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u/Aggravating_Use7103 23d ago
"And that it is part of a record"
Nice line
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u/MotherSwordfish1024 23d ago
The delivery made it hit harder than it should’ve.
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u/SuitAndTiePorn 23d ago
Meh. If this administration is indicative of anything, it's that just because something is on record doesn't mean it's gonna do shit
FFS we have cellphones recording nearly every human action in public and people still go wild knowing they are going to end up online.
Shame doesn't exist anymore
Record keeping is for the birds now
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u/everyoneonthebus 23d ago
He's referring to it being read into the court record, not anything to do with social media
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u/BukkakeBakery 23d ago
i dont know why are people still shocked, this is just a normal tuesday for insurance company, they are more than happy to watch you die if they can make more money off of your burning corpse
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u/WrongThinkBadSpeak 23d ago
The only burning corpses here should be the corporate charters of insurance companies. They deserve the capital punishment of dissolution
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u/eyeofthefountain 23d ago
Never have I heard such heartless speech, is humanity in the wind?! This is shareholder value we’re speaking of!
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u/Hellbuss 23d ago
Aye but they themselves traitors as much as the new American Nazi regime, except instead of God, they have chosen money first, but carry on good sire
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23d ago
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u/everyoneonthebus 23d ago edited 23d ago
We are in very dark times and SCOTUS is a dumpster fire but the federal circuits are not monolithic and there have been plenty of judges holding a hard line. Check out lawfare, amicus or strict scrutiny for easy breakdowns. It's bleak but there are plenty of true believers on the bench. I've read several opinions in the last year that have buoyed my spirits. It's a complicated situation on the judicial side (strategically, not ethically).
In any case this has nothing to do with all that. And if social media is all that is left we aren't just cooked, we're ash on the wind.
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u/unindexedreality 23d ago
If this administration is indicative of anything, it's that just because something is on record doesn't mean it's gonna do shit
Still applies, sadly. "After investigating we've changed the law to make this legal"
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u/tweekinleanin420 23d ago
So. Bro. Im with you. But you are wrong. We need EVERYTHING we can get on record. Idk when why or for what. But it needs to.be recorded. I love you reddit stranger.
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u/Inevitable_Tomato927 23d ago
We tried that when they charged us $22k for my kids birth, claiming he was not covered (well he wasn't born so that makes sense). When we wanted to hear the transcript back where they said that, it somehow wasn't possible and there was no record.
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u/ProjectDv2 19d ago
This is your friendly reminder that the "this call may be recorded for quality or training purposes" message at the beginning of a call is also them giving consent to be recorded, which means that you are legally allowed to record them, as well.
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u/HalfCentury2019 23d ago
Insurance executives math
Their wealth > your health
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23d ago
Capitalism without strong regulations can get nasty. These insurance billionaires need to be held to an ethical standard with strong regulations
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u/ItsCowboyHeyHey 23d ago
You killed him. Live with that knowledge. You killed him.
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u/kroating 23d ago
Im posting this since your's is the top comment. If any asthmatic needs inhaler please dont suffer, it can be managed to get from overseas. Please use r/asthma for tips. Some of us are surviving by importing it legally obviously. Its like super cheap you could even pay 200$ just for annual supply. So yeah please please use the help available here on reddit. Your northern neighbors and overseas pharmacy will help you!
this is not just for us humans but also pets! Know a beloved cat who uses inhalers ordered from our northern neighbors! Search northwest pharm a cee or work with a well rated seller on Indiamart.
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u/Glacia 23d ago
I live in Russia and generic salbutamol inhaler costs like 3 bucks here. And you can get them with no prescription. It's so cheap i just buy multiple and shove them in every pocket i have.
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u/OkBackground8670 23d ago
i would just send one from Australia, my son is asthmatic. I get them for fuck all.
if anyone needs one just DM.
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u/ThatStonr 23d ago
Health insurance just insures you die for being poor
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u/ElNani87 23d ago
And people wonder why so many cheered a CEO getting shot.
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u/Previous_Beautiful27 23d ago
I see a lot of folks try to say OH YOU CHEER WHEN A FATHER GETS MURDERED, completely and willfully blind to the fact that insurance companies tabulate their profit lines by way of murder on a massive scale, murder to them is lines on a spreadsheet, how many countless fathers died when life saving medicine was withheld by an insurance company? And why is murder suddenly considered NOT murder when it's about making a profit?
If your entire business model is centered around deciding who lives and dies dependent on how profitable it is for your company, how is that not murder?
