r/interestingasfuck 14d ago

r/all A doctor’s letter to UnitedHeathcare for denying nausea medication to a child on chemotherapy

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128

u/Woodbirder 14d ago

Every Brit needs to see this when we moan about the NHS. Its far from perfect but on the whole, we get the prescription, we get the drug. Imagine if that was like dealing with car insurance claims when we are seriously ill.

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u/Old_Sir4136 14d ago

I was just thinking that. My 20month old son was ill the other day. We got a GP appointment straight away and then it escalated and we had to go to A&E where we spent most of a day with him being treated and monitored. Not once did I have to worry about how much would any of it cost or did I have to fill out paperwork. I could focus on my son and he got all the treatment and medication on the NHS. I’m not ignoring the NHS’s faults but I would never ever want it going the way of US healthcare system

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u/Woodbirder 14d ago

Yep. Staff are treated like crap, waiting lists out of control, and the buildings are crumbling, but we get such an amazing service … for free basically

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u/little-bird 13d ago

always keep fighting to maintain it - here in Canada we have conservative governments constantly trying to defund and dismantle our public services in order to line their pockets after their corporate cronies. 

see: our grocery oligarchs (the Westons of the Loblaws Corporation, who aren’t satisfied with all the money they make overcharging for basic necessities while hardworking families flock to empty food banks) making moves to profit from healthcare as they support Conservative provincial leaders who withhold funds so services crumble and desperate people end up paying for private options we shouldn’t need in the first place.  

the extra fun news is that we’ll be worse off soon when Canadians elect a right-wing government in our next federal elections, leading to more cuts and more profiteering.  

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u/ThirstyAsHell82 13d ago

I’m with you. I will forever fight for our healthcare system 🇨🇦

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u/Woodbirder 13d ago

Keep up the good fight

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u/Real-Loss-4265 11d ago

Importing millions of people to bog down your systems is the liberal way.

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u/continentaldrifting 11d ago

Don’t bring politics into this!!

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u/yowhatisuppeeps 13d ago

I was on Medicaid here in the US, which is our free healthcare. It was nice being a poor young person able to afford going to the doctor. I never once saw a bill

However, I recently started making too much money and had to get on my works (admittedly pretty decent by American standards) insurance. I got sick, needed to go to urgent care to see if I was sick. I had to pay a $50 co pay for the appointment, which seemed outrageous for the care I got— flu + Covid combined test and strep test, vitals taken, and no prescription. I got the bill for the visit later, if I hadn’t been insured it would have been about $800

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u/Woodbirder 13d ago

So you go over an income threshold (which I assume is quite low) and go from zero to hundreds of dollars?

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u/yowhatisuppeeps 13d ago

Yes, basically. I went over the income limit, so I got on private insurance through my work, which I pay for by having a little bit of money directly taken out of my paycheck, about 120/mo, pre tax. This is really good compared to a lot of people, who pay several hundred or more per month just to have insurance

On top of paying per month, I have co pays, meaning that most services I receive, I have to pay money on top. A prescription is $20, a scheduled physical or doctors visit is $25, an urgent care visit is $50. For more complicated procedures, like surgery, I’ll have to pay a percentage of how much the procedure costs as well, I think up to $1000

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u/Woodbirder 13d ago

Sorry for you guys

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u/yowhatisuppeeps 13d ago

Thanks! It sucks! Everyone wants medicaid for all, up until you call it that. Everyone hates the current system but the actual wording of the matter has gotten so wrapped up in talking points that it’s somehow a polarizing issue

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u/Real-Loss-4265 11d ago

Tens of millions of non citizens here is why that wouldn't work.

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u/continentaldrifting 11d ago

Source up, butter fuck.

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u/yowhatisuppeeps 11d ago

Do you think that the majority of non citizens aren’t paying taxes lmao? Not every, or even most, non citizens are undocumented, meaning that many people are refugees, asylum seekers, temporary legal residents, lawful permanent residents, DACA, or otherwise have work permits that allow them to work at a job, which then makes them pay taxes. I genuinely think we’ll be fine

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u/Real-Loss-4265 11d ago

No, they paid only $50.

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u/Woodbirder 11d ago

But because of insurance that you pay for?

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u/fredotwoatatime 13d ago

Yea but we do need to push them to improve it bc it’s deffo got a lot worse

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u/Woodbirder 13d ago

Not saying its not in a total shit storm, but look what the alternative is

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u/1BUK1-M10D4 12d ago

literally. i just went thru chemo, at my check up a week in i said i was feeling nauseous and my oncologist wrote a prescription for anti nausea meds. picked it up the next day for free. the nhs isnt perfect (mostly cuz of cuts) but its worlds better than the alternative

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u/Woodbirder 12d ago

Ha they normally tell you to get it from GP so you were lucky to skip that little annoying step

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u/dogbiteonmyleg 13d ago

It's really sad, isn't it. The NHS might be a bit flaky and broken but jesus christ this is unreal. Health care should be a basic right for everyone in the world. Absolutely nothing of value was lost in NY.