By Bill Zeeble, KERA News
Dallas, TX – Burleson Representative Chris Turner is trying to help a family whose newborn baby was denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition.
Doug and Kim Tracy's baby "Houston" needed and received life-saving heart surgery days after he was born. The parents lack their own health insurance, but have Blue Cross Blue Shield for their two other children. The insurance company says it would not enroll Houston.
Representative Turner.
Turner: No doubt all who've heard about this feels it's absolutely inexcusable that a newborn baby would be denied the coverage because of a preexisting condition. It's simply not right and we need to fix it. We're looking to determine if there's anything that would require Blue Cross to cover this child.
The insurance company said in a statement "if a family has existing coverage with us, a baby can be added to the contract within 31 days without the need for underwriting to assess the baby's eligibility."
Turner says he's talked to the state's Insurance Commissioner about possible coverage options for the baby. He has also asked Blue Cross Blue Shield to take another look at the case. The Representative hopes to learn more next week.