Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:15):
This podcast is not
intended to serve as therapeutic
advice or to replace anyprofessional treatment.
These opinions belong to us anddo not reflect any company or
agency.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hello everybody and
welcome back to another episode
of the United States of PTSD.
I have Donna with me againtoday.
Welcome back, donna.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Thank you for having
me.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
And Donna, before we
get started on this topic, I
want you to plug your podcastagain.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Okay, my own podcast
is called Healing Our Kindred
Spirits, and you can find it onany platform that has podcasts
Spotify, itunes, apple, amazon,buzzfeed.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Buzzsprout,
buzzsprout.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Buzzfeed is a whole
different thing, Buzzsprout, but
anywhere you get your podcast,you can find the episode and
there's a trailer up that's fourminutes long and the episode
itself is under 30 minutes.
So please do give it a listento and like download, leave a
review, Let me know what youthink of it and there'll be more
coming.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
And you have.
I have to say this because Ilistened to it when I was
driving.
You have the perfect voice fora podcast, especially with the
topic that you were talkingabout, because your voice is so
soothing and relaxing and itmatches the kind of spiritual
energy that you're giving off,so I loved listening to it,
thank you, and I would highlyrecommend it.
And, you know, if people couldgive it a listen and give Donna
(01:42):
a five-star review, that wouldbe fantastic and really help
support of her as well.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Thank you, I
appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
So today we're going
to be talking about this is
going to be an interestingconversation.
So we're going to be talkingabout what happened recently
with Luigi Mangione and theshooting of the CEO from United,
and I think it's going to bereally interesting because,
donna, you are the beacon ofhope and light.
You come from a higher leveland I certainly have no problem
(02:10):
getting in the gutter sometimes.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
We all have opinions
and no one is right or wrong.
We are entitled and when youcan engage in conversation
without name calling each otheror breaking each other down,
that's a really good down,that's a really good
conversation, that's a reallygood thing.
To have Opposing opinionsdoesn't mean you're not still
friends or that you can't benice to each other.
That's okay, as long as and Itell my kids this you can
disagree with me, but do itrespectfully.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
And, ironically, I
think that that is what is
coming out of the whole thingthat happened, and I do want to
preface this by saying he isinnocent until proven guilty.
So this is, as of right nowhe's the alleged perpetrator of
it.
But you know, we were talkingabout before, we started
recording that this is bringinga lot of people together.
Now Both sides of the politicalspectrum are saying there's a
(02:57):
problem with healthcare, andthere has been a problem with
healthcare for I don't knowdecades I mean ever since I've
worked in the field and I canpersonally say that United has
been the worst among them, and Isee that from a provider
perspective.
I mean I could give youcountless, countless scenarios
of clients that were denied veryimportant medical procedures or
(03:18):
even treatment that ended upgetting much worse because of
arbitrary denials.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
You know just
insurance companies trying to
get richer and richer and richer, and I've been at the other end
of that where, as a patient,I've had to wait for approvals
and been denied services ofsomething that I was approved of
before.
For an example, I used to getthe Uflexa knee injections into
my knee with my orthopedicdoctor Would get them no problem
.
Then all of a sudden they hadto jump through hoops.
They had to send thisdocumentation.
(03:49):
And have you tried this?
Have you tried that?
What should have just taken aneasy approval took me four
months to get approved and I didthese shots twice a year.
So every time I'd have to startahead of time of getting that
approval in and it's frustrating.
So I can imagine people who aregoing through any kind of
treatments maybe cancertreatments, radiation, anything
(04:11):
like that that they get boggeddown in paperwork and it's
unfair because so many peopleare dying while waiting to get
approved, and that's the sadpart of the insurance industry.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
And as a whole it's
just it's sad, it really is
really, really sad all the wayaround it to you and I already
forgot it, so I'm going to lookit up on my phone because I had
it that I saw that JFK had saidwhich is, those who make
peaceful revolution impossiblewill make violent revolution
inevitable.
And I certainly think thatthat's what's happening, because
(04:55):
you can only oppress people forso long before people start to
fight back.
And it's hard to feel angertowards people who are really
fighting against a broken system.
I mean, people do it indifferent ways.
You know that's again, I'm notadvocating for it, but I think
it's also it was bound to happenif it didn't, if it wasn't him,
(05:17):
it was going to be somebodyelse.
Because I mean, you can't, likeI said, you can only oppress
people for so long before theystart to fight back.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
And I get that and
online I mean I don't have a lot
of social media but at the sametime I see people making
comments of great who's next,who's next, who's next.
And I actually had read thatsomeone referred him to as the
modern day Robin Hood and Ididn't know what.
I was just in disbelief, maybebecause I always come from a
(05:48):
place of empathy and I always Icry at the news, I cry at
everything.
But I was just.
He was a human, no matter whatyou thought of him.
He was somebody's father,somebody's husband, and it's not
always that person making thedecisions.
You have a board to respond to.
You have to answer to everybodyelse.
That old saying is crap rollsdownhill.
(06:09):
You know, it's just.
He's doing his job like maybeit's not the best way he should
have done, or anybody.
And I'm sure in his personallife he probably said would love
to approve everybody for whatthey need, but they have a board
that they need to answer to.
So I think the anger needs tobe pointed not just at the CEO,
but maybe at the people who aremaking those kind of financial
(06:30):
decisions, to be understandingand more open to what people are
going through.
Our system is so broken andwhen you even have doctors
telling you my husband had anappointment the other day with a
neurologist at UMass and we didit virtually and even he said
he said the system is so brokenbecause you're waiting for
approvals for everything.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
it's so broken this
is where this is where I think
we might.
My viewpoint on it is that it'sactually working the way it was
intended to work.
If it was broken, it wouldindicate that at some point it
was designed to work, but Idon't think it was ever designed
to work.
I think it was designed for therich and for the sick to get
sicker.
So it's actually working exactlythe way it's supposed to.
(07:14):
When I so, when we say and weall do this, I think, when we
say it's broken, it's erroneous,because it's not, it is, it is,
and it's not just insurancecompanies.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
It's workers
compensation oh, it's everything
.
It's not, it is, it is, andit's not just insurance
companies.
It's workers' compensation oh,it's everything, it's everything
.
All the insurance, whatever youhave, it's so broken.
My husband got hurt in 2021 andhe is still waiting.
He's waited four months now forthe insurance company at
workers' comp to approve an MRIto look at how the surgery did
for his back.
(07:44):
So, because if he would havehad all of this done and
approved in the beginning whenhe got hurt, he could have gone
back to work, he could havehealed.
He had all these broken ribs,this and that, and you know what
the hospital told me that day,when I had said aren't you going
to do anything?
Are you going to do surgery forthis, this and that?
Nope, it's a workers' comp case.
We do the bare minimum becausewe know we're not.
(08:06):
We have a low in reimbursementrate and I was just shocked.
So because he didn't get thecare he needed, because the
insurance company determinedthat he wasn't allowed to get
that done.
