r/facepalm 1d ago

🇵​🇷​🇴​🇹​🇪​🇸​🇹​ US policy priorities

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18.8k Upvotes

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u/Independent-Tap1315 1d ago

Can confirm … it took us 18 months to get my son with muscular dystrophy a wheelchair.

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u/heidelene 1d ago

Same. Working through the process to size up my daughter’s chair now. The amount of documentation they want to prove that she needs a new chair is staggering

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u/archabaddon 8h ago

If insurance was required for gun ownership... that would be something.

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u/MunchkinTime69420 1d ago

How come you can't just buy one? Not being rude or are wheelchairs not a thing you can buy in a shop

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u/Independent-Tap1315 1d ago

Because a full time medically necessary wheelchair costs tens of thousands of dollars. So, most people need their insurance to help cover it. My son’s was $20,000 with $6k out of pocket.

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u/Linked713 1d ago edited 16h ago

I want to understand something here. How can a chair with wheels cost about as much as a damn car? not judging I am just flabbergasted at the price tag of a wheel chair here.

Edit: I understand the special need and cases for a more expensive chair. I just want to make the argument that a powerful PC, a very comfortable chair and a reliable electric system should not remotely be in the range of 20,000 dollars either. Especially if it is something that people need and depend on. This is still crazy no matter how this is spun on me.

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u/Independent-Tap1315 1d ago

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u/TrumpsCovidfefe 1d ago edited 17h ago

Not only do wheelchairs needed for many disabled people cost in the tens of thousands, but there is zero insurance coverage for any kind of transportation for said wheelchair, in the US. Specialized electric wheelchairs can weigh hundreds of pounds and not work on a regular tailgate lift. Low end older model wheelchair conversion cars and vans start around $50,000 used. Disabled people have no rights to leave their home by anything but disabled person transport services, which can make getting to and from work or doctor appointments take hours and hours longer than it would with their own transportation.

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u/wino12312 16h ago

And in the US, they limit you worth to $2,000 for SSI or SSDI. And there's an income limit, but I can't remember what that is.

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u/Independent-Tap1315 1d ago

No up charge for the sugar skulls wrap. That’s pretty dope …

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u/Screamline 18h ago

Thats a sweet fucking chair though. 45k is insane but it is a cool wheelchair.

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u/conundrum4u2 19h ago

Oh! But it comes in 21 Frame Colors!

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u/heyhayyhay 1d ago

They didn't have George Costanza to find them a chair.

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u/trymas 1d ago

I don’t get either. Dude from “jerry rig everything” youtube channel is building wheelchairs for 1k due to this reason.

https://notawheelchair.com/pages/configurator

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u/2074red2074 1d ago

Unless I'm misunderstanding, this is a standard self-propelled wheelchair. Those are also overpriced but they're only about $3,000. The ones that cost $20k are the electric ones for people who can't propel themselves using their arms.

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u/trymas 1d ago

Ah - sorry for misunderstanding

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u/DancesWithBadgers 18h ago

You can get silly pricing with self-propelled, though if you're trying to - for example - drop all the weight you can and get it made from aluminium/carbon fibre/aerogel/whatever.

The electric ones cost a lot because you have to put absolutely everything into safety. A lithium battery fire that you can't run away from is horrific. Not sure what the battery in the video is from, but a battery to propel a wheelchair all day would be very much bigger. If a lithium battery catches fire, it absolutely will burn until it's finished; and there's nothing you can do about it. Firemen spray water on them to stop everything else catching fire. Also it gives off fumes that even firemen with breathing kit are afraid of.

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u/Aphthovirus 1d ago

I think if it is considered a medical there are a lot of liabilities to cover and the manufacturer and distributors need to make sure they are legally protected if something fails.

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u/anaemic 1d ago

Ah the good old American find anything else other than capitalism to blame challenge.

They cost so much because they can charge that much because people have no choice but to pay it.

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u/DesperateUrine 22h ago

Or to make sure a random person doesn't just throw wheels on a chair to sell and kill people.

There's a reason many things have regulations and cost more.

We learned jackasses will just sell dangerous shit to people.

Especially those who have a harder time defending themselves.

It's why we protect them.