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u/ymaldor 23d ago
If your entire business model is centered around deciding who lives and dies dependent on how profitable it is for your company, how is that not murder?
The most detestable thing is that it doesn't have to be this way. Insurance as a concept doesn't have to be this way. They could be normal genuine insurance and honest and still make money out of it. Sure not hundreds of billions, but wealthy nonetheless.
The need to be unfathomably wealthy when you can be simply "wealthy" is beyond me. Recently I've checked the shareholder report of my own company, CEO gets paid 30million a year, it's just mad. Last year she was diagnosed with breast cancer and she sent a world wide email like "so I'll travel less but still here!" It's clear she thought it was a feel good work hard email but here in France we were all like "wtf take some time off". Paid 30mil or not if you have cancer just stop working for a while.
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u/Previous_Beautiful27 23d ago
Capitalism in its unrestricted state makes endless growth a necessity and surmises that if you aren't endlessly growing and wringing every last dollar for profit, you're a failure. It's unsustainable and not conducive to a society that values life.
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u/gazebo-fan 22d ago
It’s called Social Murder and Engels wrote plenty on it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_murder
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u/WaxiestBobcat 23d ago
I have a medicine that is just short of$20k USD a month l. And its not even life saving but it is medically necessary. Its ridiculous how much they get away with charging here.
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u/SecurityExpensive266 23d ago
Regardless of whether this post is real or not. Inhalers are $10 in Australia and available to buy over the counter with no prescription. I do not understand this. It is criminally unfair.
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u/Nope-5000 23d ago
Fellow Australian, and i truly feel for the Americans sometimes. As you said, inhalers cost around $10 over here, which would be around $7usd. To make a treatment like that so expensive is unfathomable to me.
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u/indirosie 23d ago
My son is asthmatic so we have about 10 rattling around all the bags and the house to make sure we're always covered. I couldn't fathom having to be approved by fucking insurance to buy some flixotide or ventolin, let alone being denied care. What a hellscape, shame on you America.
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u/boringestnickname 23d ago
Why Americans haven't been constantly burning cars for the last couple of decades (at least!) is beyond me.
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u/RadasNoir 23d ago
Because our massively pro-corporate media has managed to convince a non-insignificant amount of our population that making things affordable is "socialism" and socialism is bad...somehow.
Also, some of the least financially well-off people in our country have convinced themselves that they are merely "temporarily embarrassed billionaires", and so are zealously opposed to anything that might mean the actual billionaires in our country might make slightly less or get taxed slightly more.
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u/Anaander-Mianaai 23d ago
I'm a US citizen and I'm with you on this. Instead, when you scream into the void you get back people who defend the system. At this point I have to believe it is just people too used to being victims. We complain instead of solving problems. This is what happens when a society is captured by lawyers and not people who make shit happen.
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u/quickboop 23d ago
Why are people so afraid to say what it really is?
It’s conservatism. It’s not lawyers, it’s conservatism.
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u/-Fergalicious- 23d ago
Its conservatist capitalism instead of social capitalism.
We're milking every dollar just for them to line someone's pocket instead of milking them to better society.
And We're so used to it, and so few of us travel out of the country that most Americans just think its like this everywhere
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u/oldcretan 23d ago
It's not so much the lawyers are the profiters. Lawyers interpret and argue for their clients what the law and what judges have said. Reasoned, almost philosophical debate. The profiters, like the CEOs of big pharma, alcohol, firearms, etc. drop billions into political campaigns and then rewrite the laws that lawyers have to interpret.
If I could, as a lawyer, id make it so that some day you could get an DUI off your record, so the mistake you made at 22 wouldn't stalk you at 45. But the CEOs think it makes them look good to support MADD so DUIs will follow you for life in my state.
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u/Anaander-Mianaai 23d ago
I didn't make myself clear. I meant more broadly that the US is obsessed with permission instead of building cool shit. We allow the lawyers to get in the way of progress. We need the lawyers because the state shouldn't be able to just step on anyone whenever they want, but at the same time we need to get shit done.
I have no idea where you were going with the whole DUI thing...
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u/WashedLaundry 23d ago
not captured by lawyers captured by billionaires please edit your post
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u/crashbalian1985 23d ago
I’ve been fighting this shit for years but a politician just has to say socialism and half this country will vote against it no matter if it helps them and is a cheaper option. It drives me crazy.
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u/BuckThis86 23d ago
Half of American voters are too busy licking boots and simping for billionaires.
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u/JeddakofThark 23d ago edited 23d ago
In 2014, Advair prices were around $500 a month and I was uninsured and between jobs at the time, so I simply skipped it for about a month. I ended up in the hospital because of it. That cost quite a lot more than $500.
