Legislature passes Frockt bill to expand children’s health care

State Sen. David Frockt D-46

By Evan Smith

The State Senate late last week passed a bill sponsored by Democratic 46th District Sen. David Frockt to guarantee that insurance companies cover the elemental formula necessary to feed children who suffer from a rare gastrointestinal disorder.

The bill was sponsored by Frockt in the Senate and Democratic State Rep. Cyrus Habib of Kirkland in the House of Representatives, where it already had passed.

“When people pay for health insurance, it’s reasonable for them to expect that their insurance will pay for treatment that their child needs to survive,” Frockt said Friday. “This is a basic protection. Medicaid covers it; private insurance should cover it as well. It’s only fair.”

Eosinophilia gastrointestinal disorders are very rare. Those who suffer from the disorder are unable to breakdown proteins, meaning they must take proteins through a special elemental formula. If the treatment is delivered through an invasive feeding tube, the expensive formula is covered by insurance. However, if the patient can swallow the formula, many private insurers will not cover the cost.

The treatment costs approximately $1,200 per month and Frockt noted that many families have great difficulty covering the out-of-pocket cost for the treatment.

“ Mandating insurance coverage would help those families afford life-saving treatment for their children,” Frockt said.

The bill would require that health benefit plans must offer benefits or coverage for medically necessary elemental formula, regardless of delivery method, when a licensed health care provider diagnoses a patient with eosinophilia gastrointestinal disorders and supervises the use of the elemental formula.

The bill now moves to the governor’s desk for his signature to make it law.

Evan Smith can be reached at schsmith@frontier.com.