He's still suffering today andhis injuries are worse because
of it, and that makes me angry.
That makes me angry thatsomeone else has this ability
(08:27):
and this fortitude to go aheadand make those decisions for
people's lives, because itaffects people financially,
emotionally, physically, everywhich way, and it's hard and
it's sad and something positiveneeds to to happen to change it.
But will it?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
we don't know you
brought up a great point about
what who's making the decisions.
If, if I were to look at from apractice perspective, if a
colleague of mine calls me upand they're talking about one of
their particular clients, Ican't diagnose that client
because I've never met themright I can give examples of
what I might do if that personwas my client, but I have no
(09:08):
right to dictate what that otherprofessional does in terms of
their treatment.
Just the same way, what if anurse called me up and said, hey
, I have this patient, here'swhat's going on.
I mean, the first thing I wouldhave to be mindful of is one I
have to practice within thescope of my practice.
So I can't be giving outmedical advice as a therapist to
(09:28):
this nurse but, again, I can'teven really give any practical
solutions, even with mentalhealth, because I haven't met
the client.
I can't diagnose somebody I'venever met.
That's fundamental malpracticeIn terms of insurance agencies
as a provider.
So if I have a client that I'vebeen seeing for a year and I
(09:50):
know the client really well, andI call the insurance company
and you've got a bureaucrat atthe end of the phone who is now
denying services because theyare saying that my client
doesn't meet whatever protocolsor whatever, they are
fundamentally practicing outsideof the scope of their practice
because they are not a qualifiedhealthcare professional and if
(10:11):
they are, they're not treatingmy client just like they
wouldn't be treating the patientof a doctor, so they do not
have authority to then dictatethat person's practice, but they
do it all the time.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
I see that and you
see them have.
They hire nurses and nursepractitioners and physician's
assistants to have on staff.
But if you're not meeting thatpatient, that client, how can
you determine what they do or donot need?
Everyone has a story, Everyonehas something going on, but they
try to group everybody together.
There's an algorithm Okay, andwe've seen it done.
Go to the doctor's office,click this, this, this and that,
(10:51):
and then something comes up oh,it could be that.
Or click, click this.
It's the same thing.
Everything is algorithms andwe're not an algorithm.
We're human people, we're humanbeings and we deserve to be
treated so.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Yeah, and, but the
reality is that we're just
dollar signs.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
We are.
I agree with you 100%.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
If it's a corporation
, if it's a, I mean I can
personally tell you and I'm not,you know, with my, with my
clients, they're not dollarsigns to me, but I'm a private
practitioner, exactly so I putall of my effort into my clients
and I, you know, I care verymuch about my clients.
I want my clients to get goodcare, I want them to get the
best possible care that they can.
And you know, there have beencertainly times where I free
service people because theydon't have the ability to pay.
(11:32):
That's the way it should beExactly.
It shouldn't be.
I would never say to a clientI've been treating for 10 years
if they suddenly couldn't payfor counseling or they lost
their insurance, that's itgoodbye.
I mean that first of all, it'sabandonment of care and I think
it's just in terms of humanconditioning it's.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
It's just awful right
that that's that is not caring
about somebody no, no, it's notand when we're talking, like you
said, the big corporations, thehospital-owned corporations and
it's sad because you're theydon't care.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
No, they don't they
don't.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
It's about the bottom
line and they try to.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Here's another.
I'm going to give you anothergreat example specific to united
, because I think I'm going tohave an honest conversation
about this right, because theseare the things that I do know
about.
In our field.
We have a mental health crisis.
We have a mental health crisiseverywhere, right, particularly
in new england, but I mean wehave it all over the country.
We don't have the providers toalso provide the services for
the people because the numbersare so high in terms of who's
(12:27):
looking for it.
So what they've done is theyhave piloted a program with the
NASW and Social Work where, whenpeople graduate with their
master's degree, they get theirfirst license as part of their
graduation.
Now, that first license is notbillable unless you're under an
independent person, like myself.
So some companies like BlueCross.
(12:48):
Blue Cross had all I had to dowas give them supervisory
protocol and I was able to hirepeople who have their first
license and they can see peopleand we can bill for it under my
license.
So that now allows for thesetwo people I've hired to take on
, you know, more clients, whichis a great solution.
(13:09):
United refuses to do that unlessyou have five or more people
working for you.
So, even though that would be aviable option, they won't do it
.
Wow, so that's one of the manythings they do.
I'm not surprised and it'sstupid.
And it's stupid because theyliterally could open up the
amount of services they hadavailable by doing this.
(13:30):
So now it's like well, I'msorry, if you have United, my
students I call them studentsbecause they're my former
students but these employeescan't see you anymore because
I'm sorry, but United won't payfor it.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
That's sad.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
Which is terrible.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
It is.
It's a miscarriage of justiceto be able to deny someone care
because of it.
And they're not the only ones.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
Aetna won't do it,
cigna won't do it, I think, as a
matter of fact, the only peoplethat will do it are Blue Cross,
so they, I think, are far aheadof the game in terms of
offering services to theirclients.
The other thing, too, and I cangive you an example of the first
time I ran into a problem withUnited, and this was I don't
know 2007, 2008, somewherearound there I was working in
(14:15):
intensive outpatient and we hadto get prior off for clients
when they were coming in.
This was for addictiontreatment, and I am not being
hyperbolic when I say this.
I spoke to 14 different peopleover the course of two hours at
United and, of course, it's alloutsourced.
So I'm talking to people indifferent countries and trying
to explain what's going on.
The very last person said to meher plan does not require prior
(14:40):
auth, so she can basically getthe services here.
Wasted two hours of my time,and I spoke to 14 people.
Now, that is not billable timefor the agency that I'm working
with, so that was really just awaste of two hours.
And then guess what happenedwhen we submitted the claims.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Got denied.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
It got denied because
they said I never called for
pre-auth, so luckily I haddocumented every single person I
spoke to the time.
I spoke to them and we sent itoff and we ended up getting
reimbursed, but we had to fightfor it.
I just spoke to somebody today.
Similar scenario they hadsomebody that they were.
They needed to have a surgery.
The surgery had to get pre-authreunited.
(15:16):
They were able to get pre-auth,they performed the surgery and
then the hot and then theinsurance denied.
It said you never got pre-authand now they're sending them
this like 30, 40 thousand dollarbill.
Oh my god.
And of course they were able toprovide the documentation and
to say, look, we did getpre-auth and you gave it to us.
And they said, oh well, we'lllook into it, because of course
they have like weeks to lookinto it and of course you know
(15:37):
it's.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
It's terrible that
happened to me once.
Um, I got the pre-authorization, the doctor got it, got it by
fax, everything was cool to go.
And then, when I had theprocedure done, I get a bill.
This was not pre-authorized.
I'm like I yeah, it was, youknow it's.
It's terrible, it is awful andit happens everywhere.
(15:58):
It happens to every insurancethrough from every insurance
company.