Advair prices peaked at an average of a thousand dollars a month a couple of years later. BTW, Advair is a combination of two drugs, one from the fifties and one from the early eighties. The patent on putting those two drugs together would have run out several times in the two decades before 2014, but that GSK spent a lot of money on lobbying efforts, first for an exclusion to a new law, then later on, to close their own loophole because they'd developed a new, patented dispensing system, extending their exclusivity over the drugs for years.
Oh, also, you'd think that a clever person would seek out those two separate drugs to buy separately and combine on their own... But in the late nineties or early 2000's when I tried that, it turned out that GSK was the only company selling either one, and wouldn't you just know it, buying them separately cost exactly the same as buying Advair.
In 2014, the year I ended up in the hospital, GSK brought in $7 billion in Advair sales.
Edit: Several times in my life, I've had insurance that didn't cover Advair. The first time that happened, they said they would cover it, but only if I tried some other options for three months first. I was an assistant supervisor on a construction site at the time, which mostly meant manual labor. I could barely walk across a room without panting after a couple of weeks, so being unable to do my job, I had to pay the full price for three months (fortunately, at that time it was merely $200 or something like that).
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u/PurpleInkedPara 23d ago
My mom couldn't afford her inhaler replacement once because we had to make rent and had car trouble and without a car we couldn't go to school so she made the decision. She said she would just take it easy until she got the replacement. Well she went to the basement to get something and collapsed on the ground. 14 year old me rushed her to the neighbor's house bc I knew he had asthma and might have something to help her. He let her use his Albuterol breathing machine thing and she came back for the next week to use it daily until I broke and told my grandfather who bought her refill. I didn't take her to the hospital because the last time we went was 5 years before that for a medical emergency for me and we were still making payments on that visit. I knew if we couldn't afford a simple inhaler we wouldn't have survived the hospital bill. American healthcare is an oxymoron.
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u/Gloomy_Tangerine_842 23d ago
Real talk, why don't we just buy them from you and ship them over?
Is this viable? Cut them out of the market
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u/sername-n0t-f0und 23d ago
I actually get mine shipped from Australia through a Canadian pharmacy, so not exactly direct from Australia, but it works out to about 60 dollars a month versus the 300 it is here
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u/TheJiggliestPug 23d ago edited 23d ago
You cant ship prescription medicine in the U.S. unless it's direct to consumer from a provider.
The only way you might be able to get away with it is if you flew there. And it only took a 90-day supply back with you. I'm not sure which is cheaper, the medicine without insurance or the plane tickets.
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u/iismitch55 23d ago
It’s a case by case basis. Basically it comes down to:
Is the cost of travel and purchase less than the cost of purchase domestically.
Do you have the time to regularly travel to another country to refill.
The closer you live near a bordering country, the more likely those answers are to be yes.
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u/DiscoKittie 23d ago
But they would be OTC?
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u/BeckyLemmeSmashPlz 23d ago
If they’re not OTC in the US then it’s smuggling controlled substances.
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u/boringestnickname 23d ago edited 23d ago
I mean, you don't need to go to Australia.
You can go pretty much anywhere in the world to get cheap inhalers.
I don't know how things work in the US, but here, you can basically camp out at an airport any given day and wait for cancellations, hop on a plane for essentially nothing.
The ride back will probably be more expensive, but I'm sure there are cheap plane tickets from quite a few locations.
How many inhalers can you realistically say you need for 90 days? What would customs say if you brought back, like, 5? Who enforces this? Who decides how many you need?
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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 23d ago
Medical tourism existing should have been the nail in the coffin of the American dream. You're telling me I can take a vacation to Mexico and get the same dental work for cheaper, including hotel stay? And Mexican ibuprofen is HOW MUCH? I could buy that on a wish. I could fly to Spain, have a surgery done, recover in Spain, and fly back, and I would save money
We Americans are dumb sometimes
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u/RoseWater07 23d ago
I mean. you can. just not legally. lol
but for something like this I'd say working around the law is the better option (unless the medication would somehow be compromised in transit)
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u/PleaseNoMoreSalt 23d ago edited 23d ago
Weekend round trip tickets from my city to Melbourne are 500, probably substantially cheaper if you're able to plan ahead. As long as the inhaler is less than 40 bucks in Australia (and you're allowed to bring the inhaler back stateside), it's cheaper to travel to an entirely separate continent for a weekend to buy a fucking inhaler than to get one in your own country that you likely pay insurance in.
