Navigating The American Healthcare System | South Park: The End Of Obesity 

The episode? Possibly the entire series😂

😂😂😂😂😂😂

I had a friend who had that job. I don't think it was medical insurance, though. But he literally described his job to me by saying "You know when you go to file a claim and they have to run it by some guy and then that guy says no?" Then he excitedly pointed to himself.

"Yes i want an update on a prior authorisation" "Yes, they said no. That'll be 5600 oop please😌"

Or go hide some where!!

What makes it worse that this system is only good for insurance companies, waste is literally their profit

It was screwed up by greedy middle men that have caused it to become so egregiously expensive. It’s insanity and something has to and will be done about it.

Zootopia did it first

And despite being objectively the worst health care system in the world so many U.S folk would rather have their fill for bankrupcy for a cavity system over the european/asian/any other part of the world system. It's crazy.

Better than the "free" healthcare in Europe were you have to wait months or years to see anyone.

@@tracymw Sad that you think you're actually responding to a real medical doctor.

​@@tjmmcd1Sad that you think you're a real person with something to add to the conversation and not actually a piece of software on a silicon chip.

Not even half as bad as the VA or tribal systems.

... and that's saying a lot.

why you guys just don't bypass the insurance and render the service directly to patients?

His mom's job

​@@JohnDoe-gc1pmbut she has no job

@mickeyhadley4281 You can thank FDR for that. During WWII manufacturers were required to pay employees based on government mandates for every field. Employers, in an attempt to help workers, petitioned to be allowed to pay for their insurance since they legally couldn’t pay them more. In other words, socialist policies lead to this completely bull crap system.

😂😂😂

@soonerfrac4611 /facepalm "Stabilization Act of 1942" Passed the House on September 23, 1942 (284-96) Passed the Senate on September 30, 1942 (82-0) "The Act authorized and directed the President to issue an order stabilizing prices, wages and salaries to the levels they had had as of September 15, 1942" "One consequence of the wage stabilization under the Act was that employers, unable to provide higher salaries to attract or retain employees, began to offer insurance plans, including health care packages, as a fringe benefit, thereby beginning the practice of employer-sponsored health insurance." -wiki In other words, you have brain worms...

we didn't get state-mandated health insurance until 2020 in CA. this all started with requiring health care to be affordable...via insurance companies

Lmao underrated comment

An if you don't health insurance you get taxed​@@theyellowmeaning7507

😂😂😂😂😂😂

@@theyellowmeaning7507it may have in Ca. But health care in Most Democrat-majority states have had similair if not identical rules in place prior and it sucked that hard then.

I need this now

If only Americans would swap what they pay in health insurance and give it to their health system instead as, god forbid, a tax! You'd cut out the middle man and all the extra corporate tape it adds, and end up with a Nordic style health system. But, no. That's socialism right? Idiots.

I agree!! It was so well written!! And I loved the space movie reference too!! Perfect!! 💕🇦🇺

Absolutely!

Smart!

Must be from Steward Medical Healthcare. Private insurance that went bankrupt, but the CEO took the profits and invested in two yachts for himself. Criminal.

As hospital bill recipient,I can concur.

Sure. I was that doctor. Thanks and see you in 2031

😂😂

🎶Navigatin' The Healthcare System! 🎶😆

@@WolfxTV IRS: Where did you think you going?

Just couldn't find a way to reschedule that golfing trip.

They been doing it for a long time. You just need to understand the message behind their episodes as comedic as they seem to be

Always has been.

Health care and Scientology....PBS should show them.

I know this is so accurate its not even funny...the only thing is missing is the co payments that the insurance doesn't cover

@@danaking3754 it is so hard to believe that this is reality in the US. And all the other messed up things. I'm not saying that the US is the only country with problems, but still it is insane

Isn’t Tricare a retired military benefit? I figured it’d be whittled down to useless. No wonder folks aren’t enlisting these days. No return on investment.

Try having ChampVA. No one wants to accept it. And most have never even heard of it. 😅 And the govt doesn’t have to obey the rules like other insurance companies. You can’t let your kids use it until they’re 26.

@@BenvolioCapulet9well you can get gender affirming treatment no problem!

@@Lisa-my5sy I’m pretty sure your obsession with gender affirming treatment is a self-own, but you advertise it. 😂

I have the best insurance that BCBS offers. Yet, I couldn’t find a single psychologist willing to take me. After a year of trying, I gave up. Due to this, My PCP prescribes me with whatever we agree upon.

