Brigham Buhler

And it's still happening to this day. And so I'll paint a picture for you. Imagine being a young kid with a spine issue. And you're in pain. And this particular spine issue causes the sensation of burning and fire shooting into your hands, your feet, your extremities.

And the worst of it all, a large percentage of these male patients with this spine issue experience burning and fire in their genitals. Fire and pain shooting into your genitals and extremities. in the insurance model with United Healthcare, you're going to have to go to a primary care first. That's gonna take two months to get in with that primary care.

And the worst of it all, a large percentage of these male patients with this spine issue experience burning and fire in their genitals. Fire and pain shooting into your genitals and extremities. in the insurance model with United Healthcare, you're going to have to go to a primary care first. That's gonna take two months to get in with that primary care.

And the worst of it all, a large percentage of these male patients with this spine issue experience burning and fire in their genitals. Fire and pain shooting into your genitals and extremities. in the insurance model with United Healthcare, you're going to have to go to a primary care first. That's gonna take two months to get in with that primary care.

You're dealing with this pain and suffering the whole time. Now, you get in with the primary care, they go, whoa, got six minutes with you. This is out of my wheelhouse. I'm gonna refer you to a specialist. You go to a specialist. That's going to take months. Oftentimes you have to argue with the insurance, right? Deny, delay, depose.

You're dealing with this pain and suffering the whole time. Now, you get in with the primary care, they go, whoa, got six minutes with you. This is out of my wheelhouse. I'm gonna refer you to a specialist. You go to a specialist. That's going to take months. Oftentimes you have to argue with the insurance, right? Deny, delay, depose.

You're dealing with this pain and suffering the whole time. Now, you get in with the primary care, they go, whoa, got six minutes with you. This is out of my wheelhouse. I'm gonna refer you to a specialist. You go to a specialist. That's going to take months. Oftentimes you have to argue with the insurance, right? Deny, delay, depose.

You're going to argue with that insurance company begging them to allow you to go to a specialist. Your primary care may even have to get on the phone and get a prior auth and negotiate it for you. Now you finally get in with a specialist. Specialist says, I want to order an MRI. A lot of times the insurance companies will deny the MRI or delay it. So now you've got a battle for that.

You're going to argue with that insurance company begging them to allow you to go to a specialist. Your primary care may even have to get on the phone and get a prior auth and negotiate it for you. Now you finally get in with a specialist. Specialist says, I want to order an MRI. A lot of times the insurance companies will deny the MRI or delay it. So now you've got a battle for that.

You're going to argue with that insurance company begging them to allow you to go to a specialist. Your primary care may even have to get on the phone and get a prior auth and negotiate it for you. Now you finally get in with a specialist. Specialist says, I want to order an MRI. A lot of times the insurance companies will deny the MRI or delay it. So now you've got a battle for that.

That's going to be another three or four months. The gist of it is the average spine patient takes six to nine months before they ever really even get an answer. And then they've got to negotiate to get into the surgery. And now you finally get the day in the sun where you're finally feeling like you're going to get relief and you're going to get that surgery that you desperately needed.

That's going to be another three or four months. The gist of it is the average spine patient takes six to nine months before they ever really even get an answer. And then they've got to negotiate to get into the surgery. And now you finally get the day in the sun where you're finally feeling like you're going to get relief and you're going to get that surgery that you desperately needed.

That's going to be another three or four months. The gist of it is the average spine patient takes six to nine months before they ever really even get an answer. And then they've got to negotiate to get into the surgery. And now you finally get the day in the sun where you're finally feeling like you're going to get relief and you're going to get that surgery that you desperately needed.

But the whole time they've been selling you opioids to keep your pain level down because that's the only option you have. So now... You get your approval and you say, I found the best surgeon in the country. I want to go to this guy. That's not how it works. The insurance company tells you who you're allowed to go see. And they say, yeah, he's not in our network.

But the whole time they've been selling you opioids to keep your pain level down because that's the only option you have. So now... You get your approval and you say, I found the best surgeon in the country. I want to go to this guy. That's not how it works. The insurance company tells you who you're allowed to go see. And they say, yeah, he's not in our network.

But the whole time they've been selling you opioids to keep your pain level down because that's the only option you have. So now... You get your approval and you say, I found the best surgeon in the country. I want to go to this guy. That's not how it works. The insurance company tells you who you're allowed to go see. And they say, yeah, he's not in our network.

You've got to go to this other doctor. And then that doctor botches the surgery. It wasn't the surgeon you wanted. You waited nine months to get this thing done. And that surgeon messes up your surgery. That's what happened to this kid, Luigi. Can you imagine how he could have lost his mind and gone crazy?

You've got to go to this other doctor. And then that doctor botches the surgery. It wasn't the surgeon you wanted. You waited nine months to get this thing done. And that surgeon messes up your surgery. That's what happened to this kid, Luigi. Can you imagine how he could have lost his mind and gone crazy?

You've got to go to this other doctor. And then that doctor botches the surgery. It wasn't the surgeon you wanted. You waited nine months to get this thing done. And that surgeon messes up your surgery. That's what happened to this kid, Luigi. Can you imagine how he could have lost his mind and gone crazy?

And what's unfortunate is that's what's happening to millions and millions of Americans every day. What happened is terrible. It's tragic. Nobody has the right to play judge, jury, and executioner. but neither do the PBMs and the insurance companies. And that's what they're doing every day.