Uh, every I, every person inAmerica who has insurance has
had to deal with the crapthere's no other word for it the
crap that we have to go throughto get something approved.
And it's even worse now becauseyou need to get a referral.
(16:18):
Then, if they don't get thereferral, you can't be seen that
day.
So you have to call a bazilliontimes and I've always used to
tell my students documenteverything If you don't write it
down.
It didn't happen.
We're talking name time who youspoke with?
And have you ever run intosomebody, a situation where you
ask someone their name and theyhang up on you?
(16:40):
No, I've had them refuse to giveit to me that happened the
other day and it wasn't amedical thing, it was actually
the state of Rhode Island.
I was calling for someinformation and I was writing it
down and because sometimes Iwant to make sure I got it right
, I'd read it back to them.
Can I read this back to you,make sure I got it right?
Well, I just told you what itwas.
I understand, but because Iwrote it down, I want to make
(17:09):
sure I have the right phonenumbers, everything, and it
would only take not even aminute and he says, well, I
don't have time for that.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
So I said, well, can
I just have your?
Speaker 1 (17:12):
name so I know who I
spoke with Click.
Oh my God, I started cryingbecause I'm like I was on hold
for so long.
I had to call back again and Igot someone who was actually
nice and it was it was.
It's terrible that even thecustomer service for any company
today it's not just the medicalinsurance companies everywhere
you wait on hold forever or yougot you get hung up on after
(17:35):
being on hold forever and that'sfrustrating.
So by the time you get toanother person you're a little
frustrated.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Yeah.
So I mean, I think we can.
I I think and again I'm notcondoning it, but I think
everybody can understand how asituation like this happens.
When you know, I think when wetalked last time, I was telling
you about the dental issue I washaving and I was only in pain
for a couple of days and it was,I mean, I was literally getting
to the point where, you know, Iwas almost becoming completely
(18:01):
irrational because of how muchpain I was in.
I was almost becomingcompletely irrational because of
how much pain I was in.
So if you're in chronic painall the time and you are
following the proper channelsmeaning you're contacting the
insurance company and you'refiling appeals, and it's just
kind of this red tape of BS whatchoice do you have?
Like, at what point, you know,do people start to snap?
Speaker 1 (18:25):
And I and being from
that point that I felt like
snapping many times.
My release thing is just I cry.
I don't scream or yell when Iget upset.
I cry and I can imagine thepeople who are going through so
much worse than what I'm goingthrough of being at that point.
But from what I heard on thenews that he wasn't even a
(18:46):
member of United Health.
He wasn't even covered byUnited Health.
So we don't really know whathis rationale was for going
after someone.
You know it's just so manythings that we don't know.
And again, he's innocent untilproven guilty.
You know and we make sure youknow we want people.
He's innocent, so proven guilty, but what was the rationale?
(19:07):
I'd like to know that.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
You know what was his
if he did it, if he did it, if
he did it because that.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
What was the
rationale, especially not being
a member of united health?
What?
What happened?
Was it a family member that wasdenied, or and and as a parent,
I know my child was sick andwas denied a service that they
needed to save their life.
I might go off the deep end too, but at the same time, what was
the rationale of doing this?
(19:34):
And then you worry aboutcopycats.
Will people go out and do thatto other things that they're
upset about or angry about?
And we've seen it.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Well, you know what I
saw somebody say and I think
was very poignant, was they saidwell, good, now ceos are going
to know what it like, what it'slike to be a teacher and a
student in a school right now.
And ironically, you just saidthere was another school
shooting today yeah, because itwas wisconsin because when kids
are killed politicians and youknow all of these ceos they're
just like man thoughts andprayers and they on they don't
make a big deal out of it.
But now that one of them hasbeen killed suddenly oh God,
(20:07):
this is the worst thing that'sever happened Like, how could
anybody possibly do this?
Well, I don't know.
Where have you been?
Speaker 1 (20:15):
I don't think
anything will change until it
touches somebody personally, andthat's politicians, ceos,
whatever it is.
If you don't have a personalconnection to something that has
happened to someone in yourfamily, you're not going to act
on it.
And it's not about you know theguns or the second.
It's not about that.
It's about just justice, justdoing the right thing by these
(20:37):
children.
These children should be ableto go to school every day and
not have to worry.
My daughter this is her firstyear of teaching high school out
in Texas and when she told methat they go through drills and
the doors are locked and whatthey have, it's scary because
when we went to school, you andI, we had fire drills or bomb
threats.
That was it.
We didn't have anything to thisno, we didn't.
(20:58):
But it's scary the culture andthe climate of things today how
different they were when we werekids and, to be honest, we've
gotten to the point that we'reeven sometimes afraid to leave
the house.
My husband he has militarytraining and when we used to go
somewhere he'd always know wherethe exits were, just in case we
(21:19):
had to make a quick exit.
And because of his injuries,his train of thought isn't as
clear as it used to be, and sohe's kind of afraid to go out
now because he can't act quickly, he can't think quickly you
know, again it goes to I'm notblaming the insurance industry,
but again, if things were doneand approved timely, he may not
(21:41):
be suffering what he's goingthrough right now because of it
right.
Speaker 2 (21:45):
There's two, there's
almost two societies happening
in our country.
There's the, the actual societyof people like you and me and
all of the people who are, youknow, overtaxed, over, you know
overworked, not getting anybenefits.
And then there's the rich right, and there is such a disconnect
(22:06):
between the two.
Even listening to the medialike and it doesn't matter I've
listened to all sorts ofdifferent media coverage right
now they are so disconnectedfrom what the country is saying
and they're not covering things,like they're not covering the,
the protests against insurancecompanies or the college
walkouts right now because ofinsurance companies, but they're
covering this weird, randomdrone thing that just happened
(22:28):
to happen right around the sametime.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Right that you notice
that that happens every time
there's a big news story it's awag the dog every time there's a
big news story, there'ssomething else that happens.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
It's it's crazy, and
it's crazy.
You know it's wild because Imean as I don't know how much
you've seen, but the militaryisn't concerned about it, and so
if they're not concerned aboutit, it's clearly not that big of
a deal.
But there's so much mediaattention being put in on right
now which tells you you need to.
It's like squirrel right, likelook over here, look over here.
(23:00):
Well, I'm ignoring it.
I don't care what's happeningwith the drones, because it's
all smoke and mirrors.
What I want to know is what'shappening with the insurance
stuff right now and what they'regoing to be doing to fix it,
because or what they're going tobe doing with the school
shootings, because these are allproblems that are out of
control.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
There's a lot of
problems that need to be
addressed and nothing is beingaddressed, and you wonder if it
ever will.
Or will we just have to becomea way of life for us?
Will this just become a way oflife of something that we have
to get used to, or willsomething actually change?
And I hope it does, but sadly,I think.
You know, statistically, Ithink there's going to be more
(23:36):
violence.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
To go back to the
quote that JFK said this is, you
know.
This is why history is soimportant and why I mean we know
what's going to happen, becauseit's the same thing that
happens every single time.
