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Sick Man Shows That His Insurance Company Is Prioritizing Wealth Over His Health And Doesn’t Even Hide It
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Sick Man Shows That His Insurance Company Is Prioritizing Wealth Over His Health And Doesn’t Even Hide It

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The spread of the coronavirus means that the healthcare system and medical professionals are getting more attention than usual. Lots of people are pointing out the flaws in the system and Twitter user Doctorow is one of them. But this isn’t another coronavirus story.

According to Doctorow, the US has “the worst healthcare in the developed world.” He then explains why using his personal experience with health insurance and how his provider refused to cover the inexpensive medication that he needed. Scroll down to read Doctorow’s story in his own words.

Doctorow’s thread got over 3.4k likes on Twitter and more than 1.1k people retweeted it. The thread also spread to other social media channels, including Imgur where it got over 4.8k upvotes and was viewed by more than 131k users. Scroll down for Bored Panda’s interview with Doctorow about US healthcare and how it can be improved.

Doctorow explained what he went through with his health insurance provider and why, in his opinion, the US has “the worst” healthcare

Image credits: doctorow

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A lot of people agreed with the Twitter user’s opinion about how the system in the US needs to be improved. Preferably, by following the fully-functioning example set by other developed countries.

The Atlantic writes that the US has the lowest-performing healthcare system in developed countries, according to the Commonwealth Fund. The highest performing nations are the UK, the Netherlands, and Australia, even though the US spends the most money.

David Blumenthal, president of the Commonwealth Fund, said that this is “consistent across 20 years.” He explained that there are 3 reasons why the US can’t catch up to its allies.

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First of all, there’s a lack of insurance coverage: in 2016, over 27 million Americans were uninsured. That’s because they simply can’t afford it. “The literature on insurance demonstrates that having insurance lowers mortality. It is equivalent to a public health intervention,” Blumenthal said.

He also pointed out that the US wastes a lot of money on administration. “Doctors and patients [report] wasting time on billing and insurance claims. Other countries that rely on private health insurers, like the Netherlands, minimize some of these problems by standardizing basic benefit packages, which can both reduce administrative burden for providers and ensure that patients face predictable copayments,” the Commonwealth Fund reports.

Lastly, we have underperforming primary care in the US. “We have a very disorganized, fragmented, inefficient and under-resourced primary care system,” Blumenthal explained. “Many primary-care physicians struggle to receive relevant clinical information from specialists and hospitals. We don’t invest in social services, which are important determinants of health.”

In other words, if the US improves in these 3 key areas, it can solve the problem at its source and help millions of Americans get the care they deserve.

A lot of people agreed with Doctorow’s conclusion about healthcare in the US

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Doctorow told us that, in his opinion, creating a Medicare for All system with a single payer and eliminating the private insurance industry is the best way that the US can catch up to other developed countries.

“The poorest and richest Americans should rely on the same healthcare system so that anything that makes things better for influential, connected wealthy people makes things better for the nation,” he said.

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According to Doctorow, the main thing holding the US healthcare system back is “unlimited political spending by a concentrated, highly profitable insurance industry.”

Doctorow said that this is due to a combination of “Citizens United and lax campaign finance laws; financial secrecy laws that allow for dark money campaigns; antitrust malpractice that has led to massive concentration in the health (and every other) industry; the rise of private equity and its financially destructive MO, which has transformed healthcare by consolidating hospitals, doctor’s groups, labs, etc under PE structures that rely on debt-loading and other extractive practices.”

But what should Americans who can’t afford to be insured do? Doctorow had this to say: “Mobilize. Find a candidate that supports Medicare for All and donate, volunteer, and vote for them. This is a year in which M4A’s significance and profile are on a rise and rise with no peak in sight. It’s our moment.”

“The American healthcare scandal is a microcosm for dozens of similar circumstances, in which concentrated industries collect monopoly rents that they can use to influence politicians,” he said. “The policies that these politicians create—and the regulators who enforce them—are designed to make the donor class wealthier, not to improve the lives of the American people.”

He continued: “Whether it’s cable and wireless, energy, finance, movies, music, online services, pharma, eyewear, or even pro wrestling, industries have dwindled to a handful of companies that use anticompetitive tactics to crush or buy competitors, reducing choice, competition, and the hope of a pluralistic future.”

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Jonas Grinevičius

Jonas Grinevičius

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Storytelling, journalism, and art are a core part of who I am. I've been writing and drawing ever since I could walk—there is nothing else I'd rather do. My formal education, however, is focused on politics, philosophy, and economics because I've always been curious about the gap between the ideal and the real. At work, I'm a Senior Writer and I cover a broad range of topics that I'm passionate about: from psychology and changes in work culture to healthy living, relationships, and design. In my spare time, I'm an avid hiker and reader, enjoy writing short stories, and love to doodle. I thrive when I'm outdoors, going on small adventures in nature. However, you can also find me enjoying a big mug of coffee with a good book (or ten) and entertaining friends with fantasy tabletop games and sci-fi movies.