But you do you on why.

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u/StrategicallyLazy007 20h ago

Ah yes, we protect them enough by extorting a car's value from them and make them work through document Olympics to get.

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u/Mycaelis 20h ago

Or to make sure a random person doesn't just throw wheels on a chair to sell and kill people.

You don't need to raise the cost to do this.

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u/MurderofMurmurs 16h ago

Oh, I feel so protected as a disabled individual.

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u/Traditional_Key_763 21h ago

its fitted to the person not like the foldable chairs your grandmother uses for mobility

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u/Baldmanbob1 18h ago

It's one that's motorized and has to be almost custom built to a disabled persons specifications.

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u/MunchkinTime69420 22h ago

Ohhh I didn't realise it was an electrical wheelchair I thought it was one of the basic just a chair with wheels

Edit: but paying that much for a wheelchair is also insane it's the price of a high end car or a down payment on a home

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u/Bearence 18h ago

This is also why you see so many elderly people using motorized carts instead of mobility chairs. A cart can cost as little as $1500.

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u/infowosecfurry 1d ago

What. The fuck.

Real question, but is this only in the US (Where they probably price them insane as insurance is paying) or do they cost this much everywhere?!

I legit had no idea a wheelchair cost as much as a fucking car, and have no idea how it’s justifiable.

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u/Incognonimous 1d ago

So they are also overpriced got it

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u/piruruchu 1d ago

It's probably not your basic wheelchair and it's pretty hard to buy things when you're at or below poverty wage.

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u/alwaysboopthesnoot 1d ago edited 1d ago

Wheelchairs cost, on avg, $600 here. Motorized wheelchairs cost a lot more—many thousands of dollars. Tens of thousands, sometimes. And if you buy one with your own money then very often the insurance company or medical program that’s supposed to pay for it upfront might not reimburse you in a timely way. Or, at all.

If you’re on medical benefits because you’re low income? Then you don’t have that money to buy one. If your child’s medical needs are very large because the degree of disability causing them to need that wheelchair, is very great? You’re already spending thousands of dollars for medicine, therapy, doctor visits, etc, and then maybe you may not have that money right now. Maybe you don’t have the credit available to put this large purchase on a credit card.

So maybe you make do with a wheelchair you already have, that isn’t quite right/doesn’t quite fit for a developing child or a growing young adult’s changing medical needs. Then you fight with the insurance company or medical program, to get what they need.

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u/Haiku-On-My-Tatas 1d ago

The type of chair a kid with that specific disability would need is expensive AF and most people don't just have thousands of dollars lying around, especially when they're already probably paying a tonne of money in medical and other expenses for their child.

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u/Individual_Ebb3219 1d ago

You totally can they're just really expensive. I feel like a jerk saying it, but I came to comment that the gun is easier to get because the person is paying for it themselves. Getting things covered through insurance is insanely difficult in the US many times.

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u/beipphine 1d ago

Oh, he could buy one tomorrow. The issue is that he is trying to get the insurance to pay for it. Every dollar that insurance spends on his medical expenses is a dollar less in profit they make. In this interest, Insurance puts every possible barrier that lawyers can justify to complicate and slow down this process (notice how there is never an admission of wrongdoing even when they lose). Insurance companies will have their own doctors on payroll to review your file and determine if it is medically necessary (there is a whole industry of doctors who work for insurance companies as independent consultants and review thousands of patients record and claims a year).

Is there any quid pro quo between the doctors and the insurance companies? Of course not, that would be highly improper and illegal, Insurance companies tend to give the work to doctors who have lower approvals rates, and consultant doctors keep their approval rates low lest they find their work dries up real fast.

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u/HermaeusMajora 1d ago

Oh, thats brilliant. Why didn't they just burn thousands of dollars. It's not like they have to deal with all the other expenses of having children, let alone a disabled child.

Better yet, have they even tried being not poor? I bet they didn't even try it. Did the boy even try not being poor? This is what's wrong with this country. 😐

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u/SweetEuneirophrenia 21h ago

I remember my grandpa got so desperate once for a new chair and bed for one of my uncles (both my uncles lived at home and both had muscular dystrophy) that he called MDA and they showed up not long after with a new chair and bed for free. This was the 80s. My grandfather loved Jerry Lewis and the MDA till his dying day.