Certainly, like you said,there's going to be people who
say this is just the new way oflife.
I mean, if I had a dime forevery time I heard somebody say
welcome to America or welcome tolike, this is the new thing,
(24:00):
yeah, of course there's going tobe people who are really
passive and don't do anything,but what's going to happen is,
eventually, french Revolution,all these, and they're going to.
It's going to be like, ok, nomore, like we've had it, like
the peasants are going to revolt.
Yeah, and it's happening.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
It's happening and
there's more coming.
Of course there is, there ismore coming.
And not to get into it too much, but you just feel it, you can.
It's palpable that something isgetting coming to a head and
it's going to bubble over like avolcano.
It's going to get to that pointwhere it's just going to be all
hell breaks loose, right, andthat scares me.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Well, you know, one
of the I don't remember what
book I read this in.
I read this in my 20s, so I maybe screwing it up a little bit,
but there was.
They were talking about thedifferent ages, or the age of
Aquarius or the age, and I thinkit was the Egyptians who
started talking about this andthey reflected on all the
different ages, because I thinkthey're about 2000 years, a
piece like roughly timeframe,and how there was the age of
Taurus, the age of Aries, age ofPisces and the age of Aquarius,
(25:05):
and I think the age of Aquarius, part of it was the destruction
of technology, that technologywould fall apart and that people
would have to return to theirroots, and that's where we are
time-wise right now.
So I mean, are we getting tothe point where technology is
just going to implode?
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Intuitively, I think
something is definitely on the
horizon to happen.
It's just be prepared, beprepared.
And just it's scary.
We we live in a different worldtoday than what we grew up in,
even if, looking at our foodsupply, how different it is
compared to when we were growingup.
This is why people have issues,so many health issues, because
(25:47):
our food supply isn't what itused to be.
So many people are sick, theyhave have diabetes, they have
this, they have that, can't loseweight.
It's our food supply is socrappy that it's going to have
to be like start over again.
You know, just clear the slate,and I totally just clear the
(26:08):
slate and start over again.
And sadly, that may besomething that is going to be
happening down the road.
Nobody knows, we can't tell thefuture, obviously, but it's sad
the way things have gone overthe years and no matter when you
put the news on, there's alwayssomething terrible happening
and it was never like that whenwe were kids.
(26:29):
It was.
You know, you and I are onlylike 10 years apart and it was
never like that when we werekids.
No, it's not.
It's not.
It's a very different cultureand my grandchildren are
inheriting this new culture andsad to say that they're so
programmed by what they read onsocial media or and I know
they're not watching the news,but on social media, which is
(26:51):
basically the same that youwonder if they're getting all of
this cynicism.
That's just making themdesensitized to everything.
It's just crazy, it really is.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Yeah, and there's.
I mean, the positive side ofsocial media is that there's
certain things we would havenever known about if it wasn't
for social media.
Exactly is that there's certainthings we would have never
known about if it wasn't forsocial media.
And, of course, the responsenow is to ban it, to get rid of
TikTok and make it a.
It's a security threat.
It's not a security threat.
It's because people arestarting to unify and people are
starting to see what'shappening in other countries and
(27:26):
they don't like it and I thinkit scares people in power.
So they're like we got to getrid of this because you know,
once they figure out, once theypull that curtain and see the
wizard is just, you know thisfraud, they're going to revolt.
So we got to get rid of that,we got to hide them from pulling
that curtain.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
No, I don't believe
in censoring things online and
not saying to censor it, butparents need to also be aware of
what their children are doingonline, you know, or what
they're you know subscribing to,or anything like that.
My little granddaughter, she's11.
She sends me videos fromYouTube and I'm thinking what
the heck are you watching?
And it's about doomsday.
And then she's so scared I'mlike I said this is not real.
It it's okay.
They're just doing it to scareyou, but will it happen?
(28:16):
It's okay, you're okay.
So there's a lot of stuff thatthey're, they're, you know,
coming upon.
Let me just be watching aninnocent video and then this
pops up as a suggestion kid'sgonna click on it, right, and
it's just.
You know, it's sad that we haveto live in a society today
where, literally, we have towatch our back and that we have
(28:38):
to fight so hard for things thatI'm not saying that we're
entitled to, but things that wework so hard for, insurance
being one of them, because it isso expensive and so many people
are struggling to maintainkeeping their insurance keeping
their insurance.
When my husband was workingbefore, he was paying $375 every
two weeks for health insurancefor him and I, and we still had
(29:00):
an $8,000 deductible.
Wow, and it's like it's crazy.
By the time you get to yourdeductible, the year starts over
again.
So you have to do it all overagain, and it's sad because you
have to either go without or youhave to just wait till you meet
that deductible.
And it's sad because you haveto either go without or you have
to just wait till you meet thatdeductible.
And it's just, there's got tobe something that is going to
break before it can get better.
(29:21):
It's something needs to shatterfor it to get better, and I
don't know quite what that is.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
I don't think I
mentioned this before on the
podcast, but I had.
One of the things I do missabout Rhode Island is Rhode
Island.
Blue Cross was very good interms of a consumer.
I never had any issues withthem.
Having moved to Connecticut, Ihave Blue Cross, Anthem, and
they are terrible.
I've had this situation withblood work where so my doctor is
in Rhode Island because all myyou know, all my providers are
(29:49):
in Rhode Island, yeah, and sheordered blood work, which is
typical.
They sent me to a lab.
They gave me the lab to go to.
So Anthem had said here are thelabs we cover.
I said, okay, so I go to thelab, I get the blood work done.
They don't get paid.
So then they come after me forthe money and then I call and I
you know what happened.
(30:10):
Well, they said it's notcovered.
So I call Anthem and Anthem'slike well, it's not covered
because you went to Chicago.
Speaker 1 (30:15):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
And I said I most
certainly did not go to Chicago
to get blood work done.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
And they said, well,
let's look into it.
Then they call me back and Ican't get a live person in
Connecticut, so this is againall people who are not in the
country.
So then I get a call back andthey say, well, the lab must
have sent the sample toConnecticut I mean, I'm sorry to
Chicago.
So they billed from Chicago andthat's not covered.
And I said that's 100%impossible because I got the lab
(30:43):
work done on a Monday and Iwent to my doctors on Tuesday
and she had the results.
There is no way that they sentit to Chicago unless they
teleported it.
It didn't get to Chicagoovernight to the next morning.
So then they look into it andthey call me back and they say,
well, it's denied because yourdoctor's out of network.
And I said the doctor is clearlynot out of network because you
(31:04):
paid for my physical and youpaid for my well visits.
Then it's well, it's a zip codeissue because she's in Rhode
Island and she ordered you know,she ordered blood work in
Connecticut.
So I said, okay, then where amI supposed to go?
If you told me to go here andyou're not paying for it?
Where am I supposed to go?
Oh well, we're not going tocover any blood work because we
don't cover Rhode Island and youcan't get it done in
Connecticut if she's a RhodeIsland provider.