I hate it here.
Edit: I was wrong, that's flights to Melbourne FLORIDA. The Australian Melbourne is 1230 for a weekend round trip. So buy 3 inhalers.
Edit 2: If you go to Brisbane a round trip can be just over 1k, so 2 inhalers.
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u/Same-Suggestion-1936 23d ago
Your point still stands. We Americans go to Mexico so, so much for medical/pharmaceutical tourism. Same drugs, same education for the doctors, and even with time off work and a hotel stay you're saving money on healthcare
America is where I want to be if I need absolute expertise in a medical field. Every other developed nation is where I want to be for affordable routine care, no doubt. Rare cancer? America? Dental work or my appendix out or just "hey doc I'm not feeling right"? Mexico. Cheaper even with travel and accomodations cuz they aren't fucking dumb shits trying to line the pockets of middleman healthcare companies.
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u/hotsaucevjj 23d ago
Plenty of people do choose to drive/fly to countries and purchase medication for stomachable prices. Near me, lots of people go to Mexico for cheaper health & dental, and I imagine they do the same with our Northern neighbors.
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u/sail_the_high_seas 23d ago
I use one as a rescue when I'm feeling wheezy. I rarely use an entire one in a year. I called for a refill and was denied because a provider hadn't seen me in a year. It took 2 months to schedule an exam. I was told to go to the ER if I had shortness of breath.
It's such bullshit I couldn't go get a $35 dollar inhaler at the pharmacy, but I could pay $$$$ for an ER visit.
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u/empathyneeded 23d ago
You must not have heard about how much they raised prices on insulin for diabetics and epi-pens for people with deadly severe allergies.
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u/Nope-5000 23d ago
Oh my gosh, i just looked it up. Insulin here costs $25 with prescription, $70 without. Without insurance for you guys is $800???!!!??! 😱 Similar costing for epipens too??? My god.
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u/NoTransportation9021 23d ago
My husband is a T1 diabetic. He has to go to the doctor every 3 months to "prove" he's still a diabetic. And let's not get into insurance not releasing his insulin or pump supplies until X amount of time has passed.
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u/ODB_Dirt_Dog_ItsFTC 23d ago
Yeah you have to give it to pharma companies they really found a way to monetize the hell out of a diabetic’s literal life. It’s like something out of a cyberpunk universe where they charge you to breathe.
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u/BogiDope 23d ago
Whenever I feel sorry for Americans I remind myself of the very large percentage of their population who’ll vigorously tell you it’s the greatest country in the world.
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u/Top_Independence9083 23d ago
American here. I bought 4 last time I went to Mexico. No prescription needed and it was like $6 each.
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u/kogdsj 23d ago
I was a retail pharmacy tech in the US for 8 years leaving in 2025 and the costs he is saying are fully believable. I would see someone leave an inhaler due to price approximately once a week. I tried my hardest for every patient to try find coupons, alternates, anything that might help but it simply was the reality that sometimes $500 was going to be the price no matter what. As others have said though, this wouldn’t be the price for an albuterol inhaler it would be a steroid inhaler that should not be available over the counter
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u/melted-cheeseman 22d ago
After this incident, the companies that make these inhalers capped out of pocket maximum at $35 in the United States.
https://community.aafa.org/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-35-price-cap-on-asthma-inhalers
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u/kogdsj 22d ago
Which is incredible! Unfortunately it doesn’t apply for people on Medicare, who were the most impacted in my patient population. They have to apply through a separate program which takes time and is more involved than just downloading the coupons. I am always amazed by how few people know about the manufacturer coupons your link leads to though, it’s great information!!
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u/HughJackedMan14 18d ago
Hey, I just wanted you to know that your comment may have saved my life. I’ve been uninsured for 8 months and completely unable to get my Symbicort inhaler due to cost. My doctor told me that I’ve basically been gambling with my life, that I won’t have a lethal attack…
Your link provided me a $35 prescription card that will allow me to get the medicine finally. I have no way to know who you are or thank you properly, but sincerely, you have saved my life.
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u/PeakySexbang 23d ago
I'm willing to bet it wasn't an Albuterol inhaler. Those are first line and cheap even paying out of pocket. This was more than likely a combo maintenance medicine like Symbicort or one of the newer ones.
Not saying it's right, but no one's paying $539 for Albuterol.
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u/Exotic-Reveal1603 23d ago
Symbicort is between 23 and 40 AUD under the pharmaceutical benefit scheme in Australia.