Gone? What do u mean it's gone? It was just here

If your paperwork disappears, you're gonna have a bad time.

@@madisonsosa21Not anymore. Poof.

@@madisonsosa21Not anymore… POOF

😂😂😂😂

you don't say I didn't catch that

That's the American Healthcare System for you!

@@Rocketman1292 in a multidimensional nutshell!

I ASKED YOUR CONTENT IS A SACK OF POTATOES

its a nice reference tho

I am a home care nurse. Mad respect to you.

$200 in the ER for ibuprofen!

We’ve been brainwashed and scammed. Shame on us for not fighting for better !

$7 for an aspirin is getting off easy

you were in Mexico, your chances of dying from something there are far greater, not to mention the medication is cheap because it's cheaply made, you are not even getting the same medication you would in the US.

underrated comment :)

@NewYorkYankeesUTTP Bro who tf asked 💀

@@gdjb-fi-hi7508 Its a spam bot, every other comment has been getting UTTP spammed.

That's what I was thinking.

Would be funny if they spun it that way, since the actual answer is exercise, not medication. Certainly something they would do..

Butters is indeed a 🙂 sometimes 😊

Butters at the end: 😵‍💫

Butters mouth when He Smiles IS sometimes right below His eyes and i dont know If ITS scary or cute

butters is so ☺️

THATS SO TRUE OML

i drive past their former CEO's soccer stadium to see my weed dealer. he paid for it with his half billion dollar retirement package

How did you find the breakdown by insurer? In 2021, the Healthcare Cartel to maintain the status quo, spent $730,000,000. lobbying 535 members of Congress with about 3,100 lobbyist and about half are former government employees. Check out “Open Secrets”.

The most accurate part was the kids trying to get meds to treat obesity instead of relying on diet and exercise

Pity you didn't get a bit of socialism like France did after WW2, the Résistance set up the "Conseil National de la Résistance" and set up free health care for us, macron (sold out to the rich) is chipping away at it

@@robcubed9557 Youre right but this applies to people who have chronic conditions they were born with. Many people suffer daily without medications and they are given the run around by big Pharma and the like

@@robcubed9557 that's true but when you are already obese, it is difficult to lose the weight on your own unless your on the show Loser or have a personal trainer and dietician

What’s more depressing is that the govt. gives our taxes to private insurance companies, who charge us *again* for their policies

Yet Americans can't agree on how to have universal healthcare.

Yes LOL and it's crazy how you have people that are in tens of thousands of dollars of medical debt that will stand there and tell you that government sponsored healthcare will just make things worse LOL. It's insane how they get people to vote for stuff that hurts them in the long run

man, affordable healthcare sure did help everyone a lot, then

More of a devastating fact not so much fun unless jumping through all the hoops counts

​@@tonyd9830Are you aware that the elderly are usually retired and don't work? Are you also aware that most of the illness is within the elderly? These people are losing their homes. Stop pretending this isn't a problem, just because it hasn't effected you.

Where? I missed it

For doctors it’s next level. An opthalmologist is able to ‘peer review’ and deny an oncologist’s chemo choices.

@@JoyfulMD I loath the sellout MDs and clinicians who take high salaries from the insurance companies. They sold their HIPPA oath for cash and act with their license just to deny patients much needed care.

Same with dental.

I am irked by the clinicians and MDs who take big salaries from insurance companies. They sell their HIPPA oath for cash, literally turning on their patients by denying care.

You might have actually been in the wrong since your intelligence is already in question by how your misspelling of the word "you're".

🤣🤣🤣

My favorite part by far, really sums up my experiences with it.

The Interstellar reference is on point

The Interstellar reference is 😘

My life lol

Funny huh

And that doctor in the network? 85mi away.

And I'm sure the doctors in network will say whatever the insurance companies want them to say because they want to remain in network with that insurance company. Such a scam.

Does "in network" mean "on our payroll, so screw you" like it does in Australia?

@@jasondoust4935 Pretty much. "These are the docs who agreed to only milk us so much while also minimizing our payout to you."

Good analysis! ❤

And also that there’s a place you can go to talk to your insurance company in-person.

Pity you didn't get a bit of socialism like France did after WW2, the Résistance set up the "Conseil National de la Résistance" and set up free health care for us, macron (sold out to the rich) is chipping away at it...