(31:26):
And I said okay, none of thismakes any sense.
So that was in March and Ithink the bill was for like $800
and something and I'm like I'mnot paying it.
You sent me there so I keptfighting it, kept fighting it
and every time I called, as Ijust told you, it was different
stories.
I had to file a complaint withthe health care commission and,
(31:46):
because I can advocate formyself, I called and not
everybody can.
I told them all thatinformation and then I was a
pain in their butt, butt.
So I kept calling them up andwhat's going on?
What's going on?
And finally the Health CareCommission said to me this is
ridiculous.
We are getting the same excusesthat you're getting.
First it was this excuse, thenit was that excuse, now it's
this excuse, now it's thatexcuse.
So they, they did have to payfor it, but it took until, I
(32:08):
think, november, for them to saywhat so from from March to
November, I'm not getting bloodwork done because I don't want
to take the risk that I'm goingto get another $800 bill and
they're like well, we'll giveyou another lab that we
definitely cover.
That's what you said about thefirst lab.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Right.
So how do I know?
Give it to me in writing,that's what I would say.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
So I'm not going to
go to another lab and get it
done and then have another $800bill that pops up.
So, unfortunately, that pops up.
So this is I, unfortunately.
This is what the large majorityof people are dealing with and
it's again, you can only.
Another example I would give itto is if you're being held
captive and you're you're beingtortured every single day and
after three years of this, youend up like killing your, your
(32:47):
captor, to get away.
Are you the bad guy?
Speaker 1 (32:51):
True, I can
understand it from that point of
view.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
I get it right.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
You made you made a
point something early to.
You said you can advocate foryourself.
Imagine how many peopleespecially the elderly, yeah who
cannot advocate for themselves.
My husband and I were talkingabout this the other day.
We grew up where we are in anera of time where we can say no
to a doctor or a question things, or if they prescribe a
prescription is you know whatit's 800?
(33:14):
Is there a generic?
I could take.
The older generation I'm sayingpeople 70s, 80s, hot, you know
older grew up in an era wherethe doctor is always right,
right, you don't question it,you just whatever.
They say this.
If they say this is what I need, this is what I gotta take,
this is where I gotta go, andyou know they're getting these
doctors getting prescriptions.
You know the kickbacks from thedrug companies because you know
(33:39):
give you the samples andprescribe this.
It's horrible where people arehaving to choose, especially the
elderly, the disadvantaged, thedisabled, are having to choose
between living, which is payingtheir rent, their mortgage,
their groceries, and buyingprescriptions, and it's sad.
It is sad that that has come.
I get so angry when I hear,when I see this online and I
(34:05):
hear of it, and it makes me soangry that one they don't feel
comfortable advocating forthemselves or they don't have
anyone to advocate for them.
And I just would love to justsay you know, question it, don't
just take what they say at facevalue.
Same thing, going back to theinsurance companies, I know
someone who was waiting for ahip replacement 18 months before
they were able to get approvedthrough the insurance company to
(34:27):
get their hip replacement done.
She was in pain for 18 monthsand, of course, because she's
older, they're not going toprescribe any pain meds because
of a fall risk or this or that,and I get that.
But she was in pain for 18months before they finally did
the surgery.
And it's horrible.
(34:47):
It's horrible when I hear thesestories and I get so angry and
I'm like why?
Why is that happening?
It just does not make any sense.
And people also don't realizethat if a doctor prescribes
something for you and theinsurance company decides not to
cover it, it doesn't mean youstill can't have it.
You either have to pay out ofpocket, fight the insurance
company or use one of thoseprescription apps to get it at a
(35:10):
lower cost, because we've donethat before.
Something wasn't covered by theinsurance.
The older generation would saywell, it's not covered, so I
have to pay out of pocket or Ihave to go without.
So I want people to understandthere are options.
If a doctor is prescribing it toyou you've had that
conversation with them and maybethere's no generic Find out if
there's something comparable.
You know we did that with myhusband's prescription.
(35:33):
You know it was X amount ofdollars and it was just a brand
new one.
I'm like is there somethingcomparable?
Oh yeah, there is.
Let me prescribe that one.
You don't know until you ask.
But these insurance companies,these drug companies are making
so much money off of the peoplewho are just not comfortable
advocating or saying somethingto state their case and you have
to do that.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
You have to do that.
You have to do that.
It's very profitable to keeppeople sick in this country.
It is Whether it's throughgiving bad food that's going to
make you sick and puttingchemicals and hormones in the
food so that they can prescribemedications later on for you to.
Speaker 1 (36:07):
Exactly, exactly.
I agree with you.
Speaker 2 (36:10):
It doesn't end.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
No.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Sometimes medications
are needed Right, so there's no
way around that.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Right, but at the
same time, it all goes back to
what we're putting in our body.
Yeah, the food supply.
How many food?
How many recalls have therebeen on food or tainted foods,
or especially fresh fruits andvegetables?
It's just, it's crazy.
You try to eat healthy and youget sick because you're trying
to eat healthy.
It's crazy you try to eathealthy and you get sick because
you're trying to eat healthy.
It's crazy, it really is crazy.
(36:38):
Something needs to change and Idon't know how that is going to
happen and I don't know if itwill happen.
I hope I see it in my lifetime.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
It's definitely going
to happen Because, again,
history repeats itself.
There is not one time inhistory that this has not ended
any differently, True, True.
I don't know when that's goingto happen, but it is going to
happen.
And you know the people, thehigher ups, who think it's not
going to happen.
They're high.
It may not happen in ourlifetimes but it's certainly
(37:09):
going to happen.
Going to happen.
I couldn't.
A little bit unrelated tohealth care, but on the episode
I think that I was talking aboutwith how impossible it is to
live in this country financiallywith rent and all of the
utilities bills and etc.
At the time I think I saidconnecticut was the second
highest utility company.
I mean it had the secondhighest utility rates in the
(37:31):
country.
They now are number one oh, wowbecause their credit rating of
eversource got dropped with thebetter business bureau from an a
minus to like a bbb or whatever.
So because of that it hasimpacted their ability to borrow
money.
So they're just going to tax useven more on on the utilities
to make up for it.
So now our utilities are goingto be the highest in the country
(37:53):
.
It's outrageous.
Speaker 1 (37:55):
And you wonder what
goes on.
I know, when they want anincrease in the rates, they have
to go through the PublicUtilities Commission.
What planet are they fromagreeing to such crazy hikes
throughout the year for peoplewho are barely making it, people
(38:15):
that are living paycheck topaycheck or just one deposit to
another of just you budget, yourbudget, your electric bill, and
you try to stay within that,but then the rates go up and
it's all about the transmissionrate, this and that.
You look at your bill, it'slike itemized.
It's like you're reading aninsurance thing.
You owe the summary for your,your billing summary.
It's crazy.
It's crazy.
Something has to change becausepeople, people are, they can't
(38:35):
do it anymore.
They just can't.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
Meanwhile, the CEOs
of the company are getting
raises every year.
