As a teacher of students with different abilities ... Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, Emotional/Behavioral disorders... I know that the parents have to fight for medical services as well as the Educational services they're granted under IDEA ... I would sit in Student Study Team Meetings and list to the Admin and District Personnel tell us not to offer services that we knew the kid needed because the District didn't want to pay for them. That always pissed me off ... I'd always find a way to communicate to the parents what to demand from the team so their child would get the Educational services they were entitled to. Eventually I had to leave public school settings but I became a parent advocate and went into IEP Meetings with parents to ensure they received the services their kid needed.
At least the press can cry about how the hate is partisan. The thing that REALLY freaked them out over Luigi is that it wasn't. That scared the shit out the legacy press which is why they're still, right now, trying to convince us that it's a terrible tragedy while they've already moved on from the dead school kids.
excellent point. Instead of legislating, Congress is in cahoots with Big businesses such as Insurance companies, the health insurers, and Big Pharmaceuticals. Band-aids no longer work. An overhaul of the ACA, Medicare, Medicaid should be less about forcing people out of coverage and more about REFORMING our Health Care System as it was designed and intended to be. Privatizing has been a major failure as far as Medicare Advantage is concerned; and yet, NOTHING IS BEING DONE to make the needed changes and to fund it properly. This creates another competitive weakness that extends throughout our country and its management of organizations.
Excellent rant. As a "high functioning Asperger's" person - who still went through hell in childhood for the crime of being "weird", I personally would like to see every motherfucking scumball in the UHC C-suite "get theirs." And then start in on Anthem and Humana.
Sadly, this isn’t entirely new, though with the increase in diagnoses, too common. The only time I ever lost my sh$t on the phone with a customer service rep for whoever our health insurance carrier was at the time, was shortly after my son’s diagnosis of what was then PDD-NOS (the “umbrella” diagnosis, he had several other diagnoses, which took us about 2 years of seeing specialists to get). My son is now in his early 30s and lives on his own, with some support. But early on, he needed both PT and OT, and they were denying something for some bogus reason. The CSR was particularly rude and condescending, so I wished that she would have a special needs child and be denied needed services and have to deal with someone like her. I might’ve used more colorful language. Probably 25 years ago and I remember it like yesterday.
My son is autistic and has epilepsy. People not in our community doesn't understand the fight for services for our children. The hoops we must jump through every day for every service that would improve their lives just the tinniest bit. Hearing a medical insurance company do this is sickening. Karma is a b1tch and being a 💩 person you may think you can escape but everyone must face the consequences of their actions before they leave this earth.
I won't hold my breath waiting for the MAGAs who voted for dRump because "the commies are ruining our country" to figure out that they are literally paying for the shareholder profits that are the #1 priority for the health insurance industry.
Those of us old enough to be on Medicare are perhaps better off* but expanding Medicare to include everybody would fall under "commies ruining the country" so that won't be happening either.
*My husband's emergency heart surgery billed out at $250,000 but cost us almost nothing, thank God for Medicare.
I agree. Two kidney transplants later. Once yo are diagnosed with kidney failure insurance only has to keep you for a certain amount of time before they can drop you: isn’t that special?
I hear you. I too am on Medicare. I have an insulin pump and a CGM— lots of disposable replacement parts, every month. I pay the Part B deductible (less than $300) at the beginning of the year, and not much else. This stuff is not cheap. It’s a lifesaver for me. I’ve heard some others in my position complain about how often you have to see your endocrinologist (every 90 days). Not me! I love Medicare! Also, even though insulin is a drug, it’s covered under Part B, because a pump without insulin is useless, so it’s considered ‘supplies’.
The first year I was eligible for Medicare, I foolishly signed up for a Medicare Advantage (i.e., private insurance that misuses the Medicare name) plan. This was back when insulin was about $300 *per vial*. I was constantly out of pocket. God bless you, Joe Biden.
Long story short, I’m actually healthier now, after getting the kind of care I’ve needed without going bankrupt.
Thank you for bringing this to light. I too have a son with autism, now 35, and our battles with ins companies were constant. Because of their denials, I calculate that I have paid my son's way "through Harvard" already.
"Got that? UHC knows that these kids need this therapy. They know they have no medical justification for denying it. They’re doing it explicitly to increase their profits."
If anyone wants me to feel sorry at all for the multi-millionaire CEO who gets his millions from condemning kids to a literal lifetime of suffering you can just FUCK. RIGHT. OFF.
