My Battle With Insurance: A System Built to Break You

I’ve always been a healthy person. I went to the doctor when I needed to, stayed on top of things, and never had to think too much about insurance. The company I worked for had great coverage. It helped me afford fertility treatments and barely made a dent in my pocket. Even when I got sick, my employer-sponsored plan came through. My medical bills after the hospital stay were high—but insurance covered most of it. At the time, I thought, This is what insurance is supposed to do.

I had no idea what was coming next.

From “Covered” to Completely Confused

When I left the hospital, I was met with reality: the cost of recovery. I was paying $600 per refill for my medication—twice a month. That alone was unmanageable. But that wasn’t the only battle.

Getting approval for my prosthetics was a nightmare. My left below-the-knee prosthetic was approved while I was still hospitalized, so that was ready when I got home. But my right above-the-knee prosthetic? Denied.

They claimed it was “not medically necessary.”

Let that sink in.

Apparently, having both legs isn’t necessary.

My prosthetist and doctors had to go back and forth with the insurance company for weeks just to get me the basic equipment I needed to even attempt to return to a normal life. It was degrading, exhausting, and frustrating beyond belief.

Then Came Disability, Private Insurance, and More Red Tape

Once my job-based benefits ran out, I had to find my own insurance. You’d think, “Well, she’s disabled. She must have Medicare, right?”

Wrong.

To get Medicare, you first have to apply for disability—and guess what? Most people get denied the first time. That includes quad amputees like me. The process is so complicated that law firms exist just to handle your application.

It took months to get through. Once approved, you do get back-paid for the time it took. But then? You have to wait an entire year just to become eligible for Medicare.

In the meantime, you’re stuck paying for private insurance out of pocket—or going without.

When Medicare finally kicked in, I was told a Medicare Advantage Plan would be best. More options. Better coverage. Or so I thought.

The Latest Whiplash: Chiropractic Denials

Recently, I got a call from my chiropractor’s office. Medicare had flagged my account, saying I had other coverage. I was baffled. I’ve had the same Medicare card for months.

They told me I’d have to call Medicare. That alone sent my anxiety through the roof. Why couldn’t they speak directly to the provider when they have a specialist that deals with medicare?

So I called. And after way too much back and forth, they traced the issue back to... an unemployment insurance record from 2019 when I had COVID.

Seriously?

Now I had to call unemployment and have them remove the record, then have them call Medicare to confirm, so Medicare could update their system. Again: Why am I doing all this?

Even after I jumped through all those hoops, the office tells me my plan may be out of network anyway. So now what? More denials? More copays for services I desperately need? That’s the cost when you actually find a dedicated doctor, they’re out-of-network.

What’s the Point of a Medicare Advantage Plan?

Let me break it down:

• It costs more every month

• You pay a copay at every visit

• You get denied more often

How is this an advantage?

Insurance in America is not just broken—it’s abusive. It’s a system that seems intentionally designed to wear you down until you give up.

And who pays the highest price? The people already struggling the most: the sick, the disabled, the low-income families just trying to survive.

My Prayer: Let Justice Touch Healthcare

I’m not writing this because I need sympathy. I’m writing it because I know I’m not the only one.

People are going bankrupt, losing homes, delaying care, or dying—not from illness, but from insurance policies. That should shake us to our core.

My prayer is that the corruption and greed in our healthcare system would finally be exposed. That something would shift. That we stop targeting the already weakened, and start restoring them instead.

Because healing shouldn’t depend on how long you can stay on hold. It should be a right, not a reward for surviving bureaucracy.

Isaiah 1:17 (NIV)
“Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.”