And we're getting charged moremoney because they don't have
the money right.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
When I worked for a
corporate drugstore chain many
years ago.
I worked for 12 years for them.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
The devil you worked
for.
You worked for the devil 12years.
I worked for 12 years for them.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
The devil you worked
for.
You worked for the devil 12years.
I worked.
I worked in accounting for 12years at this big pharmacy,
major pharmacy retailer, whichshall not be named.
But they would say, well, wecan't give you a raise because
you know things are tough, this,and that we can give you 1% or
2%.
And it wasn't about yourperformance, it was about the
company couldn't afford to do it.
And then, right, a couple ofweeks later, they would release
(39:19):
the annual report and you wouldlook at it and you would see the
bonuses these higher-ups wouldget, whether it was the CEO,
whether it was the board or themember.
All of these stock options andbonuses that they got made me so
angry yes, yes, understandableyou're.
(39:40):
You're getting this because weworked our butts off, yes, to
make you look good.
And what do we get?
A one percent raise, a twopercent raise, or told you're
doing a great job, keep it up,but we really can't afford to
give any raises right now.
It's crazy.
I used to get so angry when Ileft that job.
I was no looking back afterthat.
It was just I was done withcorporate America and I never
(40:02):
went back.
I refuse to go back tocorporate America.
No.
Speaker 2 (40:07):
That company that
she'll go unnamed is the devil.
They also love to lay peopleoff at Christmas time.
Speaker 1 (40:13):
Yes, they do.
Yes, they do, which is wild.
Most companies do.
Why do they do that?
Speaker 2 (40:19):
Always at Christmas
Because, I mean, I think
practically it's because that'sprobably when the fiscal year
ends.
However, it is the worstpossible thing people can do and
it just shows that they don'tcare.
They do not care about thepeople that work for them.
They never will and they neverhave In a capitalistic country.
They're never going to.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
And I think, as
someone who I hold so much
empathy for everything andeverybody, when I see this
happening to people, I get angry.
But when I get angry I cry andI know you can't save the world.
At the same time, it makes youmore angry that these people
that are doing it are sodesensitized where how it's
affecting the people that theyknow nothing about.
(41:01):
You're just a number, whetheryou're a number to the insurance
company, a number to your job,you're just a cog.
That's it.
That's all you are and it's.
It's sad that that's happeningmore and more and more.
We're seeing it more, or we'reseeing it but we're reading it,
or we're hearing someone who hasbeen through it, because you
don't always see it on the news.
You're going to hear it fromsomeone who has been through it.
Speaker 2 (41:21):
Yeah, you know, what
I often tell people that I'm
training in mental healthservices as well is that when
you get to the point and thisdoes happen in any sort of
medical field, if you're anysort of health care provider If
it gets to the point where youstart to feel desensitized, you
need to quit.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
Yeah, and that should
be for any job you have,
especially when you're workingwith people.
And if you get to that pointwhere you just don't care
anymore, you're just checkingout, it's time to move on from
that job.
I totally agree with that.
I totally, totally agree withthat, and I felt that way with
teaching.
Toward the end it was just Iloved it till I didn't, and you
(42:03):
know it.
Just it was the culture of, ofthey, just the administration,
it was just everything.
It was just that kind of thing.
It wasn't fun anymore, itwasn't.
It was more of a us againstthem.
Sometimes and any time, you getto that point where you're not
feeling like you're making adifference or that you care it's
(42:24):
time to move on.
It really is.
You never get to that pointwhere you're just numb for doing
your job.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
Yeah, I want to give
one more example of something
that I used to see United do allthe time, and this is an
addiction treatment when Iworked in residential.
It is common for residentialtreatment to require detox
before you go in, even if you'renot, even if you're actively
sober or even if you haven'tused recently, just because it's
(42:52):
a way to one make sure theperson doesn't have something in
their system that we can't pickup or that there isn't any sort
of underlying health issue.
So they go to detox and theyget cleared, usually like three
to five days later, and thenthey can go into residential.
It's pretty standard, it's partof the requirement.
What would happen then?
(43:12):
Because in order to be at thetime I don't know what it's like
now because I don't work inresidential now but at the time,
in order to qualify forresidential, you had to be
having a difficult time stayingsober outside of a structured
environment, so you had to becontinuing to struggle with
addiction.
Now, when you go to detox, ifyou're in detox for three to
five days, you were thenconsidered sober for three to
(43:34):
five days.
So then united would say well,they're now sober, so they don't
meet the requirements to be inresidential.
Oh wow, but that was therequirement to get into
residential and this was like anargument we would have all the
time and they would try to denyit.
But well then, they're sober,they don't need residential.
It's just this kind of spinningcircle of like how do we find
ways to deny services?
Speaker 1 (43:56):
You wonder who makes
up this stuff Are they sitting
in a room just saying you know,let's do this, let's do that,
what can we make it harder?
What can we not pay for?
And you know that's happening.
Oh, 100%.
I ran into this In everyinsurance company.
Speaker 2 (44:09):
I ran into the same
thing with pet insurance.
I have pet insurance on one ofthe cats Actually, I have pet
insurance on two of the cats nowand I remember when she had to
get dental work done, theywanted paperwork that before I
owned her and I said I don'thave paper.
I mean, I got her when she wasa kitten and I got her from a
(44:32):
rescue, so I only had theinformation that the rescue came
from and they were like, well,we want the paperwork before
that.
There is no paperwork beforethat, oh my God.
And then they tried to deny itand I had to fight with them
nonstop and then they werefinally like, okay, well, we'll
cover it.
Well, that's why I have fullcoverage on the cat.
You shouldn't be paying for itanyway.
Speaker 1 (44:50):
I think any insurance
will do their best to try to
get out of paying something andthey want to see how far you're
going to go.
You want to see how far you'regoing to go.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
Speaking of which, I
have to say this because this
pisses me off so bad.
I recently had a car accident,right before I went to Italy,
where somebody rear-ended me andnormally I would have let it go
, but the woman was so rude tome, the woman that hit me.
I mean, she was rude and she wasobnoxious, and there was damage
to the car, but again it wasminor damage.
Normally I would have let it go, but because she basically was
(45:21):
so awful, I said fine, I'm justgoing to file a claim.
So she has USAA and I was goingthrough them because obviously
I went through mine and have adeductible.
When I tell you, it took threeweeks, three weeks for the
adjuster to actually call meback at a time that I gave her
that I was available, becauseshe would either not call me
(45:42):
back or she would say I'll callyou back during these hours, and
then she would call me, likeoff hours or whatever.
And I even have a voice messagewhere she said I'll call you
tomorrow between these hours andshe never called.
And it finally gets to thepoint because, again, weeks are
going by now and they haven'teven done an estimate.
Speaker 1 (45:58):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (45:59):
So I finally called
and I spoke to and I would leave
voice messages and I would sayhere's my email, so email me,
because I'm in and out ofsessions all day long so I can
give you whatever you need viaemail.
Nope, wouldn't email me,wouldn't email me, wouldn't
email me.