The same goes for anyone who tries to whine “but the CEO had a family that loved him, what about their grief and pain?” You’re feeling sorry for the well-taken-care-of family of the vile millionaire who bankrupts the families who have autistic kids. FUCK. RIGHT. OFF. TWICE AS FAR.
The denial of care is stupid. It’s short sighted and dangerous for those in power.
More frustrated people will act out against those they identify as making their lives more difficult using the firearms the Republican Party and it’s Supreme Court has allowed and encouraged to flood the country.
Well written, and as an adult who was only diagnosed with autism at age 65, I found that initially I could not obtain any therapy help from my provider, as the emphasis of therapy is on children, which is appropriate, but to say that someone over 40 cannot benefit from therapy is simply deplorable to say the least. I finally was able to obtain help on reimbursement of part of the costs of the diagnostic exams I underwent, but getting in to see a ASD specialist (psychologist not psychiatrist) is still limited. I am on a Medicare (*dis) Advantage policy, and while not as deplorable as the avarice of United Healthcare, Kaiser also has room for making improvements, particularly in the area of services for adults with autism. The 2023 Congressional Report of Autism Cares was very notable in mentioning that the greatest weakness of the Federal Government's managing of care for ASD Adults is that the nitty-gritty details of services are ill defined in many cases, even down to the issue of helping those adults with autism on how to rent an apartment without being ripped-off by unscrupulous apartment managers/owners, and how to obtain a mortgage to purchase a house. After graduating from school, a major milestone, many people want to live independently, and so employment services and training for corporate managers in HR and receiving departments how to best manage neurodivergent people and include them along with employees who are neurotypical. Employees themselves need training in what autism and neurodivergence is and how we differ from neurotypical people in terms of our communications. Success in the workplace needs greater emphasis in the year's ahead. Finally, Life Insurance Companies along with Healthcare insurance companies need to stop the overt discrimination of ASD policy owners. It is almost as if the assessors in Life Insurance companies are practicing medicine when they decide to deny a policy to a paying customer. Reviewing private medical information of potential customers cannot be a snap-shot of one year's data in determining whether a person has a suspected but unproven "history of colon cancer or an insignificant amount of plaque in arteries that does not require any follow up with a cardiologist. This is something I personally have experienced, and I must say I am not a happy camper in the least. Insurance as a sector in the United States is sadly focused on profit and greed of the executive officers of these companies. Healthcare and life insurance are products that are meant to protect the continuity and growth of families. The healthcare of Americans is not a privilege, but a basic human right in all other advanced economies except the United States of America. Unfortunately, even our Legislative Branch is focused primarily on privatizing healthcare and pays scant attention to constituents' experiences and the denials of service that are rampant in our broken healthcare system. When is it enough is enough, and Congress and the Senate going to overhaul the abuses of these insurance companies? I see very little action and certainly almost no reporting from legacy Media sources.
I’m a speech language pathologist. In my state, many kids in my area receive services through Medicaid. DeSantis has a strong record of rejecting federal Medicaid funds. Now with Project 2025 gunning to cut Medicaid, I shudder to think how many kids will be denied essential services.
UHC denied our $3k bill for a neuropsych evaluation even though the insurance was a self-funded program … until we got Oracle Corp’s secret liaison for employees with autism therapy needs. (Nowadays the same eval is $8Kish). Fortunately we pushed through autism parity in California but good luck getting a vendor with an opening. So yeah fuck that Corporate Shiva. If Thompson’s family wants to prove he was a good guy, then they should demand UHC act accordingly. And don’t give a bullshit donation to Autism Speaks.
I’m so disgusted by this bullshit. I have a high functioning Asperger’s family member whose family had to fight tooth and nail to get services because Asperger’s wasn’t under the autism umbrella at the time. Luckily, everything worked out in the long run.
Also, Optum runs my HSA and fuck those guys too. I’m reading up on how to transfer it to another provider.
As a teacher of students with different abilities ... Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, Emotional/Behavioral disorders... I know that the parents have to fight for medical services as well as the Educational services they're granted under IDEA ... I would sit in Student Study Team Meetings and list to the Admin and District Personnel tell us not to offer services that we knew the kid needed because the District didn't want to pay for them. That always pissed me off ... I'd always find a way to communicate to the parents what to demand from the team so their child would get the Educational services they were entitled to. Eventually I had to leave public school settings but I became a parent advocate and went into IEP Meetings with parents to ensure they received the services their kid needed.
