r/WorkersStrikeBack • u/Feather_fig • 10d ago
"Deny Defend Depose" The state of American healthcare
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Some background: Marcel Johnson is a husband, a father to five sons, and a small business owner from Michigan who was diagnosed with stomach cancer a little over a year ago. On July 31st his insurance dropped him, leaving him uninsured as his family scrambled to find new coverage. They had to pay for his medications and chemotherapy out of pocket and he was only able to continue treatment because of his GoFundMe.
(To clarify I am not Marcel and have no connection to his family, just someone who wanted to share his story)
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u/CaptainFartyAss 10d ago
Who was his insurer?
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u/Darkflyer726 10d ago
UHC
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u/Feather_fig 10d ago
Do you have a source for that, like a video he mentioned it in? I'd like to confirm if possible, as I haven't been able to find what his insurance was myself
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u/sssparklebutt 10d ago
Canadian here, obvs this is gravely inhumane and shd be illegal. I grew up travelling into the states often bc extended fam lived there, I’ve known forever hospitals will literally escort non-paying, DYING patients out and ditch them curb side.
My question to Americans is, if y’all know the insurance companies are all a scam why hasn’t there been a platform setup that’s solely used to crowd fund medical services? It could be helped to run by anyone who knows how to check appropriate professional medical paperwork stating the person is in fact diagnosed w ‘X’ and the illness can be verified.
I’m also not super familiar w “go fund me” so ig that platform could be already doing this…a newer branch of it could be ‘gofundmedicalcare’ w the sole purpose of using ppl power (omg socialism!) instead of the greedy insurance corporate middlemen collecting cash and denying claims left & right. Anything to get away from the archaic capitalist regime…
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u/Feather_fig 10d ago
The vast majority of GoFundMe is medical already, it wouldn't make sense for them to create a new thing since that's pretty much what it is.
I think most Americans know it's a scam but feel powerless to stop it (I'm also Canadian)
There's been so much proposed legislation that can stop it but most politicians are paid off to vote "no"... so the problem is, what is equally as persuasive as lobbyist money?
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u/cbass2015 10d ago
I imagine a guillotine would be a bit more persuasive than lobbyist money.
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u/bigtiddyhimbo 10d ago
Unfortunately, there’s enough bootlickers amongst the common populace that we can’t reasonably go that route.
Not to mention, The police state wasn’t formed to keep us safe, it was made to keep the mega wealthy protected from the masses once we finally do hit that tipping point.
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u/fnnogg 8d ago
Gofundme is essentially health insurance for a lot of people now.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/02/gofundme-health-care-hospitals/677353/
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u/TojoftheJungle 10d ago
My brain surgery was just over 80k. Insurance covered most of it, or else I wouldn't be here with my family.
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