Health insurers limit coverage of prosthetic limbs, questioning their medical necessity

[buzzycrumbhunger]

35. My son lost a leg at 17

Rampaging Strep infection that took six surgeries in seven days before they finally took the whole thing to get ahead of it.

Thanks to the Shriners, we then spent six weeks in their Tampa hospital (a parent is allowed to stay in a motel-type room for free!) getting rehab and fit for a prosthetic. They eventually made a second leg and provided a cool wheelchair because they knew once he turned 18, we’d be fucked—and we were.

He outgrew his prosthesis in his mid 20s and it wasn’t until he was over 40 that he met someone at work who put him in touch with a clinic that did a few freebies. He now has a new, improved leg (nothing terribly fancy, but a better knee than his first ones) at no cost. All these years, he’s tried to apply for help from SSI, etc. and no one would help him. He was able to get around, feed himself, and go to school, so would never qualify for aid. It took a random encounter to get free help.

It’s disgusting. The so-called healthcare industry serves no real purpose but to skim money off people for providing as few services as possible in order to reward stockholders.

Just another reason these arseholes should fear the coming Luigi imitators. It’s beyond time for healthcare for ALL.