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My husbands suicide shows theres something very wrong with US insurance industry

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Re: My husbands suicide shows theres something very wrong with US insurance industry

#41

Post by rayiner »

jgon wrote: post #29
rayiner wrote: post #15

[flagged]

You've come into this thread, which is about an article where a doctor talks about insurance denying care for her husband, ultimately resulting in his death, to basically say "This doesn't prove anything, and also in systems with government provided healthcare the same thing happens, the AI said so, so what can you do!?" I just can't even imagine what your response would be to writing about your own experience in the…

The article doesn't just tell a story about one person, it makes a general point about the healthcare industry. The title is: "My husband’s suicide shows there’s something very wrong with the U.S. insurance industry."

How else are you supposed to evaluate the author's conclusion, other than to compare it to how other healthcare industries handle similar situations?

Re: My husbands suicide shows theres something very wrong with US insurance industry

#42

Post by ceejayoz »

LoganDark wrote: post #35
ceejayoz wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I feel like ascribing it to "wonky brain chemistry" serves to erase agency. Wonky brain chemistry can erase agency. (As can an empty bank account from an insurance denial!)

I mean, I don't agree with the assumption that he was simply irrational and chose this because he wasn't thinking straight. I would much rather believe that he had strong reasons for this and that there is something to be done about the circumstances that led to it. Suicide is more often than not a systemic failure and not simply an outlier to be ignored. If you read the article and see all the shit that he went thro…

> I mean, I don't agree with the assumption that he was simply irrational and chose this because he wasn't thinking straight.

And I don't agree with the assertions that that's not a possibility.

Re: My husbands suicide shows theres something very wrong with US insurance industry

#45

Post by chasd00 »

VirusNewbie wrote: post #2

[flagged]

people who are suicidal are insane (i have some experience here) they think the ending of their life is the logical next step, i wouldn't place too much blame. On the other hand, i think resentment by a dependent would be a natural reaction.

Re: My husbands suicide shows theres something very wrong with US insurance industry

#46

Post by goda90 »

rayiner wrote: post #23
goda90 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Randy needed immediate psychiatric care, and as an emergency physician I knew the options. We put our trust in the mental health team at a local crisis receiving unit, and they kept Randy overnight in temporary safe housing where he could be observed. By morning they had devised a plan to transfer Randy to a retreat-like inpatient psychiatric facility that was in-network with our insurance. The psychiatrist felt Ran…

> This is definitely a case where the insurance company holds the majority of the blame. What facts are the basis of your conclusion? There is no health system in the developed world where a doctor's recommendation will guarantee expensive inpatient treatment without a layer of bureaucratic review.

The goal should be to provide every human being with the best care possible. If a system can't handle that, then we need to assess why and make changes.

Re: My husbands suicide shows theres something very wrong with US insurance industry

#47

Post by ceejayoz »

rayiner wrote: post #38
ceejayoz wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I asked Google Gemini… Why?

To understand how doctor's recommendations for in-patient care are treated in the health system of another developed country?

Why do you trust Gemini to do that?

Re: My husbands suicide shows theres something very wrong with US insurance industry

#48

Post by pyuser583 »

I’ve been through this situation with family members. I understand the frustration and agony.

I also understand the hesitancy to pay for two months at a “retreat-like inpatient psychiatric facility.”

In publicly funded system, it’s likely facilities like this would not exist or would be strictly private pay.

I’m not aware of any country that makes such a thing available on short notice like this.

I also understand the frustration, as often times facilities like this are all that exist in terms of medium-term care. And often times some of their services are at least formally in-network.

The understanding is you pay for it by selling your house.

We’ve been tempted to do this (sell our house), but been advised against it - but the reasoning in our case is patient specific.

I wish insurance was clearer about what covered and what isn’t. I wish we had more mainstream (not retreat-like) medium term care places.

Maybe I’m misreading the phrase retreat-like.

But id this isn’t something a public system would pay for, it seems inappropriate to blame a private system to not pay for it, unless it’s clearly in the wording.

Regardless, mental health care in America stinks, and you can always argue over the details.

Re: My husbands suicide shows theres something very wrong with US insurance industry

#50

Post by NoMoreNicksLeft »

mothballed wrote: post #17
i_idiot wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think people who commit suicide really believe they actually help their families or the world is better off without them. So, no, they are far from cruel. They are considerate.

There are levels of depression (or other circumstances) at which people are actual drains on their family. While I would never recommend suicide, it is a rational personal choice for some of those with severe health problems that for whatever reason (financial, insurance, whatever) cannot be fixed.

>There are levels of depression (or other circumstances) at which people are actual drains on their family.

Committing suicide almost certainly guarantees further suicides within that close family. Children especially... years later. In certain social circles (teenage suicide), it heightens the risk of further teenage suicides, even among non-peers in some cases.

Unless the facehugger has just laid an egg in your gut, suicide is never rational and its consequences will play out over decades.

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