Insurance companies are just doing what their clients, our employers, want which is reducing cost at every possible angle. Just like how companies cut every possible cost everywhere these days.
It's all the same problem: cost cutting across the board, at any price, by American businesses.
Insurance companies are not doctors and should not havd the privilege of denying any claim for any FDA approved action.
I do agree that a lot of people seem to believe that’s how it works. There’s some objectively correct treatment, the doctors uncover what it is, and I have an unconditional right to get that treatment no matter what it costs. But no healthcare system does or could work that way. You have to consider tradeoffs and control costs somewhere.
You can build a system that makes it seem that way to the patients; that’s why I like Kaiser. In my opinion it’s more user friendly that way. But the tradeoff is that cost controls are imposed directly on what doctors are willing to prescribe. There’s many stories of Kaiser doctors refusing to prescribe expensive treatments that other doctors would, because as a matter of policy they believe some lesser treatment would be sufficient.
For non emergencies, I would much prefer we go back to patients paying cash, and getting medical loans when they need. For emergencies I would prefer the government cover them directly without any intermediary. Because of the insurance system, things cost 10x more than they should, which makes it an actively harmful system. If it were to go away, competition and efficiencies would drive down prices 10x.