They missed the part where every visit to different doctors, hospitals, x rays, and mri's at all different places costs a fortune. Each visit. And, the doctors' offices and imaging centers charge a $30-$50 fee to send your results and info to the specialist or insurance company.

Meanwhile in Elsewhere: get a doctor to get a referral, go to hospital if it’s necessary, get checked, spend 10 -40 $ for the entire procedure.

@@andmos1001 Except for the part where people get worse while waiting months to be seen.

⁠@@alexanderbowers5225 at least they don’t die waiting or avoiding getting help altogether which is what happens in the US. The process they show here takes MONTHS for a lot of people. People die waiting for insurance or from not trying to get care early on for a problem because they don’t have the time or money to navigate the system for something that could be a nothing burger.

"He must have a huge bone in his ass then"

He thicc, t h i c c.

I feel like Cartman's "Big Bone" trait is one of the reasons why he's always mean to others

@@Wrilen_Speedy_WebbCartman is the most likeable character he carries

Well he must have a lot of bones in his ass

Yeah! Even in the worst of problems. BTW, there's a part 2 bot and uttp bot in most people's replies.

@NewYorkYankeesUTTPkeep talking buddy, south park is a comedy show thats actually good. your content is bad and the fact that your “team” has done some very bad things.

@NewYorkYankeesUTTP Stay in school or else you'll end up like this

​@@ScooterPlayz it's a bot wouldn't worry about it

did they lose/ cancel your appointment and forgot to call to reschedule ?

So long overdue. Kudos to them. They nailed it.

Speaking of getting upset because of accuracy.... Been married for 2 great years and 17 shitty ones. I was watching the episode with the Shake Weight and laughing my head off until the last 2 or 3 minutes, when I was reminded of how enjoyable the marriage could have been if she just did a few small things and held up her end of the deal. A legit emotional response to a SP episode. Fuck marriage.

Kinda like laughing then slowly crying because it's true😢

I understood that reference

You get what you fucking deserve.

How about another healthcare system Murrayyy...

Sure I do, I'm European.

Your entire industry is going to be stone cold dead in 5 years. Prepare.

Imagine how much cheaper and more fair a system would be in place for all a card health care without anyone getting free or heavily discounted healthcare?

​@@tedclark7860 Move to China. No one gets "free" or "heavily discounted" healthcare. It's called the Medicare System that people who pay taxes have paid into their whole adult lives in the USA.

just like the VA with claims and disability claims...

@@tedclark7860you’re a radical extremist who wants the evil of helping ppl. Our government is making the big boy decisions to overthrow governments & kill innocents.

It’s not the doctor it’s the insurance goon!

Mehh, he took the call. 😆

It was the medical director. His job was to say no.

Since he’s the medical director of an insurance company, he’s probably got no medical experience whatsoever, but has ran several hedge funds that made a lot of money, and got hired to do the same for the insurance company.

⁠@@jameswood4676Hedge funders need to stay the Hell away from businesses they’re unfamiliar with, as their hedge philosophy seems to fuck everything up. Just ask the Carolina Panthers, whose owner intentionally runs the team like a fucking hedge fund..

fr there was no reason for him to be in that gown for so much of this special lol

Doesn’t everyone do that?

It’s so Cartman

yeah man this felt personal lmfao.

Yeah and they're the ones who call socialized medicine for commies. So if anyone should be getting the finger it's them for getting people believing this is better than that.

Yeah, because a couple of animators really understand economics or healthcare at a level that makes their opinion any more valid than the average homeless guy asking for change.

​@@dancooper6002These are the same guys who think the free market is the solution to everything. Then they mock exactly what they demanded.

@@dancooper6002 the homeless guy asking for change knows more about the system than your naive middle-class ass

If the doctor personally told you anything, he would charge you $600 for it

Because trying to guess what your particular insurance will and won't cover is impossible.

@@gobolts7601 So my doctor just won't do anything?

⁠@@HereForTheCommentsright exactly. Some of mine AT LEAST told me that it MIGHT not be covered.

I think insurance is a scam brio😂😂😂

He does

@@jackpot1359 I think its just principle at this point

@@Chaogod1233 I just have a guess that Cartman and Kyle do care about each other despite being "enemies" (they are like Batman and Joker)

@@jackpot1359agreed. They need one another. Each would lose their purpose without the other.

I think he cares more for his health hes always pointing out how fat cartman is

All insurance, especially car...it's all rigged.

