My son was denied health insurance!!!!!

[Little Panda RN]

I just really need to vent. My son is a truck driver and over the last few years he has put on some weight. He knows he needs to lose the extra weight and he is trying to do so. He is 6' 4" and weights 318 pounds.

He recently was offered insurance through the company he works for and the insurance company denied coverage due to his Height/Weight. That is exactly what it says "coverage denied due to Height/Weight".

Now I am sorry but he is only 23 years old, it is not like he has been over wieght all his life. But since he is now considered obese he is not elligble for health coverage. This is a crock if you ask me:angryfire. What has our health care come too? Pretty soon insurance companies will be dropping those from their policys due to being overweight.

I am just so overwhelmed by this! What is my son to do now? He is trying to lose the weight, he is a wonderful young man, trying to make an honest living but is unable to get healthcare coverage.

I wish I had all the money in world so no one would ever have to be turned down for the healthcare that they deserve. I am so saddened to think that he may have to go the rest of his life without insurance.

What is a mother to do! Sad, Sad, day.

[mcubed45]

Why should I pay more so other people can have coverage and destroy their own bodies?

because America isn't about accepting responsibility for your own actions. it's about finding someone else to blame for your own decisions.

[BBFRN, BSN, PhD]

Why is no one stating the obvious?.. It sounds like your son does not practice a healthy lifestyle. Everyone tip toes around the issue, blaming insurance companies and employers and others, but the real issue with much of our health care costs are people who don't take care the of the only body they have ( aside from future cloning of body parts). I used to smoke, and no one had trouble stating the obvious, smoking is bad for you.. why don't you quit. But I notice when it comes to the obese and sedantary, people don't always state the obvious. If you watched The Biggest Loser last season, a man was denied health coverge because of his weight. He was able to turn that around and became healthy thru a complete lifestyle change. And now that he has insurance he probably won't use it. Healthy eating and daily exersize along with adequate rest are manditory essentials in keeping down the cost of health care. And like the previous writers, insurance companies are in the business to make money.

This appears to be more of an issue with the son's company's parameters for coverage than the insurance company's, sad to say.

Truck drivers, by the nature of their jobs are sedentary, and often do not have the benefit of eating healthy home-cooked meals, nor do they have the time to exercise. I have a job educating a large company's employees in improving their health when they have some of the more costly conditions, and the truck drivers I cover are on the road for days at a time, with little rest, little time for breaks, and the trucks they drive are not equipped with fridges/microwaves, etc. One would assume that if the company wants to help maintain the health of its truck-driving workforce, it would work out a better deal for covering this high-risk group.

[CHATSDALE]

incurance companies have to

1. pay overhead ie office space, workers, executives

2.advertisements

3 investigators to root out fraud

4.make a profit for those stockholders who are depending on income

for a return on their investments because they can't live on S/S

i don't know if the government can do a better job at this than the private sector or not, you may not have golden parachutes for tptb but you will have people entrenched in jobs that are difficult to get them out after a certain length of time

va people is they can make it one year it is next to impossible to get them out of a job be they office workers, nurses, doctors

if we have national health care it will be along the lines of the va hospitals, state run hospitals, city charity wards etc

you have to be approved for certain surgeries if THEY decide that it is not necessary or elective

and do you know where the money for everybody to be covered??

lower wages for health care workers, MUCH HIGHER TAXES for everyone not those whom the government decides are rich enough anyway

it will cost more for care that may be substandard

there will be fewer students going into nursing/medical because there will be no incentives

[jeolsz]

This appears to be more of an issue with the son's company's parameters for coverage than the insurance company's, sad to say.

Truck drivers, by the nature of their jobs are sedentary, and often do not have the benefit of eating healthy home-cooked meals, nor do they have the time to exercise. I have a job educating a large company's employees in improving their health when they have some of the more costly conditions, and the truck drivers I cover are on the road for days at a time, with little rest, little time for breaks, and the trucks they drive are not equipped with fridges/microwaves, etc. One would assume that if the company wants to help maintain the health of its truck-driving workforce, it would work out a better deal for covering this high-risk group.

