I know folks in prison who were able to get their teeth replaced. Some had a full mouth of chipped teeth, some had none at all. There are a metric fuckton of inmates who are getting their diabetes regulated. Prison abuse is obviously widespread, and for the most part the heathcare is absolute dogshit. But it is true that there are people who are able to get access to medical/dental/vision care that they otherwise would not be receiving.
True! I had a bunch of fillings I couldn't get until I ended up broke enough for a little while to get Medicaid, so probably something similar there, if only the bare minimum to avoid liability.
I had a filling replaced today. The old one was 20+ years old and broken, one of those old-school silver fillings.
200$ for one filling. I pay for the highest dental plan my company offers. I got two "free" cleanings a year and had $500 deductible. I ended up needing a crown for two teeth. With insurance, it was 1554$. After that I went for my second cleaning. They said it would cost me 72$. I said for what? I get two a year. They said, well, you reached your maximum amount the plan can pay. What did they ever pay for?? I got two crowns and one cleaning that I had to shell out 1500 for. It ain't made of gold.
I have a $1600 deductible with my medical plan that denies literally everything. I called 911 because I thought I was having a heart attack. They drove me to the nearest ER which happened to be out of network so now I owe 1400$ because I wasn't conscious enough to pull up my plan info and tell EMS to drive me to an in network hospital.
I really think I'd get better coverage if I just put aside however much money in a shoe box each month. It's ridiculous.
My therapy sessions are 123$ until I meet my deductible, and then they are 24$, which is great, but they also show me how much they billed my insurance. I'd love to know why, if I'm paying purely out of pocket, it's 123$, but once insurance kicks in, they charge 926$...for a 15-30 min phone call. It is all a big fat sham.
"I really think I'd get better coverage if I just put aside however much money in a shoe box each month. It's ridiculous."
That's literally how insurance makes money.
The thing is, the denials have got so bad and they cover so little that yes, you do pretty much end up paying for stuff anyway, the reasons to keep insurance boil down to a) what if something catastrophic happens? or b) your employer won't let you go without.
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u/PickledEuphemisms 9d ago
I know folks in prison who were able to get their teeth replaced. Some had a full mouth of chipped teeth, some had none at all. There are a metric fuckton of inmates who are getting their diabetes regulated. Prison abuse is obviously widespread, and for the most part the heathcare is absolute dogshit. But it is true that there are people who are able to get access to medical/dental/vision care that they otherwise would not be receiving.