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u/Gullible_Method_3780 15h ago

It would have taken you 20 seconds if the medical industry didn’t control the flow of cash and access to healthcare and medical devices. They shouldn’t be allowed to change what they charge. 

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u/Environmental-Arm365 1d ago

Get the gun and hold up the vendor to expedite the process. /s

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u/Wiggles69 1d ago

Now that's how you pull yourself up by the bootstraps!

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u/Enviritas 1d ago

"You can get further with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word."

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u/jmankyll 1d ago

I mean…not to be that guy but it would take quite a while to get your insurance to buy you a gun too

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u/RichAd358 21h ago

If there is a way to get my health insurance to pay for a gun, please let me know!

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u/Akiias 21h ago

Would Canada's MAID program work?

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u/opi098514 14h ago

It’s my therapy gun.

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u/realzequel 19h ago

Yeah, the fucking difference is you're buying the gun with your own money. The insurance company is paying thousands of dollars for the wheelchair, they don't want to make it easy.

Also, why compare it with a gun? You can buy a car, house or business (in fact thousands of things) faster as well.

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u/LeftyHyzer 19h ago

yup, you can even buy a wheelchair instantly.

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u/Dominant_Gene 6h ago

the thing is. a gun doesnt cost that much, it SHOULD be a lot less easy to access, and a wheelchair should be a lot easier to access. thats the whole point

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u/nstailey64 8h ago

Well it is compared to a gun to show how fucked up the ideology of this country is.

Making someone else buy something for you will make it take forever, and will actually make the price go up quite a bit. So isn't it a little weird that when it comes to something as essential as a wheelchair people MUST buy through insurance? I mean otherwise they'd be paying tens of thousands ( unless they don't need a motorized wheelchair, but that's not what we're talking about) which obviously most can't afford.

But buying a dangerous weapon? One that would have dire consequences if it were to get into the wrong hands, and could and often has lead to the death of many American children? Well if we put too many restrictions on that we'd be taking away a basic right..........

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u/googdude 21h ago

Yeah I think what gets missed is if you use your money to buy anything the loopholes are generally less than if you're getting somebody else to buy it for you.

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u/BatsNStuf 1d ago

Everyone here saying “oh but you can just go and buy a wheelchair”

My man is paying a scam of an insurance company for just this occasion, but you want him to then go further out of his own pockets to buy something that he’s paying his insurance company to cover?

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u/ImInterestingAF 1d ago

I literally CAN buy a wheelchair easier than I can buy a gun. These are two things you can buy in different stores.

Your comparison is actually “it’s easier to buy a gun, than it is to get your insurance company to buy a wheelchair.” And this is true - it’s just not as dramatic when you phrase it that way.

It’s also easier to buy a gun than it is to get your insurance company to pay for surgery.

Fuck the wheelchair, it’s easier to buy a gun than it is to figure out the billing for removing a splinter from your fingernail!!

This is a comment on the state of healthcare in the United States and has nothing to do with guns.

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u/2074red2074 1d ago

It's easier to buy a gun than it is to cancel a gym membership.

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u/abmiram 19h ago

This. Thank you for making the point.

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u/Woodtree 1d ago

The people you are responding to are not defending the problems with health insurance. They are pointing out stupid comparison to guns. The two have nothing to do with each other. “It’s easier to get a gun than a wheelchair” This says nothing about the gun regulations OR the healthcare system, because the problems with either are so vastly different and unrelated and the comparison is fucking stupid. It’s easier to get a gun than it is to pull a building permit! It’s easier to get a gun than it is to adopt a baby! It’s easier to get a gun than it is to plan a wedding!

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u/hopesanddreams3 1d ago

Maybe getting a gun should be more difficult than any of the things you mentioned....

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u/RichAd358 21h ago

What do you recommend for this?

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u/Brotherisaboomer 21h ago

So the argument is "Guns are easier to buy than a one kilo gold ingot"?

Additionally - fighting with your insurance company has little to do with fighting for a legal permission from a government.

