Two months ago, Jonah Santiago was convinced he was in desperate need of knee surgery because he’s had years of chronic pain. After shopping around trying to find doctors who would take him seriously, he has still not found a doctor or an insurance plan that would be willing to provide him with the treatment he needs to heal.
Santiago has, however, begun exhibiting symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) due to the U.S. healthcare system neglecting to provide him with necessary medical care.
“I’ve spent hours on the phone talking to my insurance company. They transferred me to a person they said should be the correct person. Then THAT person transferred me back to the previous person! And so on and so on. It’s a fucking maze! I started having nightmares. No bullshit!”
Santiago then went on to describe how he was initially connected to a physician who was willing to do tests and could perform the subsequent surgery, should it be necessary. He was relieved at first. But then he was informed that the physician in question was not in his insurance company’s network. He was then referred to a physician who was in-network but was not willing to conduct the tests. This cycle has thus far repeated no less than five times.
In the years since Santiago’s pain began to manifest, he avoided seeking drastic measures, figuring that would result in him being given the runaround. This fear has since come true. In the two months since he decided to take action, he has developed insomnia, hypervigilance and a pathological fear of asking for help — in addition to the nightmares he mentioned.
Upon the realization that he would need therapy to treat these symptoms, Santiago broke down and began to wail.