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CHAPTER 4
Our “New” Health Insurance
Shortly after our visit of April 3rd to discuss Zachary’s condition with a new pediatrician, we received a call from the health insurance company that had been sitting on our application. They were asking what the April 3rd visit had been about. I answered, honestly, that I suspected Zachary had autism and that I needed to discuss it with a pediatrician. Later, they called again and stated there was “a problem”... that they could not cover Zachary but that they would be willing to cover Fred, Anika and I. The representative stated that they “would not touch Zachary for fifteen years!” We inquired about coverage with a $5,000.00 deductible for Zachary...just looking to cover “catastrophic” losses like a transplant or something. Little did we realize how even $5,000.00 goes nowhere in today’s medical “machine”. Still, they refused to cover Zachary at all!
I could not believe it...but then I did. After all, insurance companies were in the business to make money. When you wanted the real answer to something, unfortunately, in today’s society, look no further than the all mighty dollar! Fred and I decided that if this company refused to cover Zachary, the entire family would no longer require its services. The appalling thing was that later, this same company would again solicit our business... that was, everyone except Zachary. Sure, “we will insure you”, I thought to myself, “as long as you were young AND healthy!”. Again, we informed them we were not interested in their services. In our hearts, we could not ethically pay premiums to a company that refused to insure our son. Like so many American families, we decided to go without insurance. Sure, we had had “insurance” in the past, but, you get what you pay for...a small co-payment of $10.00 buys you exactly that... a $10.00 visit...with “care” worth about the same. After all, Zachary had been to the clinic or to immediate care on numerous occasions, yet, all the signs were “missed”...how could that be?
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