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submitted 10 months ago by stopthatgirl7@kbin.social to c/news@lemmy.world

Blue Cross and Blue Shield denied payment for the proton therapy Robert “Skeeter” Salim’s doctor ordered to fight his throat cancer. But he was no ordinary patient. He was a celebrated litigator. And he was ready to fight.

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[-] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 72 points 10 months ago

“Rich Lawyer Saves Himself From Orphan Crushing Machine”

[-] Zorque@kbin.social 19 points 10 months ago

Barely saves himself.

[-] xkforce@lemmy.world 65 points 10 months ago

Oh look its the death panels the republicans assured us didnt exist in the current healthcare system

[-] MacGuffin94@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago

The premium for the non death panel plan are much higher

[-] Alexstarfire@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

Yep. Called "out of pocket" in case anyone is in the market.

[-] HubertManne@kbin.social 7 points 10 months ago

yep. in the us if you are a top trial lawyer you can have rights akin to europeans.

[-] cogman@lemmy.world 57 points 10 months ago

The reason Blue Cross took this case all the way to court is simple, to send a message to anyone else denied "be prepared to spend millions fighting us, oh and you still have cancer so you'll likely die soon".

[-] stopthatgirl7@kbin.social 27 points 10 months ago

I’m sure they figured since he was stage 4, he’d die and they wouldn’t have to deal with it anymore. The lawsuit was probably just stalling for time along with the message.

[-] mp3@lemmy.ca 28 points 10 months ago

It's a win, but it feels so small when you think of all these other patients before him who could have been cured or lived longer with fewer side-effects in the dystopian hellhole that is the US health insurance ecosystem.

[-] InEnduringGrowStrong@sh.itjust.works 24 points 10 months ago

That's good for them, but makes you wonder just how many people get refused but lack the resources to fight this or end up settling or forgoing care.
That's sad

[-] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 18 points 10 months ago

Corporate death panels kill thousands every year.

Medicare for all.

[-] snooggums@kbin.social 15 points 10 months ago

We already knew it was thousands of people being denied cancer treatment before Obama care, and clearly the number still isn't down to zero.

this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2023
136 points (98.6% liked)

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