Re: insurance and dwarfism

[Guest guest]

At the time, Matt Roloff was self employed, so that made it very hard for him to

get insurance, I would think. That would be reason alone.

Now that he's working, I'm sure he has insurance. In fact, I think that was one

of the main reasons he went back to work.

Patty

insurance and dwarfism

I am AH and I have 3 boys, the second, 3 1/2 years old has

Achondroplasia. I've been watching LP/BW since it began. This past

Saturday night was the episode when Zachary's shunt had to be replaced

and he spent almost a week in ICU. Matt stated that they will have to

pay out-of-pocket because they cannot get medicalinsurance since

Dwarfism is viewed as a " pre-existing " condition. Is that accurate??

All of our children are insured, but now I am fearful of his future in

acquiring medical insurance when he is an adult. Any input??

===

[Guest guest]

Yes I'm an lp and my parents always had insurance problems and my hospital being

out of state didn't help. For example my mom tried to get me on that NYS child

health care plus for all NYS children under 21 or 18 I don't remember. well they

wont cover me bc of my dwarfism. yet its supposed to be for all children in new

york state no matter what.

insurance and dwarfism

I am AH and I have 3 boys, the second, 3 1/2 years old has

Achondroplasia. I've been watching LP/BW since it began. This past

Saturday night was the episode when Zachary's shunt had to be replaced

and he spent almost a week in ICU. Matt stated that they will have to

pay out-of-pocket because they cannot get medicalinsurance since

Dwarfism is viewed as a " pre-existing " condition. Is that accurate??

All of our children are insured, but now I am fearful of his future in

acquiring medical insurance when he is an adult. Any input??

===

[Guest guest]

I'm assuming that perhaps they do not have insurance through Amy's

employers and since Matt is self-employed of course none for him. So

what insurance they have they must buy themselves and as a rule, private

insurers won't touch dwarves with a 10 foot pole, hence the

" pre-existing condition " blah blah.

I have plenty of medical insurance through my job as well as my

husband's job (he's AH, I'm LP) and since they can't discriminate via my

employer, I have enough life insurance through my employer to pay off

our house and wrap up some bills if something were to happen to me, BUT

I can't buy life insurance privately since they have no actuarial tables

on dwarves and therefore we are an unknown quantity.

As far as I know, your son should be covered under the medical plan you

get through your employer, as long as he's a dependant/student,

however, make sure he gets a good education because once he's no longer

your dependant, he'll need a good job in order to get medical insurance

through work.

I'm sure you will get other valuable info from others beside me, that's

just based on my experience.

Good luck!

-marty (the lady one)

>>> maryrayray@... 05/09/06 2:24 PM >>>

I am AH and I have 3 boys, the second, 3 1/2 years old has

Achondroplasia. I've been watching LP/BW since it began. This past

Saturday night was the episode when Zachary's shunt had to be replaced

and he spent almost a week in ICU. Matt stated that they will have to

pay out-of-pocket because they cannot get medicalinsurance since

Dwarfism is viewed as a " pre-existing " condition. Is that accurate??

All of our children are insured, but now I am fearful of his future in

acquiring medical insurance when he is an adult. Any input??

===

[Guest guest]

Ok, I hope no one gets mad at me about this but I made a call today about my

dad's life insurance so I thought I would ask them a question about dwarfs, and

they said 'off the record' that Dwarfism is a pre-existing genetic disability

you can INTENTIONALLY 'breed' for (Which seemed kind of funny to me at the time,

I'll explain later) and so the idea that you can intentionally basically try to

ensure your (Dwarf or non-dwarf, I'm not clear on this) children's future via

massive life insurance policies is part of why they don't cover dwarfs...whereas

if Dwarfism were an environmental thing or something that was accidental or

whatever, you get the idea, things might be different.

As for why it was funny? This guy talked about dwarfs as if they were puppies,

with pedigrees and such where you intentionally breed for specific traits,

rather than human beings. This is a guy in the BUSINESS of insuring human

beings.

[Guest guest]

But , he was perfectly correct. People CAN and DO intentionally 'breed'

for dwarfism. We all know the facts of life, most of us know the odds

concerning having or not having dwarf children. Some couples, marry, with the

full intention and relish of procreating dwarfism. That is their choice.

Therefore, yes, it CAN be deliberately bred.

HOWEVER, as in the vast majority of instances of dwarfism (especially

Achondroplasia), we are the result of genetic fluke mutation and thus NOT

deliberately bred:-)

Therefore, the insurance company must differentiate between the two.

As for him talking about dwarfs with pedigrees etc. I don't see what your

objection is. He IS in the business of insurance. Whether it is insurance of

animals or humans, the business issue is the same - it has to do with chance and

probability.