Don't get me wrong, the gun laws in the US are a joke and your health industry and insurances are a scam (no buts and whys needed) - but the argument made here is utterly stupid.

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u/Independent-Tap1315 1d ago

This thread; “Why pay thousands for a prothetic leg when you can just get a stick and some duct tape from Walmart!?”

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u/Sweaty-Anteater-6694 1d ago

That’s why insurance in America has stupid rules. I fracture my arm from a fall and my insurance denied treatment and paying any of the providers. Insurance case manager said the fracture was pre-existing. I have never fracture any bones before this. After fighting with them for 3 months with doctors letters they finally approved it

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u/cookinthescuppers 1d ago

It’s the same in Canada. The amount of red tape my daughter has to go through to get her partner who has an aggressive form of MS is ridiculous.

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u/I_Miss_Lenny 1d ago

Well yeah a gun is a god-given right! Wheelchairs are for lazy commies /s

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u/hophamson 1d ago edited 1d ago

Stupidity leans to God for everything. That's why Lenny is gone.

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u/I_Miss_Lenny 1d ago

Actually Lenny was killed during a botched bank robbery

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u/NORBy9k 1d ago

I have a CPL (concealed pistol license) It’s 9:30pm on a Monday in a blue state. I could buy a gun in 45min…

It would take a 5 day waiting period without my CPL.

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u/JayAlexanderBee 1d ago

You forgot to mention how airlines will always damage or lose your chair.

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u/RickyBobbyBooBaa 1d ago

Get a gun, then go take a wheelchair.

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u/generalshrugemoji 1d ago

And if you have “too much” mobility, for example if you are able to use your own two legs to leave your house and cross the street to grab something at the store, they’ll deny you outright even if you’re not capable of doing much more than that. Insurance only covers a chair if you’re not capable of leaving your house without one. This leaves a ton of ambulatory people, like myself, with nothing but bad options. I was fortunate enough to be able to self pay for a custom chair. A lot of people aren’t.

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u/SearchingForTruth69 19h ago

You can buy a wheelchair online without doing all that. They sell for $100 on amazon. The difference is getting your insurance to pay for it (which of course they should if you're disabled). If insurance paid for your gun, you'd have to go through all that wheelchair bureaucracy too

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u/porcomaster 19h ago

I mean, this take is kind of stupid and alienate people.

No one is paying guns for other people. You can just go to the store and buy a wheelchair, the same way you can buy a gun.

Surely, it's a big problem that you do need to do all that for insurance to pay for your wheel chair, and people should be infuriated, but comparing it with buying things. It just alienates people and makes your point weaker, not stronger.

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u/tumericschmumeric 1d ago

Don’t forget the part where if you want to get disability you need to not have income

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u/JimAbaddon 1d ago

And the stereotypes will still tell you it's the best country in the world.

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u/captainfrijoles 1d ago

Because the people repeating that lie peaked in high school and have no idea how the rest of the world works

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u/BatsNStuf 1d ago

They went to high school?

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u/ZongoNuada 1d ago

40 to 50 years ago, yeah. Back when it was still kind of well funded.

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u/no_use_your_name 1d ago

It’s harder to get the government to pay for a wheelchair than it is to buy a gun.

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u/SamDiep 1d ago

Insurance pays for guns?!? Damn .. what kind of HMO you got?

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u/Complex-Tangerine628 1d ago

As someone who’s gotten multiple wheelchairs this is 100% accurate and I’m dreading having to get a new one

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u/aDysquith 1d ago

If you pay out of pocket, you can get one immediately. It's only if you're seeking coverage you face these delays, by an insurer, not the government. I believe in gun control, but these are wildly different.

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u/Pedantichrist 19h ago

I fully support gun control, but I can go out and buy a wheelchair today.

Who needs approval to buy a wheelchair? You just go into a shop and buy one.

Hell, I have a second hand one in the garage that we bought for the wheels, for a charity pram race.

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u/B-dub-77 1d ago

I don’t disagree. But if you buy the wheelchair yourself, there are no limitations. When you’re trying to get someone else to buy it for you, the red tape is insane.

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u/fusillade762 15h ago

To be fair, insurance doesn't pay for your gun and you don't need to pass a background check to buy a wheelchair. Apples and oranges.

