is alive and well based on how actuarialy one impacts on a companies bottome line... you people sicken me.

But hey... as long as a companies bottom line is protected and the shareholders of said company are benefiting then all is fine and dandy with the world..

Its a sad thing that anytime someone mentions the world social, you take it as communism or bleeding heart liberal... instead of understanding that every person is a countries asset... not this corporate lobbiest tinged crap Im hearing you guys carrying on with... you almost make me ashamed to be human.

Did nobody see the update on page 2? The baby is now covered. People have to realize that insurance companies set standards and it's rather black-and-white. If you don't fit into the algorithm in their policies, then I'm sorry, you're not insured. Take it or leave it. We're capitalists, get over it. For the record, I am uninsured, and I don't hold any grudge over the fact that I don't have anybody to pay my medical bills - it's my body, my health. I have to eat to stay alive, should somebody else pay for that, too?

Also, Legion2112 @ our same avatar.

[edit on 15-10-2009 by acissej]

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.

and the update is:

UPDATE: Rocky Mountain Health Plans has now said it will cover Alex Lange, a baby they previously refused to give health insurance because of his weight.

"A recent situation in which we denied coverage to a heavy, yet healthy, infant brought to our attention a flaw in our underwriting system for approving infants," says Steve ErkenBrack, president and CEO, Rocky Mountain Health Plans. "Because we are a small company dedicated to the people of Colorado, we are pleased to be in a position to act quickly. We have changed our policy, corrected our underwriting guidelines and are working to notify the parents of the infant who we earlier denied."

[edit on 15/10/09 by Harlequin]

I just had an insurance company decline to raise the deductible of one
of my clients (the second client this year), because he flunked the
stress-test at his doctor's office last Spring. The IAC company charges
more than many, but their customer service is very unique, in a good way.
-cwm