I suppose what I WOULD wish to take issue with, is the insurance assumption that

ALL dwarfs ARE, or will be, at some point in their lives, a liability! Surely

EVERY human being CAN and MAY be a liability at some point in their lives?

But yer, at the end of the day, yer we CAN be deliberately bred:-) But come on,

admit it, aint we cute when we are little? :-))))

What is sorta frightening me at the moment, is the news that they can really

refine genetic prognostication, of probable diseases/disabilities of embrios!

Thus, not only can prospective parents (or the controlling powers that be)

choose to reject such embrios, but also if the insurance people get access to

such information! WOW! Here, really does come, the perfect (assumed) race!

AND, of course, goodbye Dwarfism!

Chow

Fred, an FGFR3 genetic mutation

Re: insurance and dwarfism

Ok, I hope no one gets mad at me about this but I made a call today about my

dad's life insurance so I thought I would ask them a question about dwarfs, and

they said 'off the record' that Dwarfism is a pre-existing genetic disability

you can INTENTIONALLY 'breed' for (Which seemed kind of funny to me at the time,

I'll explain later) and so the idea that you can intentionally basically try to

ensure your (Dwarf or non-dwarf, I'm not clear on this) children's future via

massive life insurance policies is part of why they don't cover dwarfs...whereas

if Dwarfism were an environmental thing or something that was accidental or

whatever, you get the idea, things might be different.

As for why it was funny? This guy talked about dwarfs as if they were puppies,

with pedigrees and such where you intentionally breed for specific traits,

rather than human beings. This is a guy in the BUSINESS of insuring human

beings.

[Guest guest]

How THIS is an issue I worth getting irate over and making an issue of... a BIG

issue... not what J Fox said out of NOT KNOWING about proper

terminology!

(Side note: Has anyone who got so irate over this written him to explain the

proper terminology? I thought not!)

As a mother of 10 I learned early on to " pick your battles! " No one has the

ability to fight them all or when something important comes along you find you

have no time, energy or inclination to take it on!

or off the record I would take the comment " Dwarfism is a pre-existing genetic

disability you can INTENTIONALLY 'breed' for " to an attorney or at least

verbally rip their bloody head off for.... " off the record " of course!

Cheers,

Karolyn

Re: insurance and dwarfism

Ok, I hope no one gets mad at me about this but I made a call today about my

dad's life insurance so I thought I would ask them a question about dwarfs, and

they said 'off the record' that Dwarfism is a pre-existing genetic disability

you can INTENTIONALLY 'breed' for (Which seemed kind of funny to me at the time,

I'll explain later) and so the idea that you can intentionally basically try to

ensure your (Dwarf or non-dwarf, I'm not clear on this) children's future via

massive life insurance policies is part of why they don't cover dwarfs...whereas

if Dwarfism were an environmental thing or something that was accidental or

whatever, you get the idea, things might be different.

As for why it was funny? This guy talked about dwarfs as if they were puppies,

with pedigrees and such where you intentionally breed for specific traits,

rather than human beings. This is a guy in the BUSINESS of insuring human

beings.

[Guest guest]

FYI -- I was able to insure my daughter, Kelsey (achon), at age 1 through Globe

Life Insurance. The maximum amount you can insure for is $10,000.

Sharon

Re: insurance and dwarfism

Ok, I hope no one gets mad at me about this but I made a call today about my

dad's life insurance so I thought I would ask them a question about dwarfs, and

they said 'off the record' that Dwarfism is a pre-existing genetic disability

you can INTENTIONALLY 'breed' for (Which seemed kind of funny to me at the time,

I'll explain later) and so the idea that you can intentionally basically try to

ensure your (Dwarf or non-dwarf, I'm not clear on this) children's future via

massive life insurance policies is part of why they don't cover dwarfs...whereas

if Dwarfism were an environmental thing or something that was accidental or

whatever, you get the idea, things might be different.

As for why it was funny? This guy talked about dwarfs as if they were puppies,

with pedigrees and such where you intentionally breed for specific traits,

rather than human beings. This is a guy in the BUSINESS of insuring human

beings.

[Guest guest]

Everyone is speaking of Life Insurance, but wasn't Matt speaking of health

insurance for the family. He had to pay cash for Molly's appt. and they were

concerned about Zach be in intensive care for so many days. Because Zach's

hospitalization was going to be out of pocket.

sfadness@... wrote: FYI -- I was able to insure my daughter, Kelsey

(achon), at age 1 through Globe Life Insurance. The maximum amount you can

insure for is $10,000.

Sharon

Re: insurance and dwarfism

Ok, I hope no one gets mad at me about this but I made a call today about my

dad's life insurance so I thought I would ask them a question about dwarfs, and

they said 'off the record' that Dwarfism is a pre-existing genetic disability

you can INTENTIONALLY 'breed' for (Which seemed kind of funny to me at the time,

I'll explain later) and so the idea that you can intentionally basically try to

ensure your (Dwarf or non-dwarf, I'm not clear on this) children's future via

massive life insurance policies is part of why they don't cover dwarfs...whereas

if Dwarfism were an environmental thing or something that was accidental or

whatever, you get the idea, things might be different.