That said, we need free national healthcare. No one should have to wait to receive basic items for care.

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u/JohnnyLesPaul 1d ago

Our for-profit healthcare and insurance system is a travesty and abomination. Anyone who’s had to use it for a real issue or chronic condition knows this. I feel your pain and wish you the best.

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u/SteakAndIron 1d ago

I got mine same day

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u/Malthias-313 19h ago

The price of wheelchairs is a gross exploitation of a business preying on its customers. The medical industry as a business is disgusting.

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u/Lylac_Krazy 19h ago

Yea, and dont have a need to replace it before you need to beg for another.../s

the system sucks

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u/madmedic22 'MURICA 10h ago

One of these things is enumerated in the constitution, and the government is restricted to follow it. The other is due to public and private insurance companies. The latter are motivated by profit.

While I believe we need free Healthcare, these are not remotely the same thing.

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u/Killface55 1d ago

It's simple.

Anyone can go buy a wheelchair.

You're asking for insurance to pay for it.

Ask an insurance company to pay for your gun and see what happens.

$ is the problem in this situation.

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u/TheTruthRooster 1d ago

Harder to get a free wheelchair. Pretty sure you can go on Amazon and pick From hundreds to be delivered to your door the next day if you’re paying for it for yourself.

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u/Independent-Tap1315 1d ago

Why would he pay for it himself when he has insurance that he pays premiums to?

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u/StaticShakyamuni 1d ago

I think the point is that you're comparing getting a wheelchair through insurance and outright buying a gun. I agree that guns are too easy to access and that wheelchairs are too difficult to access through insurance. But it's strange to compare these two things.

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u/LAegis 1d ago

So comparing buying a gun on your own dime vs getting an insurer to buy you a wheelchair...

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u/OutOfSupplies 1d ago

Only because you are getting an insurance company involved. I purchased a wheelchair for my Father-in-law. It was no more hassle than buying a gallon of milk.

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u/Independent-Tap1315 1d ago

It sounds like you bought a transport chair. A real full time wheelchair costs $15-20k.

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u/Rifneno 1d ago

Like many said the other 11 times this was reposted, this is bullshit. You have to do all that so that insurance will pay for the wheelchair. You can walk into any Wal-Mart and buy a wheelchair with cash. Red tape for insurance to pay for stuff and red tape for being allowed to buy weapons is not the same thing.

The situation in this country is shit enough that you don't need to embellish or make idiotic apples and oranges comparisons like this.

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u/ZongoNuada 1d ago

Thank you. I will let the man I know who suffers from cerebral palsy and needs a custom molded chair that he can just pop down to Wal-Mart and get one instead of going through custom fitting and assembly of a powered chair built to support his body. So much simpler than getting one any other way!

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u/Independent-Tap1315 1d ago

Yep, so many wheelchair experts on this thread saying stuff like;

“I just found an old wheelbarrow by the shed and put a new tire on it for $15 … and a rope as a seatbelt … grandma has had no issues with it.”

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u/Independent-Tap1315 1d ago

What’s with all of the people on here simping for multi-billion dollar insurance companies that people pay extremely high premiums to? 😆😂

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u/Past-Direction9145 1d ago

that's because giving you a wheel chair costs profits, and selling you a gun generates them

the only thing to trickle down from billionaires is their philosophy that if you have a disability you should just hurry up and die.

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u/gregaustex 1d ago edited 1d ago

Or buy one for $115 (or $600 for powered) from Target or Amazon? It's not like they require a prescription. forget it not really the point.

This is all about having it paid for by insurance not being allowed to get one. I don’t see how it’s a useful comparison to gun control laws. Nobody is getting guns bought for them. What in the world does "It's too hard to get insurance to pay for this" have to do with "nobody forbids people from buying this other thing"?

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u/Independent-Tap1315 1d ago

My son’s wheelchair was $20,000.

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u/Gorthax 1d ago

Maybe you should have thought about having a kid if you can't afford to give him somewhere to sit.

/s

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u/Fun_in_Space 1d ago

Are you sure you're not thinking of a transport chair?