My great-grandfather from an entirely different era (born 1911) didn't trust doctors and tried to tell all his kids and grandkids not to trust them and to be skeptical of any meds they prescribed. His kids just rolled their eyes and made jokes at his expense behind his back. Now his great-grandchild has become as skeptical and curmudgeonly as he was when it came to doctors.

@@fortusvictus8297 Modern medicine is the result of snake oil salesmen being given "credentials" and office attire.

​@@fortusvictus8297 Bless that child, and may he or she stand strong in the coming storms.

As someone who works in the medical field, I can't tell you how many things get denied. They are hoping if they make us fill out more paperwork or do extra work, we will just give up on getting the test, medication, therapy, etc. Insurance makes the most money when people don't use it so they make it as difficult as possible to get things approved. There are even some insurance *cough* tricare *cough* that we lose money on to see their patients (it would literally be cheaper to see them for free & do a charity write off than to bill insurance, but we are legally not allowed to do that) so then of course, no one wants to take their insurance & can you imagine how much fun it is to explain to a patient that they have to drive to another state to get coverage because no one is in network?

Spot on observation

This is well crafted. Pause to consider the CRT monitor, *manual* typewriter, file cabinets, slide projector, overflowing trash can, tilted diplomas, interrogation lamp, and haphazardly "archived" boxes labelled "open claims." Some other things to appreciate: Cartman's gown is open in public. Butters descends (climbs?) MC Escher stairs (an impossible construct).

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of companies still use that outdated tech just to save a few bucks lol

As a software engineer that recently got placed on a project for an insurance company I can agree. It's the first time in my professional career that I've ever encountered Fortran or COBOL code.

@@shanedownes That is hilarious (but sad). My first job as a software engineer was with a bank and it was also on Fortran and COBOL. And everyone was telling me how ancient the technology was. And this was in 1997!!!

Right into a Christopher Nolan film.

i have absolutely no idea what just happened AND im high so i just laughed so hard what even is that anyway can't wait to watch.

He got lost in the American health care system and nearly died

Yes 😂! Butter did.

The American Health Care System sucked him out of reality. Know that feeling.

Late 20th century actually. (80s, 90s)

@@kraftwerklover69Typewriter was 1868, rotary phone was 1892, so late 19th century

Everyone missed the good old dot matrix printer on the left. Good times.

That got me good. Such pointed commentary. Honestly I expected it to be an unmarked exit that took them back outside.

I went for a physical... after filling out forms doing basic checkup then more formed I was informed it was just an intake interview and I needed to schedule a physical.... also had a fat chick tell me I was obese. 6ft 205 corn and beef fed farmer lmfao.... i didnt go back

@@chucknorris277 Same thing happened to my sister. She was 5.8 at 15yrs old with a flat stomach and she was told she was overweight.

I go to the gym 3 x a week, can bench 225 and skate every week. They told me I was dangerously obese. What fucking medical professional uses BMI?

​@@YesterdayssEvery single doctor around the world uses BMI lol.

I went to a doctor in Vietnam for 40 dollars, they didn't know what to do, but they refunded the money after taking the time to talk with me for an hour.

Got treated good because insurance lobby the government.Third parties are always the issue it be better if hospitals and doctors posted their pricing and they would have price competition and you instead of paying insurance you put in a health savings account.

"I got told what my share of the costs would be". You say that like it's a good thing. It could and should be so much better than that.

I’ve been there. Tore my rotator cuff, knew right away it was severe and wouldn’t recover without surgery. Had to go through PT first in agony before eventually getting an MRI that showed the complete tear and only then did they do surgery which was a complete success. Although not every surgery is going to work out.

@@bvokey8842 It's wild. I had a bad ski crash in italy they immediately had me do x rays and then right after sent me to get an MRI. No waiting for approvals, they just scheduled me for the next available time slot. I don't know the operating costs of running these machines but these companies are raking in so much money, the least they could do is have ample means to give people what they need.

If you think private health care is bad, try public "health" care. Here in Canada they just suggest MAID for EVERYTHING.

Ok, I am curious now, if the MRI showed no damage to the ACL, what would happen? The insurance would not pay for it?

That’s because the purpose of health insurance companies is to make money. It’s only confusing and frustrating to you because you think it’s about your health. Once you understand what they are doing to begin with it makes perfect sense. You don’t maximize profits by paying for everyone’s stuff no questions asked. Again, it’s not about getting you the proper care you need for your ankle. They are profit making machines not health care companies.