Give me a break.. more excuses!.. I work full time as a nurse,( I work for an insurance Company at a computer all day) part time as a realtor... have 5 kids 2 dogs, 2 cats and a large house to take care of.. yet I make the time to exersize at least once a day, eat healthy( fruits, vegetables and lean meats).. I am not overweight.. In fact none of my kids all either.. they have all followed my example and we all run in 5 k's together.. I used to smoke, eat junk and never exersized, but I was able to change and so can this 23 year old man. It is everyone's personal responsiblility to practice healthy habits.. he can choose a salad instead of a greasy burger and I'm sure he can find 30 min 5x week to take a brisk walk.. after all I'm sure he is entitled to break!

[BBFRN, BSN, PhD]

Give me a break.. more excuses!.. I work full time as a nurse,( I work for an insurance Company at a computer all day) part time as a realtor... have 5 kids 2 dogs, 2 cats and a large house to take care of.. yet I make the time to exersize at least once a day, eat healthy( fruits, vegetables and lean meats).. I am not overweight.. In fact none of my kids all either.. they have all followed my example and we all run in 5 k's together.. I used to smoke, eat junk and never exersized, but I was able to change and so can this 23 year old man. It is everyone's personal responsiblility to practice healthy habits.. he can choose a salad instead of a greasy burger and I'm sure he can find 30 min 5x week to take a brisk walk.. after all I'm sure he is entitled to break!

Good for you, and no need for the dramatics. I'm guessing none of you drive a truck, either.

There are no excuses here, but everything is not as cut&dry simple as you seem to think. Where are they supposed to get salads from- the salad bar at the truck stop? Brisk walks on the side of the highway are probably more unsafe than being overweight. When are they supposed to go to the gym? Most of them work at least 50 hours a week. It's well known in managed care that driving a truck is one of the unhealthiest jobs out there as far as chronic disease goes.

[MoonRising]

Thank you Baptized by Fire for you comments. It is true that being a Truck Driver lends itself to an unhealthy lifestyle. It is difficult to compare someone who has a job in an office/hospital and has a set work schedule to someone who lives and works in a big rig. After your workday is done you get to go home. Truck drivers maybe in the middle of nowhere. Has anyone even been to a truck stop? Not a lot of choices for eating healthy.

[jeolsz]

Good for you, and no need for the dramatics. I'm guessing none of you drive a truck, either.

There are no excuses here, but everything is not as cut&dry simple as you seem to think. Where are they supposed to get salads from- the salad bar at the truck stop? Brisk walks on the side of the highway are probably more unsafe than being overweight. When are they supposed to go to the gym? Most of them work at least 50 hours a week. It's well known in managed care that driving a truck is one of the unhealthiest jobs out there as far as chronic disease goes.

So I guess we'll give all truck drivers out there a pass.. And yes life is as simple as that.. We all have choices.. I do not believe there are victims.. only victims of poor choices.. Your logic suggest all truck drivers should be overweight since their job dictates poor life style choices.. I don't think that's the case..

I read alot of medical charts for a living.. most illnesses and disease come from poor lifestyle choices. Insurance is about risk .. so their choice on whether to insure high risk or not is about business.. If privite insurance companies ignored this and insured everyone, they would probably be out of business..

I think we all think insurance companies should be more compassionate, but we all forget insurance is business... not personal. The problem of insurance for this individual would be easily solved with weight loss .. why is this so awful to consider?

[jeolsz]

Thank you Baptized by Fire for you comments. It is true that being a Truck Driver lends itself to an unhealthy lifestyle. It is difficult to compare someone who has a job in an office/hospital and has a set work schedule to someone who lives and works in a big rig. After your workday is done you get to go home. Truck drivers maybe in the middle of nowhere. Has anyone even been to a truck stop? Not a lot of choices for eating healthy.