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Jonas Grinevičius

Jonas Grinevičius

Author, BoredPanda staff

Storytelling, journalism, and art are a core part of who I am. I've been writing and drawing ever since I could walk—there is nothing else I'd rather do. My formal education, however, is focused on politics, philosophy, and economics because I've always been curious about the gap between the ideal and the real. At work, I'm a Senior Writer and I cover a broad range of topics that I'm passionate about: from psychology and changes in work culture to healthy living, relationships, and design. In my spare time, I'm an avid hiker and reader, enjoy writing short stories, and love to doodle. I thrive when I'm outdoors, going on small adventures in nature. However, you can also find me enjoying a big mug of coffee with a good book (or ten) and entertaining friends with fantasy tabletop games and sci-fi movies.

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anonymous

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This lazy panda forgot to write something about itself.

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anonymous

anonymous

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This lazy panda forgot to write something about itself.

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claesjohangustavsson avatar
Claes Gustavsson
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes, I can't beleive how armericans tolerate this. I would be furious. I'm so happy that I don't live in the US, I got sick last year (Psoriasis), I would be bankrupt by know. Maybe even dead. We have "free" healthcare in Sweden, of course payed by taxes, but we're happy to do so. It brings quality to life, not having to worry about getting sick. I've read these stories so many times now.

johngordonp avatar
Emperor Kitten
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We all hate it. Quite literally all of us. We just get forgetful about how much we hate it when politicians say taxes would increase if we socialized it. That, and the older generation have an irrational fear of the word "socialism", dating back to the cold war.

Load More Replies...
giovannat1979 avatar
giovanna
Community Member
4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Believe me. Every time I read this kind of things I CAN'T understand how you can accept it. How you're not demonstrating in the streets 24/7. It sounds Unbelievable to me. We have free health care no matter what in Italy. We could be unemployed and still have it. If you need surgery and you stay in hospital for a major surgery, and in ICU afterwards, guess what the bill would be? Zero.

febfifteen2006 avatar
PaulV
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We don't accept it, but we do accept our powerlessness (real or perceived). There are billions of dollars at stake - for the insurance companies. Therefore the insurance companies invest million$ to lobby our (our??) representatives in order to preserve their lucrative arrangement. We, the poors, have no money and no time to lobby.

Load More Replies...
johnlouis62 avatar
John Louis
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What amazes me is how billion-dollar insurance propaganda has led so many right-wingers to believe our current system is somehow better, with more access and more choice.

idrow avatar
Id row
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ignorance. Plain and simple. The right-wingers hear the word 'socialized' and start panicking, thinking the Russians are going to invade and we're going to turn communist. Then they grab their booze, bible and guns and go attend a pro-life rally in their MAGA hats.

Load More Replies...
Load More Comments
claesjohangustavsson avatar
Claes Gustavsson
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes, I can't beleive how armericans tolerate this. I would be furious. I'm so happy that I don't live in the US, I got sick last year (Psoriasis), I would be bankrupt by know. Maybe even dead. We have "free" healthcare in Sweden, of course payed by taxes, but we're happy to do so. It brings quality to life, not having to worry about getting sick. I've read these stories so many times now.

johngordonp avatar
Emperor Kitten
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We all hate it. Quite literally all of us. We just get forgetful about how much we hate it when politicians say taxes would increase if we socialized it. That, and the older generation have an irrational fear of the word "socialism", dating back to the cold war.

Load More Replies...
giovannat1979 avatar
giovanna
Community Member
4 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Believe me. Every time I read this kind of things I CAN'T understand how you can accept it. How you're not demonstrating in the streets 24/7. It sounds Unbelievable to me. We have free health care no matter what in Italy. We could be unemployed and still have it. If you need surgery and you stay in hospital for a major surgery, and in ICU afterwards, guess what the bill would be? Zero.

febfifteen2006 avatar
PaulV
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We don't accept it, but we do accept our powerlessness (real or perceived). There are billions of dollars at stake - for the insurance companies. Therefore the insurance companies invest million$ to lobby our (our??) representatives in order to preserve their lucrative arrangement. We, the poors, have no money and no time to lobby.

Load More Replies...
johnlouis62 avatar
John Louis
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What amazes me is how billion-dollar insurance propaganda has led so many right-wingers to believe our current system is somehow better, with more access and more choice.

idrow avatar
Id row
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ignorance. Plain and simple. The right-wingers hear the word 'socialized' and start panicking, thinking the Russians are going to invade and we're going to turn communist. Then they grab their booze, bible and guns and go attend a pro-life rally in their MAGA hats.

Load More Replies...
Load More Comments
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