😏

The whole purpose is to stall them. Witch is why it's t Slow

“Oh, you want money from us?”

​@NewYorkYankeesUTTP Highly doubt that anyone who types in all caps is worth looking into.

@@dalampslayer Bot is gonna bot

And he really cares for Cartman too which is so nice

He must be a saint. Navigating the U.S. healthcare system almost requires that you have godly patience and stamina, otherwise you just give up in frustration and discouragememt.

I hope you are doing ok

@@TKR-ox9ff Thanks. Had a great meeting with my surgeon. Well, I actually got to finally meet him, LoL. I told him I watched the Southpark 'The End of Obesity' special last night, he approved! LoL BUT, we also talked about how insurance isn't willing to pay for Ozempic if you're not diabetic, and how the drug really isn't that much a 'game changer' or 'miracle' for people that DO have diabetes. Like, it's just 'another diabetes drug, and it's really, really expensive to boot'. BUT, the drug actually IS a MAJOR game changer for people that are obese, and even more for people that are morbidly obese! It's such a miracle for weight loss, that it could literally save the lives of morbidly obese people, and he says it's quite literally the most significant weight loss breakthrough....well....EVER. (short of surgery!) And yet, insurance won't pay for it for weight loss, if you're not diabetic, or only pay a fraction, and Medicaid won't pay a cent towards it! He DID suggest that I look into 'compound pharmacies', and I was like, 'those are a real thing?? LOL' , he said absolutely! So.... I've found a couple that seem reputable, and super affordable, like only $199 a month, or even less, vs the $1100 a month for Ozempic. I'm gonna email my surgeon, and if he gives his approval, I'm going to order some!

you must not know much then, because that isn't how it works.

@@Total_Recall1984 How do you not get that it’s a joke? Just like the American healthcare system.

@@HereticHero because this person loves being redundant, just like the American Healthcare System

​@@Total_Recall1984when is the last time you had a substantial medical issue? Regardless of how it actually works, this is the way it FEELS. That's kind of what matters here...

I was thinking they showed decades of time going by.

if you are out of network, that just means you have poor insurance, and that's not their fault, it's yours for the insurance you decided to get.

Most people get insurance through their employers. I don’t get to pick who is and isn’t our of network, and it’s constantly changing. I’ve had to change my dentist 3 times and eye doctor twice due to in/out of network changes in the last 6 years.

@@Total_Recall1984 "it's your fault for being poor"

Who the hell makes an appointment without checking of they're in network? Is everyone an idiot?

They were going to, but first Matt and Trey had to go to get a second opinion from a provider in network, then had to fill out forms, fax those forms, scan the forms, email the forms to the insurance then go back to doctor then go back to the specialist who talks to the insurance company who faxes the forms to the medical director in the Maldives and oh look, its been almost 30 years

@@greenyax ah yeah ok that makes sense for south park good thing it not a real world medical thing other wise that just be crazy

​@@greenyax brave souls lmao

I think Matt and Trey are moderate liberals now, but they used to have more of a libertarian streak. Perhaps they weren't too concerned about this sort of thing until now.

They had a more libertarian mindset when opinions on healthcare mattered. But as they got older they probably went through the system more which made them care more about the topic.

But, I thought the main argument against single payer healthcare here in the U.S. was not having wait times for care? Say it ain’t so 😂

Kyle sounds like his mom

It's what happens when you care TOO much about getting important things done. Which is why we have a world full of alcoholics and drug users, because people don't want that stress lol

Kyle IS the mom friend

Yes.

Often times they do, but the insurance companies that they have to partner with impose rules on what deserves treatment and makes everything worse. If they don't word it just right, even if they write it is necessary, the insurance agency will deny it if they want. And since everybody has different insurance plans, they can only sign contracts with so many. So it screws patients AND healthcare professionals, only people who benefit are the insurance companies.

It's a system designed to extract as much money in terms of premiums, deductibles and copays, while paying out the least as possible in terms of claims. Its the obvious end result of applying capitalism to healthcare, get as much money as possible while paying for and doing the least possible

​@bluecanine3374 no, patients, insurance and Healthcare provider all screw with eachother in every way possible. What happens when you don't get health insurance? The provider you trust so much will overcharge you 10x if they feel generous and kind.

Yeah but also fuck you and pay each of them for their time after they make you wait to see them