I finally got to the pointwhere I had to call and say
listen, I'm going to.
You need to call me today.
(46:20):
Or what's going to happen isI'm going to have to go to the
insurance commission and file acomplaint, because I think three
weeks is a reasonable time toget an estimate.
So then she calls me back thenext day and she's like oh,
there's an app you can just takepictures of oh my, oh, I'm not
even kidding and you can uploadthe pictures and then we'll just
give you an estimate.
(46:42):
And no one ever told you this,never said a word until I said I
was going to file a complaint.
Speaker 1 (46:46):
Well, that's good to
know, because we have USAA, so
that's good to know.
Oh wait, no wait.
Speaker 2 (46:50):
It gets worse.
So, I take all the pictures andthen I submit the pictures and
within 24 hours they send meback.
Now this is, I guess, adifferent part of the system.
They sent me back the detailsof the claim and what they're
going to pay.
So I called her and I left amessage and I said you know
exactly that.
I said, hey, they gave me thisestimate, but they sent me
(47:11):
paperwork.
It looks like I have to sign it, but it also looks like I have
to come up with what shop I'mgoing to send it to.
Can you please clarify that?
She calls me up and she leavesme a message and she said so, we
already paid you for the claimand you know you can just take
it wherever you want to.
So I'm like you paid me for theclaim.
I'm like, no, you didn't, youwould have to sign something
Like how did you?
(47:31):
Like?
You didn't pay me for the claim.
So I call her back and I leaveher a message and I said can you
please clarify?
Can you please call me toclarify, because you didn't send
me a check or you didn't pay me.
I don't know if this meansyou're going to send a check.
I don't know what I need tosign.
Can you please call me back?
And, donna, she left me amessage.
(47:52):
I saved it On the message shestarted off with do not call me
back again.
That's how she started off themessage.
And she said we, we're gonnaput a check in the mail for you.
Again.
I repeat do not call me again.
Speaker 1 (48:06):
She said it three
times on my voice message but
you have to sign something to beable to accept that, don't you?
Speaker 2 (48:13):
I have no idea
because she told me not to call
her again.
And when I tell you I wastalking to her exactly the way
that I'm talking to you, I meanI wasn't yelling, I wasn't rude,
I was basically just like.
I need clarity on this becauseI don't know if I'm supposed to
sign this.
I don't know what I'm supposedto be doing.
I have never had somebody leaveme a message to say three times
do not call me back.
Speaker 1 (48:32):
Oh my, not surprised,
but still I am surprised, so
the minute I get horrible.
Speaker 2 (48:38):
So that when I get my
check, I am certainly going to
write that review on theirwebsite with her name and leave
exactly what happened, becausethat is unacceptable behavior,
absolutely unacceptable.
Speaker 1 (48:47):
Wow, that's crazy.
Speaker 2 (48:50):
They treat people
like garbage.
Speaker 1 (48:52):
Again, like you said,
it's not just the health
insurance companies, it's theauto insurance companies, it's
everything.
It's the workers' compensationinsurance companies, it's all
the companies that have to dowith insurance, insurance
companies, it's all thecompanies that have to do with
insurance.
And you wonder?
I mean, we know that lobbyistsare in Washington.
You know lobbying these?
Speaker 2 (49:12):
politicians, and you
wonder if that has a lot to do
with it.
The politicians have stoppedworking for us decades ago.
Speaker 1 (49:15):
Oh, most definitely,
I agree 100%.
Speaker 2 (49:18):
To go back to what I
said about Connecticut earlier,
part of the reason why the rateskeep going up is the same
politicians have been in officefor, I think, 15, 16 plus years
and they are in Eversource'sback pocket and they don't care
how it's affecting the people.
I mean, I've only moved heretwo and a half years ago and I'm
ready to move out.
Speaker 1 (49:38):
I'm glad to know
about Connecticut.
Rhode Island's not much better,unfortunately.
All of our health care is inMassachusetts and when I was
shopping around for a newmedical plan, I made sure I
called my doctor.
Okay, these are the two plans Ican choose from.
Which one do you take?
I wanted to make sure because Iwanted to stay with my doctor
and you hope that nothingchanges, but it's like, oh my
goodness, you have to really doyour due diligence.
Speaker 2 (50:00):
And that's why it's
so important, because you know
again, as a private practitioner, clients change insurance every
year and in Rhode Island I takemost insurances but there are
some that I don't take and aclient will call me up and say
I'm switching to this insurance.
Well, I don't accept thatinsurance, but I'll still see
you, it's just going to.
I'm just going to have to takeit as a loss, because people
(50:22):
really undervalue how importantit is to have a provider that
you connect with.
Speaker 1 (50:29):
Exactly, especially
for mental health.
Speaker 2 (50:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:33):
Especially for mental
health.
When you can find a providerespecially mental health that
you can connect with, you don'twant to leave them.
You really don't, because youpoured yourself into that
therapeutic relationship and youdon't want to have to start
over again.
You really don't, because youpoured yourself into that
therapeutic relationship and youdon't want to have to start
over again.
You really don't.
Speaker 2 (50:48):
One more.
This is my final story aboutUnited, by the way, because
again, they're the only ones whodid this, so I mean none of the
other insurance companies didthis.
There was one point in timewhere they renegotiated the
rates for couples and familycounseling.
Now, if you think about it, ifyou're doing couples or if
you're doing family counseling,you're actually doing more work,
because you have to work withmore individuals, you have to
write more notes.
There's a lot more that goesinto it.
(51:08):
They changed the reimbursementrate for families and couple
sessions to $37 an hour.
Speaker 1 (51:16):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2 (51:16):
You're kidding me?
No, I'm dead serious.
They almost cut it.
It was more than half of whatthey were paying and I don't
know why they did that.
But of course at that point intime people were like nope, no
more families and couples withUnited, because it was $37 is
what they were paying.
Speaker 1 (51:33):
That's terrible,
that's insulting.
Speaker 2 (51:36):
Then there was
another time where they were
actually and I always get itconfused because they go through
Optum.
So some of it, you know, optumowns, I think, part of it.
So some of it I might be, itmight be Optum, some of it might
be United.
Speaker 1 (51:50):
But then the other
thing they were trying to charge
us for billing.
Speaker 2 (51:52):
Wow, it's like what
you're going to charge us to
bill you.
Speaker 1 (51:55):
Yeah, here's some
food, but I'm going to charge
you for eating it before you payfor it, exactly like they.
Yeah, you know so they are notum.
Speaker 2 (52:07):
I'm not surprised, no
, I'm not surprised.
Speaker 1 (52:09):
What's happening is
happening and it's and it's like
collectively, something needsto be done, but it has to happen
in numbers and you, we, we hopethat it happens in this
lifetime.
I don't see that happening inthis lifetime, unfortunately.
I hope I do because things needto change, because it's
affecting us.
