Derek spent nearly a month trying to get a flu shot. During the same period, he has yet to secure an updated Covid booster. There are many problems with anti-vax propaganda. But there are also serious issues with America’s for-profit healthcare system. Derek shares his last few months navigating it, first with his wife’s breast cancer screenings (and the unexpected costs dumped on them) and then with a shot the CDC wants everyone to receive, apparently without understanding just how challenging that can be.
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Hey everyone, welcome to Conspiratuality, where we investigate the intersection of conspiracy theories and spiritual influence to uncover cults, pseudoscience, and authoritarian extremism, and today, to look at our broken healthcare system.
I'm Derek Barris, and this is a Conspiratuality bonus episode, which I'm calling A Prescription to Fix Healthcare.
Not saying I'm gonna do it, but we gotta do better.
So since launching this podcast in May of 2020, we've gone to great lengths to separate the efficacy of pharmaceuticals, like vaccines, and other modern medical practices from America's for-profit healthcare system.
Now we recognize that many of the frustrations around medicine in general come from living inside of a corporatized system that puts profits over people.
Matthew is a resident of Canada and enjoys a socialized healthcare system, unlike Julian and I who live with the for-profit system that I'm discussing today.
We've all, in our own ways, expressed our gratitude for modern medicine, and we recognize that we might not be here today without it.
I'm a cancer survivor.
Each of us has had our health challenges, which have been helped by the quote-unquote Western medical system.
But the bureaucracy of the system is a nightmare.
And so today, I want to share some recent challenges that I've had with you.
And I'll start by saying that at the time of this recording, it took me weeks to get a flu shot, and after over a month of effort, I have not been able to get an updated COVID booster.
Now, to be clear, I could have gotten both if I were to pay about $200, but I was not going to do that for reasons that will become clear.
So first I want to frame this story with another recent healthcare system letdown that my wife and I have experienced.
So in early August, my wife Callan went for her first breast cancer screening, and she wasn't in the clear.
Cutting to the chase, she doesn't appear to have cancer right now, something we're watching out for, so some conditions suggest it could be on the horizon, and because of that, she had to get a biopsy.
Now as a cancer survivor, I know how stressful this entire situation is, and the few weeks that we were dealing with this in August were very challenging.
Yet as the possible pathways forward were presented to us, we had to stop and have a conversation about what procedures we could actually afford.
And this is never a conversation you want to have regarding your health.
Yet in America it's quite common, as people forego screenings and surgeries in order to avoid debt all the time.
Now a reminder, we're the so-called wealthiest nation in the world.
So we did go ahead and get the testing done.
And it cost us a few thousand dollars from savings, besides the fact that we have pretty good insurance.
Now, to set the stage, we're covered by UnitedHealthcare through my wife's employer.
And every month, we have to pay almost $500 for this coverage alongside the percentage her company kicks in.
So, it's like I said, it's a mid-tier program for her company's offerings, and we still have a $5,000 deductible.
On UnitedHealthcare's website, they list breast cancer screening as preventive.
Yet something strange happened along the way.
My wife has dense breast tissue, something experienced by 40% of women worldwide.
And because of that, the procedure is no longer considered preventive.
And so after paying what we thought was going to be the total bill in advance, because that's what we were told, we continued to receive bills totaling over $1,000 on top of the thousands that we already paid.
Just to be clear, I talked to Callan about this and she's okay with me sharing this information because she's just as frustrated as I am and she can only imagine how many women have to go through this.
So I looked into it.
the top five executives at United Health Group, which is the parent company of United Healthcare,
each received between 10 million and $21 million in compensation in 2022 alone.
And yet, even though we're paying thousands of dollars each year for our coverage,
and then my wife's employer is paying thousands more, we have to pull from savings to cover screenings
for the most common form of cancer in women.
Bye.
Now in last week's episode, Silicon Valley VEDA, we discussed the unrestrained free market ethos that dominates billionaire thinking.
And I'm sorry, but my family's preventive health care shouldn't be funding your second yacht.
But that's where we are.
Which will bring us forward to these fall vaccines.
The US government has stated that it has a goal of 70% of Americans getting a flu shot this year.
And the CDC recommends getting it by the end of October, which as of the day of this recording was yesterday.
And yet, by yesterday, under a quarter of Americans had received one.
Now the CDC also wants as many Americans as possible to get the updated COVID booster, and yet as of right now, only 7% of adults and 2% of children have gotten this jab.
Now we can put some of this on the increasingly frenetic anti-vax efforts that we cover so often.
Some of this goes to decreased trust in institutions, which often dovetails with anti-vax propaganda.
But we have to confront the poor messaging from public health agencies.
