Consumerist
Hannah Devane is 3 years old and is allergic to food. Not certain specific foods. Hannah has a rare disorder that makes her allergic to every kind of food except a certain formula that her insurance company says is a "nutritional supplement." Feeding Hannah costs $300 a week, but without the formula Hannah can't eat enough to survive without doing permanent damage to her esophagus.
From Lower Hudson Online:
The Yorktown preschooler has a condition called eosinophilic esophagitis, a severe food allergy that causes a type of white blood cell to congregate in the esophagus, the tube that carries food from the mouth to the stomach, damaging the tissue when she eats.Hannah's father is now working 2 jobs to try to afford enough formula so that Hannah won't end up on a feeding tube for the rest of her life. Boy, that's sad.A doctor-prescribed formula has allowed Hannah to grow to a robust 40 pounds, a normal weight for a child her age. Without it, Hannah could wind up with a feeding tube.
But the insurance program that covers her family through her father's job as a New York City police lieutenant has stopped paying for the formula, which costs $1,200 a month. Food supplements and other over-the-counter items are not covered under the family's insurance, the prescription plan administrator said.
Yorktown girl can eat only one thing: costly formula that insurance won't cover [Lower Hudson Online via Fark]
(Photo:Stuart Bayer/The Journal News)
