This is a letter that I've finally written and sent off to my old insurance company about their policies around childbirth. It probably won't do a lot, but I hope that it can maybe make things different for someone else going through a similar situation. I've removed most identifying information in an effort to remain slightly anonymous for the privacy of my family.
April 29, 2010
ConnectiCare
175 Scott Swamp Road
P.O. Box 4050
Farmington, CT 06034-4050
Dear ConnectiCare Customer Service,
Subject: ConnectiCare Coverage Policies around Childbirth
It has taken me over two years to write this letter in a somewhat calm and reasonable manner. Forgive me if I don't remain so, but I think this is as good as it's going to get.
On the January 28, 2008, I gave birth to my second son. It was a planned c-section, due to the fact that I had a complete placenta previa and there was no normal exit for the baby. Almost immediately after birth, X. had breathing issues. Enough that while I was stuck flat on my back recovering from section, he was stuck down the hall in the nursery on oxygen, and there was no way we could be in the same room. I finally got to hold him that night, shortly before he was transferred to another hospital with a NICU, since the birthing hospital had no such facility and he needed more care.
Of course I was anxious and heartbroken that I couldn’t spend the night with my son by my side. I was told that I should get some sleep (it was almost 10 pm by that point), and that I should be able to be transferred the next day, so that I could be in the same building as my son. The night was a blur, spent with pain medication and worry about how my son was doing. I woke up the next day to news that there was "no medical necessity" to transfer me to the other hospital. And when I called you, the person that I spoke with told me that it was a decision that was based on medical necessity, and I didn’t have a part of that decision. Essentially, I was told that what I thought and what I was experiencing didn't matter. Your denial for transfer led to me to check out AMA about 24 hours after major abdominal surgery because I couldn't possibly be in a different town than my new born baby who I was planning on breast feeding.
I've been trying for two years, and I've been unable to wrap my brain around the idea that mom and baby being together is not medical necessity. How is that remotely supported by any evidence based medicine? I can find no peer-reviewed published papers or studies that conclude that a baby is better off (or even okay) being away from its mother. Your decision not only destroyed a breastfeeding relationship, it also caused me to be moving and active long before and more than medical recommendations, and meant that I was on pain medications weeks longer than expected because my body didn't have the resting time it needed to heal quickly and properly.
It is too late to make this situation right for me and for my family. We are now happily insured by another company, in a great part because of your failure to act in a humane and compassionate and medically appropriate way around this birth. But it is not too late to change your policies and make births like this easier for all involved. By adhering to a policy without heart (or, quite frankly, without any peer reviewed backing), you lost the business of this family, and anyone that I can influence to go with another carrier for their insurance.
Sincerely,
me
CC: Joseph Murphy, MA Insurance Commissioner
CC: Senator Michael Knapik
CC: Michael Wise, ConnectiCare CEO
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