Insurance Company Reverses Policy, Approves Cochlear Implant Surgery for Monroe, Ga., Boy

What a difference a month can make.

Last month Shay Rubin, of Monroe, was still desperately trying to raise the $250,000 necessary for her 5-year-old son's cochlear implants. Now, she is planning for the surgery scheduled for April. Rubin's insurance company, Coventry Health Care, has reversed its policy and will now cover the life-changing surgery for her son, Carson.

"So, We have Huge News," Rubin wrote March 13 on Carson' Story Facebook page. "Yesterday, we got a call from Coventry, and they told us that not only are they going to cover Carson's surgery, but they are also going to change all of their group policies to cover cochlear implants! We do not know yet what our out of pocket expenses will be, and we still have a lot of outstanding bills that were not covered up until this point, but the WONDERFUL part is that we were able to schedule the surgery today!!"

Rubin said the surgery has been scheduled for April 19, and the family is grateful that the policy change will help not only Carson, but other people who need cochlear implants. Rubin credits the petition website Change.org with helping bring about Coventry's change in policy.

"We feel that their involvement and them providing us with the ability to create the petition has played a very large role in our success here," she wrote.  

Once launched, the petition gained momentum, quickly raising more than 100,000 signatures. The plight of the young Monroe boy and the refusal from the insurance company to cover the surgery also garnered the attention of the media, and several newspapers and television stations picked up the story.

In a statement sent to Carson’s mother after the petition passed the 100,000 signature mark, a spokesperson for the company wrote, “As of April 1, 2013, cochlear implant procedures will be a covered benefit, including related therapy and rehabilitative services.”

Rubin’s son, Carson, suffers from auditory neuropathy -- a condition that causes him to hear deafening heavy static that increases with noise levels around him. Rubin said his doctors have said he’s a great candidate for cochlear implants, or “robot ears,” as he calls them.

Carson was born with this rare disease that left him legally deaf. The surgery could allow him to hear in time to start Kindergarten.

See also:

• Insurance Company Denies Life-Changing Surgery for Monroe, Ga. Boy