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Privatized health insurance is a scam designed to squeeze every last penny from you and your family until you succumb. Take a journey with me, won't you?
I have several lifelong conditions that require daily medications. One of them is asthma. Like a lot of asthmatics, my breathing has been especially bad due to the allergens in the air this year. So I've needed multiple medications to be able to breath at all.
Sidebar: this is the part where you're probably thinking, "wow, that's especially scary, since COVID-19 is out there literally suffocating even the healthiest people to death!" And, as an empathetic and caring person, you would be right! But health insurances have no conscience.
One of the meds I need is a steroid inhaler which not only helps my breathing in the short term, but also builds up the strength of my lungs in the long term. I just realized I ran out. Thankfully, I have a refill since getting a doctor on the weekend is very difficult. But...
My refill was rejected. Why? Because my privatized health insurance suddenly required a three month refill on this medicine and I only have one left. So, without a doctor to update, my options are.
1. pay full price (over $350)
2. beg my insurance to reconsider
1. pay full price (over $350)
2. beg my insurance to reconsider
By the way, I had to call my pharmacist to even find out this information. All I got at first was an automated rejection. So I had to wait on hold for the pharmacist indefinitely. Then wait on hold for my insurance indefinitely. Then beg. Then call my pharmacist again.
I'm finally able to get my medication, but only because I had to the time and just enough energy to pick a fight over this. What if my breathing had been worse? And what sense does it make to require a 90 day refill at a time when there's a run on meds like this anyway?
Keep in mind that I have what is considered to be very good insurance in the United States. I am a privileged white person who isn't living in total financial ruin. And there was still a good chance I would've been denied. On a whim. Except it's not a whim. This is by design.
My private health insurance didn't want to cover my medication. They figured that, if they set up enough hoops, I, a permanently sick person, wouldn't have the strength to jump through them all and would just find a way to scrape together the cash to pay full price.
Because, hey, I probably have family. Or friends. Or some gofundme I could launch. Surely there's a way to suck me and everyone around me financially dry. Because I'm sick and sickness is an opportunity when your health insurance is run like a business.