Ha, so millions celebrating a vulturous CEO's murder was "bad?" Just wait till the orange CEO dies...the party will never stop.
At least the press can cry about how the hate is partisan. The thing that REALLY freaked them out over Luigi is that it wasn't. That scared the shit out the legacy press which is why they're still, right now, trying to convince us that it's a terrible tragedy while they've already moved on from the dead school kids.
excellent point. Instead of legislating, Congress is in cahoots with Big businesses such as Insurance companies, the health insurers, and Big Pharmaceuticals. Band-aids no longer work. An overhaul of the ACA, Medicare, Medicaid should be less about forcing people out of coverage and more about REFORMING our Health Care System as it was designed and intended to be. Privatizing has been a major failure as far as Medicare Advantage is concerned; and yet, NOTHING IS BEING DONE to make the needed changes and to fund it properly. This creates another competitive weakness that extends throughout our country and its management of organizations.
It'll become a national holiday.
I’ve got a bottle of champagne at the ready. Celebrate good times COME ON!
Around the world people will dancing in the streets singing "ding dong, the Don is dead."
Excellent rant. As a "high functioning Asperger's" person - who still went through hell in childhood for the crime of being "weird", I personally would like to see every motherfucking scumball in the UHC C-suite "get theirs." And then start in on Anthem and Humana.
Luigis for all.
So say we all.
I know this is not your main point, but I endorse the use of “Luigi” as a verb for killing an oligarch. Let’s make it happen, people.
Sadly, this isn’t entirely new, though with the increase in diagnoses, too common. The only time I ever lost my sh$t on the phone with a customer service rep for whoever our health insurance carrier was at the time, was shortly after my son’s diagnosis of what was then PDD-NOS (the “umbrella” diagnosis, he had several other diagnoses, which took us about 2 years of seeing specialists to get). My son is now in his early 30s and lives on his own, with some support. But early on, he needed both PT and OT, and they were denying something for some bogus reason. The CSR was particularly rude and condescending, so I wished that she would have a special needs child and be denied needed services and have to deal with someone like her. I might’ve used more colorful language. Probably 25 years ago and I remember it like yesterday.
Horrible and depressing.
Too bad Substack doesn't have a caring face: the heart really is inappropriate.
I will add my voice to yours. There really is no other way through.
My son is autistic and has epilepsy. People not in our community doesn't understand the fight for services for our children. The hoops we must jump through every day for every service that would improve their lives just the tinniest bit. Hearing a medical insurance company do this is sickening. Karma is a b1tch and being a 💩 person you may think you can escape but everyone must face the consequences of their actions before they leave this earth.
I won't hold my breath waiting for the MAGAs who voted for dRump because "the commies are ruining our country" to figure out that they are literally paying for the shareholder profits that are the #1 priority for the health insurance industry.
Those of us old enough to be on Medicare are perhaps better off* but expanding Medicare to include everybody would fall under "commies ruining the country" so that won't be happening either.
*My husband's emergency heart surgery billed out at $250,000 but cost us almost nothing, thank God for Medicare.
I agree. Two kidney transplants later. Once yo are diagnosed with kidney failure insurance only has to keep you for a certain amount of time before they can drop you: isn’t that special?
I hear you. I too am on Medicare. I have an insulin pump and a CGM— lots of disposable replacement parts, every month. I pay the Part B deductible (less than $300) at the beginning of the year, and not much else. This stuff is not cheap. It’s a lifesaver for me. I’ve heard some others in my position complain about how often you have to see your endocrinologist (every 90 days). Not me! I love Medicare! Also, even though insulin is a drug, it’s covered under Part B, because a pump without insulin is useless, so it’s considered ‘supplies’.
The first year I was eligible for Medicare, I foolishly signed up for a Medicare Advantage (i.e., private insurance that misuses the Medicare name) plan. This was back when insulin was about $300 *per vial*. I was constantly out of pocket. God bless you, Joe Biden.
Long story short, I’m actually healthier now, after getting the kind of care I’ve needed without going bankrupt.
Thank you for bringing this to light. I too have a son with autism, now 35, and our battles with ins companies were constant. Because of their denials, I calculate that I have paid my son's way "through Harvard" already.
Is it possible to have negative sympathy for this vile creature and his family?
yes. It's called "laughter." It really makes the legacy press sad. :)
"Got that? UHC knows that these kids need this therapy. They know they have no medical justification for denying it. They’re doing it explicitly to increase their profits."
