Would You Rather: the Healthcare Edition

Medicare for All

Back in 2008, the TV show Breaking Bad asked a question that is still on a lot of Americans’ minds: How far would you go to pay for medical care? In Breaking Bad, the main character ends up building a meth empire to pay for his cancer treatment, which is a solution we don’t necessarily endorse, but you do what you have to do. Today we’re going to be talking about real life (slightly less dramatic) examples of the lengths folks are forced to go to these days to navigate our for-profit healthcare system. From TikTok to Go Fund Me to class action lawsuits and appearances on the Dr. Phil show, ordinary people may not be selling meth, but they are turning to public platforms to get the care they need. We are joined today by Jill Parkinson, who recently went viral on TikTok talking about her own health care horror story and is channeling that experience into Medicare for All activism! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS1dCAqcvb0 Show Notes Jill tells us her healthcare story, which begins with long-undiagnosed stomach pain since she was a teenager. In 2021 the pain got so bad that she went to urgent care. Diagnosed with endometriosis, Jill had two surgeries. She reports she did “everything right”: got marketplace insurance, paid her premiums, and paid the full amount of her deductible and out of pocket max of $7,500 upon checking into the hospital for surgery. Following the surgery, she needed to immediately begin taking a prescription to prevent more pain and surgery yet again. She faced an epic runaround with her insurance company, the specialty pharmacy, and the hospital. Once she sorted that out, she assumed insurance would cover the full cost of the prescription, because that's what insurance is supposed to do! Even though she had met her deductible, she ended up paying $1,500 out of pocket for the prescription, and still didn't get it on time. So Jill took to TikTok, and went viral within hours. https://www.tiktok.com/@jillfrance/video/7197882383864220974 The responses to Jill's video elicited lots of advice and comments: never pay up front or even pay at all. Use Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs. Getting drugs from Mexico or Canada. (Northwest Pharmacy Canada priced the same drug at $300.) People told me to get a lawyer or call state authorities. Go to the manufacturer’s website for a discount. (This drug was $1,600 and the max that the manufacturer will take off is $300, making it $1,300.) "It’s Obamcare’s fault” Ask for a grant. “Karen as hard as you can. Karen harder than you ever have Karened in your life!!” “Hang in there, medicare is freaking awesome.” “This is why I can’t quit my job. My insurance is too good.” “People with no money just don’t get surgeries. We just die and the world continues on.” “When I had my son (my 3rd c section) the registration woman told me that if I didn’t pay my copay before leaving, I wouldn’t get to take my son home.” Would you rather have a literal pain in the ass or have a pain in the ass lawsuit? Next our hosts and guest play Would You Rather: the Healthcare Edition. Ben tells the story of Christopher McNaughton, who finally found a treatment that changed his life–but insurance company decided he wasn't worth the cost. College student Christopher McNaughton was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease that has no cure. His case was particularly severe, to the point where constant debilitating pain forced him to drop out of school. After years without relief, an unusual regimen of biologic drugs at high doses finally brought his disease under control. McNaughton was insured through UnitedHealthcare (regular listeners may recall how we feel about them…). The high cost of his treatment triggered an internal “review,” wherein United’s doctors claimed it was “not medically necessary.” A lawsuit filed by McNaughton’s family brought to light United’s relentless ...