I find it hard to believe there are no vegetables or fruit at a truck stop! Come on we all have issues in our lives that make it hard to be healthy.. Life tends to swallow us up at times.. it's up to us to stop and think about changing how we live and taking care of ourselves.. and as nurses we should be setting the example and not making excuses for our patients!

[mcubed45]

Good for you, and no need for the dramatics. I'm guessing none of you drive a truck, either.

There are no excuses here, but everything is not as cut&dry simple as you seem to think. Where are they supposed to get salads from- the salad bar at the truck stop? Brisk walks on the side of the highway are probably more unsafe than being overweight. When are they supposed to go to the gym? Most of them work at least 50 hours a week. It's well known in managed care that driving a truck is one of the unhealthiest jobs out there as far as chronic disease goes.

i've never been a truck driver so i'll be first admit i DO NOT know what it's like. that said, in life you ALWAYS have a choice. it may be true that their line of work makes it difficult to live a healthy lifestyle, but that doesn't make it impossible. it's all about choices. even continuing to work a job which is as taxing on ones as health as you claim is a CHOICE.

this isn't aimed at truck driver's specifically, but people in general. people like to simplify bad decisions by claiming they don't have a choice. taking the job is a choice. eating unhealthy is a choice. remaining with an employer that does not offer adequate coverage is a choice. change is hard. when you make a change, there's a chance you could improve things but there's also a chance you may end up worse off.. however, as long as you CHOOSE to accept the status quo, it's pretty much guaranteed nothing will change.

it's a little silly to claim that people who CHOOSE to take a job (which encourages an unhealthy lifestyle) should be a given a break when it comes to insurance policy standards.

[nursestimpy]

it is sad in this nation that so many are denied healthcare. we spend millions of dollars each day for a war but dont take care of these soldiers or their families healthcare needs. it is our RIGHT to have access to healthcare at all times under all circumstances!

what can we do?

take a look at http://www.pnhp.org/

it is time that all americans recieve the healthcare we deserve.

get involved! get your friends involved!

pass this on to everyone you know! :typing

[BBFRN, BSN, PhD]

it's a little silly to claim that people who CHOOSE to take a job (which encourages an unhealthy lifestyle) should be a given a break when it comes to insurance policy standards.

No one has said they should 'get a break.' My point is that they should be eligible for health insurance. How are they going to improve their health if they can't go to the doctor, can't get the medicines they need, and don't have the access to the health promotion education that they need by doctors and nurses? Just telling them to eat better and exercise doesn't always cut it. They need intensive support. That is what I do for a living. My patients are able to get this educational support as part of their benefits package, and they get some very good incentives for participating. And it doesn't cost the company any more money to do this- in fact, it saved them $1.76 for every dollar they spent on health care last year, because it was shown that it helped to improve empoyees' health overall.

There are options that work. Cutting off insurance benefits does nothing to improve the health of their workers. It also lacks initiative and creativity. Most companies are gearing more toward health promotion with incentives for their employees with better outcomes, anyway.

[MoonRising]

Being the wife of a Truck Driver this issue is very close to home. I was under the impression that providing access to preventative care was a way to reduce the cost of health insurance. Taking care of a problem when its small is the difference between a $200 procedure, that may be easily paid and one that costs thousands of dollars that may not be paid at all. I thought that because people were using the ER as their primary treatment center was part of the reason for increased insurance premiums and high wait times. This would be avoided if those people had regular health insurance.

Since I have actually gone truck driving with my husband I can say that of the truck stops Ive gone to none contain gyms or workout rooms and I have never seen a truck driver jog around the stop or his truck either, being that they are not always the safest places and showers must be paid for. Plus keep in mind they don't always get the luxary of sleeping at a truck stop. Many times you have to sleep on the side of a road or freeway which have no amenities (ie: bathrooms)

Yes, they choose this job but you should have a little compassion and think about their sacrafice the next time you eat that healthy salad, watch tv, or use toilette paper.