
‘I Can’t Go on Like This’: US Asks What’s Next for Healthcare
December 29, 2024 | Source: BBC | by Natalie Sherman & Ana Faguy
Special education teacher Robin Ginkel has spent almost two years fighting with her insurance company to try to get it to pay for back surgery that her doctors recommended after a work injury left her with a herniated disc and debilitating pain.
The plan didn’t seem “ridiculous”, she said: “I’m asking to get healthcare to return to a normal quality of life and return to work.”
Initially rejected, the 43-year-old from Minnesota spent hours on hold appealing the decision – even lodging a complaint with the state – only to see her claims denied three times.
Now she is bracing for the battle to start again, after deciding her best option was to try her luck with a new insurance company.
“It’s exhausting,” she said. “I can’t keep going like this.”
Ms Ginkel is not alone in throwing up her hands.
Roughly one in five Americans covered by private health insurance reported their provider refused to pay for care recommended by a doctor last year, according to a survey by health policy foundation KFF.