If anyone wants me to feel sorry at all for the multi-millionaire CEO who gets his millions from condemning kids to a literal lifetime of suffering you can just FUCK. RIGHT. OFF.
The same goes for anyone who tries to whine “but the CEO had a family that loved him, what about their grief and pain?” You’re feeling sorry for the well-taken-care-of family of the vile millionaire who bankrupts the families who have autistic kids. FUCK. RIGHT. OFF. TWICE AS FAR.
And any CEO or other executive who tries to excuse their sociopathy with "But I have a fiduciary obligation to the shareholders" whine?
There isn't a curse or image strong enough to capture the terrors of hell that should descend on them.
Well stated remark.
Dude, it’s been so cold up here in Brrrrrmont, the other day I saw a healthcare CEO with his hands in his own pockets…
😉😂
The denial of care is stupid. It’s short sighted and dangerous for those in power.
More frustrated people will act out against those they identify as making their lives more difficult using the firearms the Republican Party and it’s Supreme Court has allowed and encouraged to flood the country.
It’s not a question of if but when.
Well written, and as an adult who was only diagnosed with autism at age 65, I found that initially I could not obtain any therapy help from my provider, as the emphasis of therapy is on children, which is appropriate, but to say that someone over 40 cannot benefit from therapy is simply deplorable to say the least. I finally was able to obtain help on reimbursement of part of the costs of the diagnostic exams I underwent, but getting in to see a ASD specialist (psychologist not psychiatrist) is still limited. I am on a Medicare (*dis) Advantage policy, and while not as deplorable as the avarice of United Healthcare, Kaiser also has room for making improvements, particularly in the area of services for adults with autism. The 2023 Congressional Report of Autism Cares was very notable in mentioning that the greatest weakness of the Federal Government's managing of care for ASD Adults is that the nitty-gritty details of services are ill defined in many cases, even down to the issue of helping those adults with autism on how to rent an apartment without being ripped-off by unscrupulous apartment managers/owners, and how to obtain a mortgage to purchase a house. After graduating from school, a major milestone, many people want to live independently, and so employment services and training for corporate managers in HR and receiving departments how to best manage neurodivergent people and include them along with employees who are neurotypical. Employees themselves need training in what autism and neurodivergence is and how we differ from neurotypical people in terms of our communications. Success in the workplace needs greater emphasis in the year's ahead. Finally, Life Insurance Companies along with Healthcare insurance companies need to stop the overt discrimination of ASD policy owners. It is almost as if the assessors in Life Insurance companies are practicing medicine when they decide to deny a policy to a paying customer. Reviewing private medical information of potential customers cannot be a snap-shot of one year's data in determining whether a person has a suspected but unproven "history of colon cancer or an insignificant amount of plaque in arteries that does not require any follow up with a cardiologist. This is something I personally have experienced, and I must say I am not a happy camper in the least. Insurance as a sector in the United States is sadly focused on profit and greed of the executive officers of these companies. Healthcare and life insurance are products that are meant to protect the continuity and growth of families. The healthcare of Americans is not a privilege, but a basic human right in all other advanced economies except the United States of America. Unfortunately, even our Legislative Branch is focused primarily on privatizing healthcare and pays scant attention to constituents' experiences and the denials of service that are rampant in our broken healthcare system. When is it enough is enough, and Congress and the Senate going to overhaul the abuses of these insurance companies? I see very little action and certainly almost no reporting from legacy Media sources.
I’m a speech language pathologist. In my state, many kids in my area receive services through Medicaid. DeSantis has a strong record of rejecting federal Medicaid funds. Now with Project 2025 gunning to cut Medicaid, I shudder to think how many kids will be denied essential services.
UHC denied our $3k bill for a neuropsych evaluation even though the insurance was a self-funded program … until we got Oracle Corp’s secret liaison for employees with autism therapy needs. (Nowadays the same eval is $8Kish). Fortunately we pushed through autism parity in California but good luck getting a vendor with an opening. So yeah fuck that Corporate Shiva. If Thompson’s family wants to prove he was a good guy, then they should demand UHC act accordingly. And don’t give a bullshit donation to Autism Speaks.
I totally concur with you even though I do support Autism Speaks as an organization.
I’m so disgusted by this bullshit. I have a high functioning Asperger’s family member whose family had to fight tooth and nail to get services because Asperger’s wasn’t under the autism umbrella at the time. Luckily, everything worked out in the long run.
Also, Optum runs my HSA and fuck those guys too. I’m reading up on how to transfer it to another provider.