Insurance denies blind boy with autism coverage for eye device
<p>The family of a legally blind teenager from Riverhead says their insurance company will not pay for a device that could help him learn how to read. <span style="color:black; font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:10.0pt; line-height:105%; mso-ansi-language:EN-US; mso-bidi-language:AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-language:EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin"> </span></p>
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Jun 21, 2017, 5:46 PM
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Updated 2,822 days ago
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The family of a legally blind teenager from Riverhead says their insurance company will not pay for a device that could help him learn how to read.
Savon Liggins, 15, is autistic and has been legally blind since birth. His family says they want to buy him an electronic magnifier – which helps the visually impaired learn to read – but that it is too expensive at $4,000.
Their insurance company, Davis Vision, says they will only pay $600.
Savon's ophthalmologist Dr. Jeffrey Williams contacted Davis Vision to see if they would reconsider.
"I appealed to them and wrote a heartfelt letter saying 'please don't deny this young kid' and they still denied the claim," he tells News 12.
Dr. Williams says he is also looking at other ways the family can raise funds in order to purchase the device for Savon.
News 12 has contacted Davis Vision and has not yet heard back from the insurance company.
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