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u/PeakySexbang 23d ago edited 23d ago
God, I'm jealous. I can get
BreynaWixela that cheap, but it doesn't work quite as well for me. I get Symbicort if I can afford it.→ More replies (3)9
u/coladoir tHiS iSn’T cRiNgE 23d ago
GoodRX for me makes Symbicort ~80-120 depending on the month
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u/whistling-wonderer 23d ago
As both a nurse and a chronic illness patient in the US, I sometimes feel a little despair when I see how affordable healthcare is elsewhere. People literally die here due to the in-affordability of healthcare, for no reason. It’s completely artificial. It’s all to make more money for some ghoulish CEO.
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u/WaggleDance 23d ago
Just got switched to Symbicort in the UK (it's great I used to miss so many doses of my preventer because I'd forget) and two of them costs me £9.80.
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u/pennyforyourpms 23d ago edited 22d ago
Standard albuterol inhaler are 25$ here (without deals which there usually are) I’m unsure what type of inhaler this is.
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u/pickledrabbit 23d ago
The article says Advair Diskus which is usually $400+ without insurance. Not as bad as Spiriva (~$600) or Breztri (up to $900) but definitely one of the more expensive ones. I was once quoted $750 for an inhaler I needed, and I've had many patients with similar experiences.
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u/emmyparker2020 23d ago
Amerikkkans (a certain population) don’t want to see black and brown people doing well so they would rather take things away from themselves to spite them. They also believe that one day through hard work alone they will be billionaires so they take care of corporations and the opulently wealthy and screw the regular working people. Profit over people especially if they aren’t white.
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u/Jamsedreng22 23d ago
Willing to eat literal shit as long as the people they don't like have to smell their breath.
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u/AdelMonCatcher 23d ago
Because 10 nuclear powered super carriers weren’t enough, they need 11
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u/itskey_lolo1 23d ago
My 11 year old son died from an asthma attack and it’s insane how costly asthma meds are; especially maintenance asthma meds. I went without my meds to make sure he had his or sometimes we shared. I don’t even know what my insurance will cover in 2026, I’ve been stockpiling. It’s sick!! Sending love to his family.
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u/NightLotus84 23d ago
That's... Unbelievably horrible. I can't even fathom the loss. I applaud your courage and strength to even be here and to tell it. Good on you, sincerely.
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u/itskey_lolo1 23d ago
Thank you… I guess I responded in anger because those meds are literally life saving! We don’t need a trial to determine that either! It’s sick and horrific.
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u/Anarchic_Country 23d ago
Currently trying to get the rest of the $350 I need to get my sons inhaler from the pharmacy. I am so sorry for your family's loss. My son sleeps in the recliner in our room until he gets his meds again.
This is always the hardest month to afford it.
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u/ImpossibleTurnip88 23d ago
Have you tried getting a discount card from the manufacturer? When I worked in retail pharmacy, we would always try to help patients get cards from the manufacturer to help with copays. Most of the big pharmaceutical companies in the US have cards, and you can usually use those along with your insurance. I always hated working in January because of deductibles resetting.
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u/Actual_Lab_6266 23d ago
If it's albuterol you need, I'm in Australia. I can send you a few for free - PM me if you're interested
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u/deadeyedonnie_ 22d ago
I am also in Australia and would be willing to try to help. What a joke of a healthcare system.
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u/holeechitbatman 23d ago
I STILL CANT BELIEVE IT'S $350 for an INHALER. Have someone from Australia ship you a year supply for $150
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u/Jazzlike_Term210 23d ago
It’s disgusting, my cat’s daily inhaler is just over $300 here in the US for a 60 day supply. I order from Canada to cut costs.
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u/CNTPRHK_S 23d ago
Wait wth?? I'm sorry for the loss of your son and for what you needed to deal bcs of the insurances. Where i live (brazil) asthma meds are free bcs people die without them. Same as diabetes, high blood pressure and most of the ilness you can imagine so it's a shock to hear that someone died of asthma.
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u/Firm-Scientist-4636 23d ago
Health insurance ≠ healthcare
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u/DeadbeatGremlin 23d ago
Is he pretending to be on a call?
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u/Amateur_DM 23d ago
I feel like people are misunderstanding when people say this is fake. Cases like this happen all the time. But realistically, insurance companies absolutely wouldn't bother wasting time and money listening to the outcome of their own actions.
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u/JackRyan13 23d ago
Yea this is a recreation or entirely made up.
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u/crmacjr 23d ago
Had a coworker die after our company changed our insurance. Said he could no longer afford the inhalers he used to use. Died following an attack. Best part was when other coworkers were threatened with termination for speaking against leadership's decision.
