this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2026
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Full title: 92% of American adults aren’t going to a doctor because they cannot afford it. The health insurance industry must be dissolved & all of its executives criminally prosecuted for murder, conspiracy, and treason.

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[–] Katana314@lemmy.world 2 points 23 hours ago

There are other reasons - one being that doctors aren't really offering treatments, just finagling their way to defining a "solution" or excuse for the symptoms you're exhibiting. Many people experiencing problems are out looking for their own solutions. I don't blame poor medical training, just the squeezing of their metrics for maximum profit.

[–] SalamiDommie@lemmus.org 5 points 1 day ago

The leadership of US medical of the last 25 years should be prosecuted, have their wealth taken from them, and their kin removed with them on a biblical scale.

The removal method? Guillotine

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

I have not had insurance my entire adult life, because it was too expensive, and the jobs I was able to work didnt offer it. So I only go once a year, when I'm forced to in order to get my meds for the next year.. and any issues I have, I hope and pray linger until this appointment, because I cant afford to pay 200+ dollars every time i have an issue that i need a doctor for.

the only experience I've had with insurance, in my adult life, is handling an elderly relatives medical issues. They have medicare.

Medicare is fucking awesome. Anything they need, poof, its done. no delays, no awaiting approvals, just get it fucking done. Most of their drugs are free (at least until trump gets rid of part d..), and the one that isnt, is only like 5 dollars, for a 90 day supply (so 20 bucks a year for meds). They have had multiple major surgeries, and the copay was like 30 dollars each time.

Not once have they ever been told they cant have a treatment, or that they have to go through some bullshit process of trying 3 other things before they can get the treatment the doctor orders, nothing.

Medicare is fucking awesome and everyone should have it.

[–] Noobnarski@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The experience with medicare is basically how it is for almost every person in Germany (public health insurance).

The only thing the doctor/hospital care about is that you have the card, you put it into a card reader and that's it. There is also a small part that you have to pay of the price of drugs if you pick them up at a pharmacy.

My wife recently gave birth and the only costs we will have to pay are around 10€ per day for her stay and we had a family room for a few days, which means I could sleep and got food there too, which will cost 50€ per day or so. I don't even know how much the insurance will have to pay to the hospital, it doesn't affect me.

So with insurance it is really cheap and without insurance it would probably still be much cheaper than anything in the US.

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 1 points 23 hours ago

I wish I lived in a civilized country.

[–] kestrel7_7@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

There's also those in the opposite situation: Stuck unemployed on Medicare because getting a job would make necessary healthcare too expensive. What a country

[–] doingthestuff@lemy.lol 2 points 1 day ago

I've been to the doctor twice in the last 20 years and one of them was an emergency. It has been longer for the dentist.

[–] InvalidName2@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Even for me, with health insurance, one of the reasons I tend not to seek health care is due to the surprise and unpredictable costs. I've already fallen into that trap twice this year alone.

The very first thing I did when I was choosing a plan for this year was filter the list down to the ones I could afford which said they covered all my prescription meds and for which my current health providers were "in-network". That left 2 options.

When I went to get my first round of refills, several months into the year, they said I had to have prior authorization for one of my meds. After going through that process several times, provider who writes the prescription has to jump through the hoops with insurance to get the authorization, the insurance finally came back and said "we don't/won't cover this prescription." My provider was able to find a cheaper, older alternative that works, but I pay out of pocket 100% for it.

Then came my annual physical, which is free with insurance. Because of the meds I'm on, the nurse said they needed to do some blood tests to check for signs of problems. Never mentioned that those tests would cost me extra and obviously I did not know. Wouldn't have mattered, because they wouldn't have been able to tell me up front how much it would cost so that I could make a financial decision about it. In the end, that free annual visit cost me almost $400 that I was not anticipating. The bills started showing up months later, so it completely blindsided me.

