A medication being more expensive usually indicates rarity. This means the instance of required coverage by insurance companies is also rare. The fact any medication, needed to mitigate the risk of simply being born, might not be covered by “insurance” is bonkers.

I think we need to start a new industry to take it to insurance companies every time they deny coverage. Bury them in complaints and legal actions. Go so hard on every case that they give in immediately upon seeing the letterhead.

They did that to prevent people from being able to shop for insurance. They promote capitalism, but they suppress competition which is, in theory, supposed to be part of a "healthy" capitalist economy.

The ACA helped a tiny bit, but it didn't go nearly far enough. And then they tried a zillion times to revoke even that.

It's never been about healthcare, it's always been about making a small number of people very wealthy.

Seriously. My wife lost her job because of medical conditions (depression and adhd) before we were married. Getting her treatment was part of why we got married

Oh yeah dentists for sure. The dentist who removed my wisdom teeth was a total quack. He did it in two sessions, used novocaine even though I told him it didn't work well on me, and actually crushed a tooth to get it out. And yes, I felt the pain of him crushing a tooth. We should have sued him.

This was when I was 19. I'm 46 now. A few months ago, I had a terrible pain back where my wisdom teeth were and it got worse and worse. I have some nerve issues, so scheduling a dentist is a big deal right now because I need to be totally out. So we scheduled it, but a few days later, a little sliver of tooth from the space where he crushed the wisdom tooth worked its way out and the pain stopped.

My doctor diagnosed me with a b-12 deficiency. Something easily fixed with a shot she prescribed.

The pharmacist looked at me like I was a drug addict when I asked where the needle for the injection was when I picked up the scrip. "Just have the doctor do it".

Fee for randomly showing up to my doctor to get the shot? $0

Fee for getting the shot done when I was actively at a scheduled check up? $130

I take an oral supplement instead now that's not quite as effective.

They paired that with a ton of bullshit about "corporate efficiency" vs " government corruption". It was one of the biggest Anarcho-Capitalist PR coups in my life.

That’s why I’m very open about who decided when my mom died. The government didn’t choose, her doctor didn’t choose, and neither her nor her family chose. You get three resurgences of cancer, that’s what the insurance company decided.

Most people can't fight it. Fighting a claim, depending on insurance, requires multiple different Doctors recommending the same thing. Sometimes the insurance requires prior steps taken that are unavailable to individuals (I was required to take antibiotic that I'm allergic to before a surgery). Getting into a specialist can take months, and the costs of seeing a specialist are not often covered at all (goes towards deductible), and unless you live in or near a city you may not be able to find specialists you don't need to get a hotel to see (travel expenses and time off work are not covered). Not to mention, if fighting a denied claim rolls over to the next year, everything starts over, even if you have the same insurance it's considered a new policy because it's a new year.

Unless you have unlimited time and money, fighting a denied claim is pretty difficult and goes nowhere fast. That's how the system was designed.

My coworker needed to have a heart monitor replaced and the fucking ~~parasites~~ insurance company said no, he didn't have a stroke yet...

The fucking ~~parasites~~ insurance companies are literally telling you fuck off and have a stroke, if you survive then we'll cough up ~~your money you've been paying us forever~~ enough for a replacement...

What is the point of this comment then?

Of course there are people that haven't heard of this or don't understand this. The world didn't freeze and people didn't stop being born, new humans growing up and becoming adults and just learning about various parts of the world everyday don't know about these sorts of things.

Education and information is a perpetual struggle and a perpetual effort.

It's getting worst though. A lot worst. They keep adding more and more layers to make it so difficult and convoluted you give up. Last year my insurance started using an external pharmacy for my meds. Fine. But my meds to need to be administered by a nurse in a hospital. So I need to get prior authorization from my doctor to my insurance who then approves the pharmacy to do the meds. But there are 30% copays now so I use a third party company that works with the company that makes the meds to comp the 30%. Then I need to get the hospital to call the pharmacy to order meds on my behalf and send it to the hospital, not me. Then I can finally schedule my appointment to actually get the shot in the hospital. I do this circus once a year, every year because they change one layer every year and so I have to figure out the new rules. It's pure madness.

Paywall removed: https://archive.is/CXm5f

Here’s the corresponding video: https://youtu.be/9s3CN5EafNs