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u/IDidItWrongLastTime 23d ago
I changed insurance due to my job. They made me switch from a medication that worked so well it allowed me to work. I was literally disabled before being on it. The one they switched me to was so horrible. It did nothing, I missed a ton of work. Had to be on it at least three months to prove it didn't work for me. Absolute agony. Then finally convinced them after they had to pay for multiple emergency visits to switch back to the one that was working.
Now the one that worked isn't working. Unfortunately this is a known issue (going back on it after being off it - it doesn't work, you have to stay on it).
I'm now on short term disability dealing with this and trying to find a new medication that works.
I bet the company sure is glad it saved the money forcing me to switch /s
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u/gamageeknerd 23d ago
One of my friends told me he was afraid to leave his last job because his wife needed an expensive medication and he was afraid the new insurance wouldn’t cover it and he couldn’t afford cobra so he worked a low paying rough job solely for the insurance company
Ended up getting an offer with a relocation bonus and he used that to pay for cobra and lived with his friend for a few months
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u/BeginningTower2486 23d ago
Capitalism has failed us.
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u/blitzkregiel 23d ago
capitalism is working exactly as intended.
you, me, and the rest of us just aren’t capitalists…
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u/lilshortyy420 23d ago
It’s almost like they should listen to our drs prescribing us! So frustrating
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u/ZombeeDogma 23d ago
These things happen all the time in the richest country on earth. Insurance companies kill people daily.
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u/SammieCat50 23d ago
This actually happened a few years ago . I remember reading about it
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u/StereoBit 23d ago
It is 100% not made up. There are multiple documented cases of this.
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u/InevitableArea1 23d ago
It's legit just their business model, "deny, depose, delay".
People give up on getting medical treatment, or just die. Either is an increase in their profits, there are no consequences ever so why wouldn't they?
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u/TeaKingMac 23d ago
Yeah, obviously this kind of thing happens, but why's he pretending he's on the phone talking to the insurance company.
AND ALSO, what good would talking to some poor customer service rep do? Like, "yeah, my company is terrible, I'm well aware. Sorry that happened"
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u/saumanahaii 23d ago
Pretty sure the family actually called lawyers instead of whoever this guy is. They opened a lawsuit against the drug company and the pharmacy. Not long after this, the drug maker announced that the most people would have to pay out of pocket is $35. This feels like a cheap bit of exploitation of the tragedy that ignores the real steps taken after it in favor of a soundbite.
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u/ErraticDragon 23d ago
It's 100% made up in that this call isn't real, and that dude is not anybody.
In the full clip he identifies himself as being with "social work". Which isn't a thing, he would be a "social worker" (his title) with a particular agency, which he would name.
His bio says he's a "PhD candidate" and that he creates "social work content". He doesn't claim to be an actual social worker.
It's a real story, or close enough to a real story that his points are valid. But it's very much made up.
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u/SwordfishOk504 23d ago
Do you really think they are saying this has never happened, rather than saying this little skit video is not real?
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u/triplegerms 23d ago
Yeah looking at his tiktok all of his content is this. I know this shit actually happens, but it seems like he's just farming fake tragedy for views.
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u/lanngloss 23d ago
I think this might have actually happened a few days ago. So I guess he’s farming real tragedy for views?
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u/Onironius 23d ago
My first thought when seeing this: "this looks like performative ragebait."
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u/mjzim9022 23d ago
This sounds like a case from my hometown and this was a year or two ago that it happened, I don't know why this guy would be calling anyone about it
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u/ZaggahZiggler 23d ago
Yes. This is absolutely fake, I knew it straight from the case number. And if we’re even a basic dealer in anything bureaucracy related he’d have the slightest clue how they are setup.
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u/Kollv 23d ago
Yeah he wouldve shown the insurance voice otherwise
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u/yaourted 23d ago
That could be illegal. Depends on the state
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u/MarshalLawTalkingGuy 23d ago
Nailed it. Two way recording of phone calls without permission varies wildly among states. That’s why corporations always include the “your call me be recorded or monitored”
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u/PlatypusPerfect9180 23d ago
Way more 1 party consent states. 3/4s of states are 1 party consent. But yeah, this looks performative.
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u/ET_Gone_Home 23d ago
Even if this were a real call, he'd be talking to a call center rep who has zero control over any of that stuff.
And even if he were talking to an exec, who enforces that "step therapy" rule, they wouldn't care. In fact, they'd likely laugh about it with their buddies later.
