Protecting Yourself From The Health Insurance Racket

Expert advice on how to navigate the growing pitfalls of Medicare, Medicaid, and the health insurance marketplace.

By Lucy Dean Stockton and Andrew Perez, The Lever

Despite the cheery marketing, the health insurance industry is full of exploitation and abuse, as companies look out for their shareholders while screwing over patients and providers. But we wanted to know: Is there anything folks can do to protect themselves from corporate insurers’ worst practices?

David Lipschutz, the Associate Director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy, told The Lever that it’s difficult to offer blanket advice. “The system is so patchwork and convoluted that there are so many caveats depending upon what coverage you have and where you get it,” he said.

Tim Faust, author of the book, Health Justice Now: Single Payer And What Comes Next, agreed, noting that the United States has offloaded responsibility for maintaining health coverage onto individuals. “You must be the captain of your own paperwork and cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s,” he said, noting that this becomes “really hard to do if you’re sick or working two jobs.”