As for why it was funny? This guy talked about dwarfs as if they were puppies,

with pedigrees and such where you intentionally breed for specific traits,

rather than human beings. This is a guy in the BUSINESS of insuring human

beings.

[Guest guest]

In my experience, I've not seen dwarfism impact the

ability to purchase life insurance.

When it comes to Medical/Health coverage, outside of a

group policy, people with dwarfism are uninsurable.

If I lose my job tomorrow, I can purchase individual

medical insurance for my AH husband and child, yet, I

will not have access to any health insurance.

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

This drives me crazy! I don't smoke, I rarely drink, I usually avoid driving

like a maniac, I try to do the things one does to stay healthy, but I get no

credit for any of that. All they see are my orthopedic issues.

I work for the County because of the health insurance. I have a good job and

I am grateful for it, because good jobs don't grow on trees hereabouts. I

volunteer at the work I'd really like to do, so I get some of that out of my

system, but it is always frustrating to not be able to do more (because I'm out

of steam from having worked all week).

I also have life insurance through work, but my question is this: what does

dwarfism have to do with longevity? Aren't our life expectancies generally the

same as the rest of the population, with the same risks as the rest? Maybe I'm

somewhat more likely to get run over by a bus because I'm short, but other than

that . . . what's the diff?

Okay, rave completed.

Alyce

---------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

Er, Alyce, Surely dwarfism has dam all to do with longevity, but everything to

do with shortevity?

And you look so beautiful when you rave:-)

Fred

From: Alyce

dwarfism

Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2006 7:55 PM

Subject: Re: insurance and dwarfism

but my question is this: what does dwarfism have to do with longevity?

Okay, rave completed.

Alyce

---------------------------------

Get amazing travel prices for air and hotel in one click on FareChase

[Guest guest]

--- wrote:

> As for why it was funny? This guy talked about dwarfs as if they

were puppies, with pedigrees and such where you intentionally breed

for specific traits, rather than human beings.

--

At the risk of sounding snotty, welcome to our world.

So often we are treated as objects of fascination and not as people.

Look at the membership of this list alone: How many folks with no

connection to the dwarfism community have joined so they can learn

about us? How we date, how we drive, how we find clothes, how we

work, how we procreate, etc. On a regular basis we get folks who

just think we are the cutest thing since sliced bread and want one

of us for a friend. It doesn't matter what our world views/political

leanings/religious beliefs/hobbies (or any category that brings

people together) are, they just want to be able to have a dwarf

friend. We are seen as something to be collected and shown off.

Please don't get me wrong -- I think educating the public is a

wonderful thing. The more education, the more understanding. The

more understanding, the smaller the divide will be. Hopefully.

(Fingers crossed.) I also am very well aware that we are a small

group and like any minority group, difference is intriguing.

Personally, I would rather educate through a medium like this list

than have complete strangers ask me highly personal questions when

all I'm trying to do is buy a coffee at Starbucks. I also think it's

easier for the inquirer to use this medium as it allows a buffer.

Yes, there will always be people who prefer to focus on our

differences rather than see we are fellow human beings who have more

in common with them than we have differences. Yes, there will always

be people who can never get past the length of our inseam, the size

of our hands or the difference of our height to the average person.

I'm glad you got a chance to deal with someone who treated us like a

thing so you got a taste of it. A little bit of empathy goes a long

way. The more people that can see another's view, the more advocates

we all will have because we are all a minority in some way.

Rose

[Guest guest]

and all,

Hatch has approached the LPA BOD with some research and an

initiative to see if there are ways LPs can get insured (perhaps through

some supplemental LPA group plan). As an incoming EC member, I am planning

to work with Stephan and the rest of the BOD to look into the feasibility of

this idea. In the meantime, it might be good idea if LPA could collect

individual accounts of LPs who were turned down for insurance coverage due

to their dwarfism. Feel free to email me your stories privately -- I WON'T

HAVE TIME TO RESPOND to each email (very busy with school and LPA business),

but I will archive them for reference if/when the BOD takes up this issue.

BTW, I agree with Karolyn, we must pick our battles carefully.

Bill

On 5/10/06, K McClintock <kage_ar@...> wrote:

>

> In my experience, I've not seen dwarfism impact the

> ability to purchase life insurance.

>

> When it comes to Medical/Health coverage, outside of a

> group policy, people with dwarfism are uninsurable.

> If I lose my job tomorrow, I can purchase individual

> medical insurance for my AH husband and child, yet, I

> will not have access to any health insurance.

>

>

>

>

>