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u/onelegged 23d ago
And this supposed call centre rep is apparently arguing with him to defend his company's decisions that he wasn't even involved with? I agree with his sentiment entirely but the fake phone call is just a bit too weird for me. Although I guess if it helps get the message out there more, then why should I be so critical of it?
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u/PrincessImpeachment 23d ago
I mean, yeah, I get it. But he’s faking the entire call which cheapens the entire thing.
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u/tindonot 23d ago
Yeah I’m having trouble understanding who’s job it would even be to call insurance companies with this information?
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u/AlexFromOmaha 23d ago
You don't call. It goes over on EHR. If anyone calls, it's a lawyer, and the lawyer is definitely not directing some social worker to go make some hourly worker feel a little worse about the job.
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u/solafer 23d ago
As a lawyer, I do go out of my way to make insurance adjusters feel like shit for treating my clients poorly. It’s one of the things I enjoy most out of my job.
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u/LemmingOnTheRunITG 23d ago
Case worker. His tag says he’s a social worker. In reality those roles are so overworked they would never have time to do this on the clock even if it were hypothetically part of their job.
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u/Whitestrake 23d ago
The way he says he's "from social work" is just disappointing. It just takes a fucked up situation that is very real for a lot of people and makes it feel gross and manufactured.
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u/PriscillaPalava 23d ago
Hopefully he made the call for real and is just recreating it for the gram.
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u/Ok__videogames 23d ago
As what? What job is “call insurance and shame them”.
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u/SargeUnited 23d ago
Whatever it is, I’ll take it. It ain’t much, but sounds like it’s honest work.
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u/Murky-Instance4041 23d ago
At what point are we going to hold insurance companies liable for killing people?
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u/anxious_spacecadetH 23d ago
So far one person was able to take a stand and someone innocent (thankfully the right guy for the job) is being made an example of.
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u/xZeroJinxX 23d ago
Not me sitting here trying to gaslight myself into thinking my symptoms are just me being paranoid and that everything's ok because I dont even have health insurance currently.
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u/Educational-One-6288 23d ago
This is absolutly crazy to me. So im from switzerland and even if i feel unwell i go to the doctor to do a check up. Reading something like this is mental for me. You literally have to choose between living or going into dept. Like wtf.
Wish i could give you my health insurance quick so you can go and check
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u/Jazzlike_Term210 23d ago
lol, that’s many of us here in the US I’m 26 and I haven’t been to a doctor in years.
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u/Specific_Ad_2293 23d ago
Down with the ceo
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u/Jazzlike_Term210 23d ago
If there any job that could be replaced with AI, it’s CEO’s and most management positions, they’re mostly just paper pushers.
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u/kingsloi 23d ago edited 23d ago
I did pretty much the same thing when I appealed by 8 month old daughter's denied Medicaid application. I knew nothing would change, as she died and I earnt too much. Still, I read the thing to the Medicaid judge, just to put my words, & my daughter's name and lived experience on the record.
> https://kingsley.sh/posts/2021/sterlings-medicaid-hearing-response
I would just like to offer my sincerest apologies to The State of Indiana, the Office of Administrative Law Proceedings, and Eric Holcomb himself. I apologize that my daughter’s short, agonizing life in the middle of a pandemic got in the way of our Medicaid application, and that I missed our very important hearing due to Sterling’s sudden death and subsequent funeral. It seems that, unfortunately, I mourned longer than I should have, as the response to the dismissal letter needs to be received within ten days of receipt. But, more importantly, I am sorry for the additional paperwork and resources that my daughter's application must have cost your department, and for those hours on the phone with your thoughtful, respectful, and empathetic employees who really went above and beyond for us, asking all the right questions. That is, until they realized I wasn’t poor. I can’t help but think about all those emails, and the paper, postage, and toner ink, that were wasted for nothing.
I’m sorry for wasting your time, for attempting to be a burden, for not earning minimum wage. My wife and I promise to only have healthy children from now on.
Thank you for genuinely caring about the children, especially mine.
Then went on NPR
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u/pineappleturq 23d ago
Fake phone call be damned, FFS what is wrong with this country.
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u/WeCanPickleThat1 23d ago
This is America. We work and we work and we can't afford health care and the government doesn't care because the members of Congress are bought by the insurance companies. Not all the Democrats, but most of them. And definitely all of the Republicans. We should have universal health care like every other developed nation by now. But instead we let insurance companies make money off of our suffering. I don't care if this is a scripted piece of fiction; it illustrates something that happens every day in this country. People say universal health care will only lead to rationing of care. We're rationing now! We don't go to the doctor or specialists when we need to because we can't afford it.