Last year was even worse. I had one of the best insurance plans offered through the ACA. Then I had an accident that landed me in the hospital. The ambulance ride was not covered at all, the service was "out-of-network" so I had to pay 100% of that. The 2 tylenol I was given for pain management in the emergency room cost me $40 because insurance would not pay for them without prior authorization. I hesitated to even call for help, hoping I could stop the bleeding myself, because I knew it was going to be an expensive trip to the ER and boy was it ever. Not to mention the follow-up appointments and treatment that was required.

[–] Folstar@lemmus.org 2 points 1 day ago

Same. I had to have a CT brainscan this year. The scan was ordered during my annual physical based on routine questioning so I thought nothing of it. Many moons ago I had to have a CT brainscan in the ER and it cost like $25 with insurance. I figured, surely this scan that is being scheduled would cost the same or possibly less, so nothing to worry about. Nope! $500 for the exact same procedure on the exact same machine with the same insurance plan.

[–] SnarkoPolo@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Thinning the herd, just as Project 2025 planned.

[–] bitwolf@sh.itjust.works 17 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

All of the hospitals in my state were purchased by Atlantic Health.

My friend works for the hospital. The highlight of their quarterly meeting is how much profit the hospital now makes.

Why do hospitals need to make profit?!

Why are corporate owned hospitals even legal?!

I hate this timeline.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 3 points 1 day ago

equity firms are ruining healthcare, by staffing less doctors in some areas.

[–] GutterRat42@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago

It is cheaper to keep people healthy through preventive care than it is to treat illness. From a taxpayer point of view, a single payer system would save us money.

But people are so propagandized in this country that they seriously think private insurance is the better option.

[–] melfie@lemmy.zip 28 points 2 days ago (2 children)

A lot of times, you just get a big bill without them doing anything useful for you.

[–] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Patient: "You misunderstand, the diagnosis isn't behind a lock, the medicine is."

Doctor: "Fair enough, I'll permanently label you as 'drug-seeking' and this isn't libel somehow."

[–] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago

Which they have to keep an eye out for because doctors fell for drugmakers' lies and overprescribed addictive opiates while claiming they aren't addictive (which makes it even easier to get addicted).

Or they just use that as an excuse to not have to deal with an annoying case they can't flash diagnose and then get offended if a patient decides to do their own research because the doctors they see can't be bothered.

I always think back to the time my ex was trying to get a diagnosis for a rare condition that matched her weird symptoms very well. She got a new family doctor, a young new doctor, and he would always dismiss her when she brought up wanting a referral to a clinic that specialized in it so they could diagnose her or rule it out. One time I went with her, she brought it up again, he said he didn't think she had it, and all I did was ask what made him think this wasn't the case and he admitted he didn't know much about it and would do some reading. On her next appointment, she didn't even have to ask because it was as obvious to him that she probably had it as it had been to us, he just gave her the referral.

So his justification for dismissing her belief she might have that condition was jack shit, probably involving imagining House saying "it's never lupus" or something like that. Like yeah, rare conditions are rare but some doctors treat that as if it's impossible instead of rare and then don't even bother learning how to tell.

The Dunning Kruger effect seems to be particularly strong in the medical field. Though to be fair, they do have to deal with their share of idiots and liars, but it makes them jaded rather than sharp.

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Instead of prosecution couldn't the executives be dissolved too?

[–] rollerbang@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Just think of all the missed revenue in both insurance and medical sectors /s

[–] motruck@lemmy.zip -3 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

I call bullshit on this stat

[–] Snapz@lemmy.world 5 points 22 hours ago

Cool. You did it.

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 14 points 2 days ago (18 children)

People pay a fortune in premiums, then another fortune in deductibles, before they can even use their insurance. Most families never actually get to that point unless they are "lucky" enough to have a family member who gets sick or injured badly enough to meet the deductible. Then you can finally use your insurance for the rest of the year.