I think at each stage and phasethat we go through in life, it
affects us in a different way,like maybe when I was in my 30s,
(52:31):
I wouldn't have cared about theprice of what Medicare would be
or this or that, but now thatI'm at that point, I do care
because it is affecting medirectly.
So even if it may not affectyou directly, you should still
care about it because it's goingto affect you at some point.
Speaker 2 (52:50):
Yes, that is one
thing that everybody has in
common.
I don't care if you have moneyor you don't have money, or what
group you associate with is.
Everybody is aging.
Speaker 1 (52:57):
We are.
Speaker 2 (52:57):
You can't get away
from that.
Speaker 1 (52:59):
Whether we want to or
not, we're all aging.
Speaker 2 (53:01):
I mean we can lie
about it, get away from that.
Speaker 1 (53:02):
Whether we want to or
not, we're all aging.
I mean we can lie about it.
I can well.
I sometimes I can lie about it,but people don't believe that
I'm 61.
But you know I am I don'tbelieve you're 61 I am, I'm 61.
People say you I'm like, I feellike I'm 80, but you know 61,
you know proud 61.
I hurt like heck when I was 61.
(53:22):
And I guess I just got goodgenes.
Maybe I don't know Good genesin certain areas but not good
genes in other areas.
Speaker 2 (53:29):
And again.
Speaker 1 (53:30):
The insurance company
will hold that against you.
Speaker 2 (53:32):
Oh, of course.
Of course there was a blooddisorder.
No, what is the name of it?
There's some sort of bloodissue that my dad had that I
could get genetic testing for tosee if I have it, but I don't
remember what it is.
I can't.
It's some sort of clottingthing, but anyway.
(53:55):
So basically the insurancecompany said, yeah, we'll pay
for it when you have a stroke,but until then we won't pay for
it.
It'll cost five grand.
I'm like, okay, cool, well,guess what?
I'm not getting it done.
Speaker 1 (54:04):
So imagine if the
insurance companies allowed
everyone at one point in theirlife to get genetic testing when
they're ill and they can't findwhat's wrong.
We all need a doctor house inour lives I know I do.
But if they would do thegenetic testing to find out what
is missing or what is wrong, Imean it would just be so helpful
.
But unfortunately we live in asociety that, unless you're
(54:27):
broken, we can't do something tohelp you fix it.
But if we were to help you fixit, you'd have to really be more
broken than what you are now.
No, it's sad.
It's sad the horror stories Ihave from dealing with insurance
companies and medical anddoctors who just don't give a
crap.
It's sad and it goes all theway downhill.
(54:50):
And it's not just insurancecompanies.
I've had some really greatdoctors and I've had some
doctors that I left there cryingbecause they made me feel so
insignificant.
And it's just like you said ifyou don't enjoy what you're
doing anymore, leave, exactly,do something different.
Wow, you know, and it's justlike you said, if you don't
enjoy what you're doing anymoreleave leave.
Exactly Do something different.
Speaker 2 (55:07):
Wow Well, thank you
Donna.
Speaker 1 (55:09):
See, that wasn't so
bad.
Speaker 2 (55:11):
No, I know Such a.
I mean it had to be talkedabout.
I think we have to keep talkingabout it as a culture.
Yeah, I know we do.
It has to change.
We cannot continue to functionby being oppressed and poor and
having none of our needs metover and over and over again,
before people snap.
And people are snapping.
Speaker 1 (55:30):
If you're snapping,
get mental health, don't take it
upon yourselves to hurt someoneelse because you're hurting.
Try to find a different way todo it, a way that's not going to
hurt you or someone else.
That's what I feel feel aboutit.
So, even though we havediffering views on it was still
the same at the end of the dayright?
Speaker 2 (55:48):
well, I mean, I'm not
advocating for somebody to kill
somebody.
All I'm saying is that therecomes a point when yeah if
you're, if you're doingeverything you just said so like
if you're going to mentalhealth counseling, and if you're
you're like taking medicationsand you're changing stuff in
your life and you're callingyour politicians and you're
doing X, y and Z and everythingis failing you, at some point in
(56:08):
time people are going to snap.
And I get it.
I understand it.
I'm not saying it's a I don't.
I wish it didn't have to happen, but it just.
It goes back to the quote Isaid.
The JFK said like when you,when you prevent people from
doing stuff, eventually it'sgoing to become violent.
Speaker 1 (56:24):
And again, being your
own advocate for what you need
and making your voice heard, anddon't stop talking about it.
Don't stop.
Don't be silenced, don't besilenced.
Someone said not to sayanything, or someone said we
can't help you, or this is howit is and you have to deal with
it.
Use your voice for good, useyour voice for change.
This is how it is and you haveto deal with it.
Use your voice for good, useyour voice for change, and
(56:46):
that's only then will thingsstart to change.
Speaker 2 (56:48):
Collectively, we can
do a lot.
If you can be your own advocate, be your own advocate.
But if you can't, maybe there'ssomebody in your life that can
be an advocate for you where youcan call upon them, and
actually social media is a greatplace for this.
You know, call upon them andand actually social media is a
great place for this.
I just saw a video the otherday where there was I think it
was a, I think it was either alawyer or it was some sort of
billing person who said if aninsurance company denies you,
(57:10):
instead of appealing it, ask fora fair hearing review, because
they have to give you a fairhearing review and they almost
always side with the the patientat that time most people
probably don't know this.
Because it's outside of theinsurance company that does it.
But the insurance company willtry to be like no, no, no, do an
appeal, but the appeal isinternal and if they deny it the
(57:31):
first time, exactly you know,go outside.
Speaker 1 (57:35):
I like when I see
people helping other people for
things that they didn't knowabout Exactly Because that was
an option for them, and thereshould be more of that.
I believe that in social mediashould be really something
positive.
You know, social media is greatit's.
It's unfortunately how somepeople perceive it, but at the
same time, if you can help otherpeople by giving information
(57:56):
and I'm all about givinginformation if I've learned
something and I think someoneelse could benefit from it, I'm
going to share it.
So if more people did that,then maybe people would know
that there are more tools intheir tool belt to be able to
handle certain situations.
Speaker 2 (58:10):
Well, thank you again
, donna.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (58:12):
Thank you for coming
back, thank you for having me,
and can you say the name of yourpodcast one more time?
The name of my podcast iscalled Healing Our Kindred
Spirits and it's available onany podcast platform that you
listen to.
Speaker 2 (58:25):
Thank you again.
Speaker 1 (58:26):
And the next episode
should be coming out next week.
Speaker 2 (58:28):
And let me know if
you want me to talk on that,
about anything too.
Absolutely.
Thank you again everybody forlistening, and if you could
leave like a five-star review,or for me as well, that would be
great.
Or if you could share thepodcast with other people, that
would also be great.
Or if you could share thepodcast with other people, that
would also be great, and if youcould share Donna's, that would
be fantastic.
So thank you everybody, andthank you again for listening.
(59:12):
This is just a reminder that nopart of this podcast can be
duplicated or copied withoutwritten consent from either
myself or Wendy.
Thank you again.