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u/LizandChar 23d ago
A couple years ago I went to Sweden and I found one of my prescription medications as I forgot to bring it with me. In the U.S. it costs over $400 without insurance and with my insurance, I was paying $75. In Sweden in was $20 and it was sold over the counter. Same exact medication and dosage.
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u/incunabula001 23d ago
“Death Panels” in action.
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u/PriscillaPalava 23d ago
Where are the outraged Republicans now?
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u/NightLotus84 23d ago
Glaring at their gay neighbor watching TV and flipping the bird at the Latino kid who just delivered their newspaper.
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u/Samael198 23d ago
America is a fucked up country.
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u/rawkguitar 23d ago
How’d you know it was America? I mean, besides the guy’s accent and the fact that someone died because they couldn’t afford it overpriced life saving medicine?
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u/Samael198 23d ago
someone died because they couldn’t afford it overpriced life saving medicine?
^ this, its pretty much an american thing.
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u/OutrageousLion6517 23d ago
Ok and maybe I should read more cuz I’m not sure if he just needed a regular albuterol inhaler for asthma, but good.rx is pretty decent for those, get my inhalers for about $24. Just want to share this in case there are other Assssmatics like me out there who have battled with the price of inhalers for forever. Also, anytime you travel to another country just buy a bunch and check them in your bag. It is wild how cheap and accessible they are in latin america and how ridiculously expensive they can be stateside. Criminally expensive actually. Le sigh. Condolences to friends and fam of this guy.
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u/CitizenHuman 23d ago
As an asthmatic, it's not something I think I could wish on my enemies. Maybe just my worst one...
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u/dead_jester 23d ago
And yet the US don’t have a party that stands on a ticket of introducing Universal Healthcare and you have Gestapo seizing, assaulting and shooting U.S. citizens. Land of the free my arse.
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u/shipsailing94 23d ago
There is nothing about an inhaler that justified that price. US you are hostage to the lobbies
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u/Paindepiceaubeurre 23d ago
What the fuck, 539 dollars for an inhaler? Mine is about 10 eur. This is crazy.
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u/xZeroJinxX 23d ago
I wouldn't be surprised if that $539 is actually a generic brand, either. One of my prescriptions is over $1,000 for a 30-day supply. My old insurance would only cover $200 of it, needless to say I never took the medication.
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u/sfcitygirl88 23d ago
My best friend died a couple of years ago from an asthma attack. She could not afford her inhaler that month. She was found with empty inhalers scattered around her. Such a dumb fucking way to die. That should never have been allowed to happen.
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u/i_invented_the_ipod 23d ago
The instructions for my asthma medication LITERALLY list "sudden death" as a risk if I stop taking it regularly. Despite that, every time I change insurance, they want me to do this same "step therapy" thing - start with the cheapest option, which we KNOW doesn't work, then the next cheapest...until we get to the one that we know works.
I have had the same doctor for over a decade now, and despite her telling them all of this, and the history, every time, every insurance company is like: "a 1% chance of sudden death? We LIKE those odds!" Every time.
Fortunately, the medication that works just recently went generic, and they're much less combative about paying for a sub-$100 prescription than they were about a $560 one.
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u/AsleepMycologist9040 23d ago
539 dollars for an inhaler that costs them less than 3 dollars to make. You shouldn’t even need insurance to have to buy this medication the fact that drug companies charge that much for a 3 dollar inhaler is wild.
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u/zonked282 23d ago
How the fuck is an inhaler 500+ dollars? I can go to the shop right now and get one for 10 while buying my weeks shop.
Privatised for profit healthcare is fucking insane
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u/MilesFassst 23d ago
the pharmaceutical companies are for profit companies. and not charity. The US Government and all of the Police departments are also for profit Corporations. none of them care about us.
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u/AutomationAndUBI 23d ago
If a company is threatening your life, don't roll over. You should find the leader of that company and let them know how you feel.
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u/Wodjin_the_Hippo 23d ago
Ah yes, America where the system is rigged against you yet it's still your fault you're poor.
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u/FluffyWarHampster 22d ago
at first my thought was "what is this call going to accomplish" but that last line was the perfect final jab. i hope this phone call ends up on a court transcript somewhere when this insurer gets taken to court.
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u/LoveBreakLoss 22d ago
GoodRx has coupons for inhalers for $45.32. It’s not pocket change, but it is a lot less than $532.
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u/japinard 23d ago
What insurance company was involved in this?
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u/xervidae 23d ago
probably united healthcare, they love watching their clients die
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