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Jordan

Jordan was diagnosed with an immune system disorder when he was a few months old.  Every baby needs regular check-ups.  For Jordan, check-ups are critical because his disorder can develop into leukemia.  When he gets sick, he usually ends up at the hospital.

For the first year of his life, Jordan had TennCare Medicaid.  On his first birthday, he lost Medicaid eligibility.  He wasn’t eligible for TennCare Standard because his mother, Crystal, of Union City, had access to family health coverage through her job.

The problem:  Jordan’s mom’s employer insurance policy would not cover Jordan’s immune system disorder because it was a pre-existing condition. A federal law, called HIPAA, prevents insurance companies from refusing coverage for pre-existing conditions if the person had coverage from another insurance program for 18 months.  Jordan didn’t have HIPAA protections – at just 1 year, he wasn’t even old enough to have had the required 18 months of previous coverage.

For several months his parents tried to find an insurance program that would cover him.  He was either denied coverage all together or the coverage offered included the refusal to cover any pre-existing conditions.

In February, Jordan got very sick.  His fever spiked to 104, he turned purple and he stopped responding.  His parents rushed him to the emergency room where he was admitted to the hospital.  They also applied for the TennCare Medically Needy program (also called spend down).  They had enough hospital bills to qualify Jordan for that program.

Jordan is now safely insured for another year.