Baby Denied Medical Coverage While in Womb: ‘Pre-Existing condition’ - WHAT?
Speechless.
New mother Kelly Barnes is heartbroken and angry.
She’s heartbroken because she has endured what no mother should have to endure. While pregnant with twins, she lost one of them at 30 weeks. The other baby, Kinsleigh, was born with serious heart problems.
But Barnes is angry because her insurance company, Aetna, held up paying thousands of dollars in medical charges. The reason? The insurance company said the newborn might have been suffering from a pre-existing condition.
“I don’t know how something could be pre-existing in a baby, so it was very shocking to me to see something like that,” Barnes told “Good Morning America.” “It’s a slap in the face. Her medical bills are the last thing I should be worrying about. I should know that my baby is being taken care of.”
“Under Aetna’s own definition, in order to deny for pre-existing condition, there has to be medical advice or care that was rendered or given,” Barnes’ attorney, Tom Caldwell, said. “And in this case, of course, that would be real hard, given the fact the baby was still in the womb.”