We paid for years, and got literally nothing out of it, until I fell off a roof and got a bad concussion, and a big enough bill that our deductible was met. That was in September, so for the next few months we went to every doctor we needed, got every test we'd been putting off, etc. It was the only time we got full use of our insurance, so we took advantage of it, after paying in tens of thousands of dollars for years.

Medicare 4 All would give us full use of our insurance on January 1 every year, without having to worry about any deductibles. It might cost a couple of hundred extra dollars in taxes, but you'll save $600 month in health insurance premium, and $4500 per year in deductibles, so you'll come out far ahead, and have actual health insurance.

[–] kestrel7_7@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Medicare for all will happen once enough Americans figure out that $2000/year in taxes is less than $8000/year in premiums. So it could take awhile.

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[–] Napster153@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

This is the exact set up for a Black Plague event. I know people tend to hold a grudge over the Covid Lockdown, but do we really need to see bodies topple on the street before realisation is made?

This makes every zombie movie way more realistic than it has any right to be.

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

People have alway been stupid.

100 years ago during the spanish flu we had the exact same shit we had today. idiots spewing pseudoscience, idiots saying its just a cold, idiots saying masks are worse for your health than a "minor" infection, etc etc.

and I imagine you'd run into the same kind of sentiments no matter how far you go back in history.

Because people are stupid. People are myopic.

Individuals may be empathic and genuinely care and do everything they can, but the majority are just mouth breathing plague carrying idiots whose greatest achievement in life is not drowning in the rain.

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[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 9 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (5 children)

I just spent 5grand out of pocket because the doctor made me take a sleep test. They charged insurance nearly 20 grand.

They told me they found nothing and I was fine. I pointed out some flaws in their test but they weren’t interested in my opinion.

I cancelled my follow up appointment bc I can’t afford it, at least until this is paid off.

Also, I am not fine. I am very very tired.

Did you know if you meet your deductible they will won’t pay until you also meet the Out of Pocket Maximum? What’s the point of the deductible? I have no idea.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Deductible is supposed to be the amount you pay 100% for, followed by a pre agreed percentage until your out of pocket maximum where you pay nothing

[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 1 points 19 hours ago

You are right. I am learning this the hard way. Not that I have any say in my own health insurance anyway.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 points 1 day ago

not surprised. i want to eventually try a biologic for my condition, and you know how most insurance will try to give you the run around, or a long list of requirments. also its expensive as well.

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago

If your deductible is $50 or 20% then you pay that, until you accumulate enough to hit the out of pocket max, then you pay nothing.

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[–] AnimalsDream@slrpnk.net 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I don't have data, but as a pharmacy worker one thing that seems very apparent to me is people with non-european/white names getting way more insurance rejections.

Also, insulin and inhalers should not be so consistently headaches to deal with. Inhaler insurance issues make me want to rip my hair out.

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

im not surprised, they probably "statistically" think with data that poc are likely lower income earners and are less likely to afford insurance long term, or pay out of pocket for expensive procedures, medications and would drop insurance at the moments notice. they know white people are often gainfully employed in higher salary jobs, if not wealthy and are good on thier payments for everything for healthcare. white people have better outcome for healthcare than POCs as a result, of being in higher paid jobs. also poc tend to have more chronic issues that are often neglected or go untreated for long and is expensive to the companies, because they want to avoid paying too much to go the doctors in the first place. while caucasians/european tend to see doctors the first thing they suspect something is wrong.

coming from a poc family, we often put of some medical issues until it gets hard to ignore.

[–] a1tsca13@lemmy.world 15 points 2 days ago (4 children)

92% not going and yet I still have to wait 6-8 weeks for a visit with my PCP, to be mostly ignored and referred to a specialist, then 6+ months for a specialist to be told I need to go back to my PCP to redo all the diagnostics they did at referral because the results are too old now...

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[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 56 points 2 days ago (8 children)

Can we please gets some socialism up in this bitch already?!

[–] SippyCup@lemmy.world 39 points 2 days ago (9 children)

They will never give it to you.

You will have to take it by force.

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