At nine-and-a-half pounds and with a head circumference that was off the charts, my first baby looked on the day of her birth like most other babies look at a month old. Despite the fact that she consumed nothing but breast milk (gallon upon exhausting gallon of breast milk), she stayed above the 95th percentile in length, weight and head circumference throughout her first year. At that point the lure of toddling around after the cats brought her down to the 25th percentile where she’s faithfully stayed for the past nine years.
With her experience in mind I was shocked to read this:
Alex Lange is a chubby, dimpled, healthy and happy 4-month-old.
But in the cold, calculating numbered charts of insurance companies, he is fat. That’s why he is being turned down for health insurance. And that’s why he is a weighty symbol of a problem in the health care reform debate.
Insurance companies can turn down people with pre-existing conditions who aren’t covered in a group health care plan.
Alex’s pre-existing condition — “obesity” — makes him a financial risk.
Read the rest here.
Consider the ridiculousness of the numbers: The difference between the 95th and 99th percentile for four-month-old boys is a matter of ounces — a full diaper more or less; a nursing more or less. This is a pre-existing condition?
I’m glad that this story has a happy ending. After calling the situation a “flaw” in their underwriting system, the insurance company says that it will insure the child. But for every family who has the time, energy and wherewithal to fight this kind of insanity (baby Alex’s father works at a Denver television station), surely there are dozens more whose families can’t fight. Or they fight and lose.
But this is just life, right? We live in the kind of country where an insurance company can deny coverage to an infant just four months out of the womb and at the same time place fanatical attention on one four months in the womb. I guess that’s just the way it is.
——
Also, if you have the stomach for it, the comments on the story are…er…well, pretty insightful.
Do you recall last year asking whether or not this blog had run it’s course? I commented “Of course not, you are as sharp and as sexually adventurous as when you started”. Well it might be time to revisit that topic.
Thanks Copper! Not interested in what I’m talking about anymore? Check out my blogroll. There are tons of sharp, sexually adventurous authors there.
Funny thing about blogs. No one forces you to read.
Good day, sir!
Wow, I’m glad not all of your fans are like that. I came here initially intrigued by the sexy stuff, but I like what you write in general about your life. I’ll keep reading of course. :)
I think we can safely assume that Copper’s not a fan. :)
Certainly, I meant readers, rather ;)
On the contrary, I have been a fan and reader since almost day one. I still remember HNT, do you? When was the last one?
Having once done HNT, must I continue to do HNT?
Let’s be fair, Copper has made his point moderately and you could say wittily unless you think his comments a bit snide. AAG is in control and can ignore or act on comments like that as she chooses (and made a reasonable point in return).
Remember you are touching on a subject that appears to divide US opinion deeply, related to “Freedom”, Capitalism, Liberalism and through them, the whole structure of US society (Freedom is in quotes because it means radically different – or even opposing – things to different people).
I’m just SO pleased that my homeland (the UK) has a proper – though by no means perfect – approach to providing health care for all.
Heh. I just skim the sex stuff. (Blah blah blah cock blah blah cock blah blah.) You’re a wonderful writer. I think your blog has evolved, become deeper, more complex and poignant in a very compelling way. You are definitely not a single-dimensional blogger. Perhaps some readers wanted/expected/needed you as a woman blogger to stay solely upon the topic of salacity, as though a woman cannot be both sexual and cerebral. You defy boundaries, barriers, AAG. Brava.
Babies are SUPPOSED to be chubby–especially if they’re being breastfed! What the heck do these companies think: breast milk is fat-free? Being a well-padded baby is definitely no indicator that the child will grow up to be obese, as you can attest. This is why an industry-led health care system is unfair and inferior to a single-payer, universal system. When it’s all about number crunching, quality of care suffers.
Funny… I was just getting ready to comment that I think I like your political posts best of all.
Proverbially bedding down with someone that has nothing but sex on the brain can only end in a mental fling.
I prefer a sizzling hot intellectual (and long term!) relationship with my bloggers, thankya. AAG spins my large hadron collider, if ya know what I mean. *nudge nudge wink wink*
I’m so glad I can affect your hadrons, bb. Thank you!
Why do we assume Copper is male? As a woman, I enjoy your post about sex, life, and children from a female perspective. However it is not unreasonable for someone to expect sexual explict stories, escapades, advice etc. from a sex blog. After all what does AAG stand for?
In previous comments Copper has identified as male.
After writing a sex blog for 4+ years, even I’m not sure I know what a “sex blog” is. All I can say is this: I’ll write what I’m comfortable writing about. That is my choice. Your choice is whether or not to read.
I’ll respect your decisions if you respect mine.
:)
what’s lovely about this “pre-existing condition” argument that private insurance companies are using, is that they are also refusing to treat victims of domestic abuse. so if your partner threw you against a wall and you go to a hospital for treatment, they send you on home.
Yes, isn’t that one lovely?
Grrrrrr…
I’m hesitant to wade into these troubled waters, but I do prefer your writing on sex/life/relationships to your writing on political matters. When I encounter the former I look forward to the odd but intriguing twists you conjure. That is never the case with the latter, in which you tend to the straight-and-narrow of a terribly predictable (and quite often ill-thought-out) path. Nevertheless, I will keep reading all of your posts, because you do write very well. And on those occasions when you deal with sex/life/relationships, you are clearly not out of your depth.
Heh, it’s been a long time since I’ve heard my opinions called “straight and narrow.” Interesting! Thanks thegooddoc.
Looks like that article’s comments will provide you with good fodder for fringe sez =)