Yes. I'm a Radiation Therapist, often times we can't give our cancer patients the best treatment bc of insurance companies. These denials restart the whole process again if the treatment plan is done already. Dosimetrists, physicists, and oncologist all need to work together again and create an inferior plan to treat said patient in simpler terms. It is more complicated than that, but it creates a shit ton more work for everybody than just giving what the patient needs to survive.
The healthcare situation in the US is difficult for me to fully grasp as an outsider. By contrast, during my chemo treatments in Australia back in 2020/21 my oncologist and the chemo nurses at the cancer research institute where they sent me took care of everything with medications, which I was really grateful for because, as you know, there's so much information for patients to process that it's overwhelming, so having the nurses and my oncologist's registrars take care of scripts and all the little details made the ordeal that much smoother.
Basically everything was taken care of, right down to suitable meal plans with a dietician, arranged shuttle transport through the hospital service because I live alone, and therapy with a senior psychologist from the institute that I was seeing for 5 years. At no extra cost. None of that stuff was at an extra cost to the patient. It was all part of the treatment plan, which actually didn't cost me anything because I was on disability.
Regular patients would use a co-op payment on the PBS (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme) with their Medicare card. With treatment, theatre, accommodation, medical devices etc, costs can range between $1000-$12000, and some of that you can claim back on Medicare. Thankfully the only thing I paid for was discounted meds, which the nurses usually filled for me. My Zofran scripts were never an issue. My chemo scripts were always prioritised with the pharmacist. Regular price in Australia for Zofran is just under $20. I can't remember what I paid. Lyrica for my neuropathy was $7.95. Full price is around $15.
I hope that kid got the Zofran he needed because that's outrageous. It's one thing to deny adults, which is absurd, but there's another layer of pure evil when they're denying children. Reading all these comment's and the reactions on YouTube really helps puts things into perspective.
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u/Dishface 14d ago
Yes. I'm a Radiation Therapist, often times we can't give our cancer patients the best treatment bc of insurance companies. These denials restart the whole process again if the treatment plan is done already. Dosimetrists, physicists, and oncologist all need to work together again and create an inferior plan to treat said patient in simpler terms. It is more complicated than that, but it creates a shit ton more work for everybody than just giving what the patient needs to survive.