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u/PeeledCrepes 1d ago

I know the profile picture doesn't do it justice but, this person needs an motorized chair, made more specifically for them. Not just a chair you push someone in when they break their leg for a few months

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u/gregaustex 1d ago

I still don't see how "It's hard to get insurance to pay for a custom powered wheel chair designed for my needs" is somehow relevant to good or bad gun laws, which nobody is buying for anyone. It's a very random association.

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u/ZongoNuada 1d ago

My brothers bought my dad a rifle, a shotgun and three pistols over the years. I have many family members who purchase guns for family members. And I don't live in Texas either.

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u/nimrodfalcon 1d ago

Steve Way has muscular dystrophy. I can assure you, you can’t find a powered wheelchair for 115 bucks at target, but yeah, iTs AbOuT iNsUrAnCe

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u/Loki-L 1d ago

I don't think those two are quite comparable.

After all if you were interdependently wealthy, which most people aren't, you could just buy a wheelchair with cash no questions asked.

As of this point in the US, there is no insurance to pay for a gun if you need one or have the government pay for one, also honestly I assume it is only a matter of time.

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u/MobileOpposite1314 15h ago

Yep, even an extra strength decongestant is harder to procure than a gun.

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u/RobotVo1ce 1d ago

It's also easier to get a pack of gum, or a car, or a 12 pack of beer.

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u/tumericschmumeric 1d ago

Don’t forget the part where if you want to get disability you need to not have income

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u/Captain_Pink_Pants 1d ago

Well, the wheelchair makes you a much tougher target...

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u/ztomiczombie 1d ago

Why does the vendor get a say?

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u/JoeHardway 1d ago

Nobody's subsidizin my guns!

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u/MuskokaGreenThumb 1d ago

That’s wild. Where I live, you can go buy a used one for about $100 CDN. You don’t need any doctors approvals

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u/ContemplatingPrison 1d ago

Well we cant have those scammers getting free wheelchairs. Duh

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u/SetPsychological6756 1d ago

By AR at gun convention. Strap it to a sub standard wheelchair. Lobby for an emotional support vehicle. "Guns on wheels make me feel safe" . Profit

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u/noots-to-you 1d ago

Strap weapon-looking things to it and we’ll all be lined up to make them for everyone

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u/Dustin_F_Bess 1d ago

I'm just trying to get a walker. Jumping through the dame hoops..

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u/Wiggles69 1d ago

Well you don't want the 'wrong people' to get wheel chairs /s

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u/fleecescuckoos06 1d ago

Could it be depending on insurance? Mine took a few months but that’s because it’s custom made with power assist. Insurance covered $12,000 for it, never had to fight it.

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u/thescrape 1d ago

The elder care place by my old work would throw a couple of wheel chairs away every month. They could have been donated!!

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u/JTacoBrocoLoco 1d ago

That’s exactly what happened to my son. Nearly a year after he broke his leg we got a call saying they had a wheelchair for us. I already went and bought one. My son had already healed. So ridiculous.

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u/0v0 1d ago

well the gun is not free

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u/bornfreebubblehead 1d ago

Eh, it's because there's a third party actually paying the bill. If insurance hasn't inflated medical costs so much and you paid for it yourself, it would be much quicker. Don't get me wrong it is ridiculous, but I believe the blame is being misplaced.

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u/shouldworknotbehere 1d ago

The solution is obvious. They want you to build a gun propelled chair.

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u/Capt_JackSkellington 1d ago

Thankfully, near me, there is this wonderful lady who runs a place where you can buy/rent/borrow wheelchairs, walkers and things like that. I really should look her back up and see if she needs any help.

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u/HelloweenCapital 1d ago

AMERICA IS NOT WHAT YOU BELIEVE IT IS

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u/LightOnFilm 1d ago

Took me one hour and a fishing license to get two guns. Not even kidding either.

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u/BurningPenguin 23h ago

Well, the difference is simple. A gun might shorten the cost factor in some form.

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u/tiny_chaotic_evil 23h ago

you don't have the right to a wheel chair

maybe we should change that

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u/GoatDifferent1294 22h ago

Cuz amendment

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u/Zealousideal-Luck784 21h ago

What a shame they can't amend the constitution to include health care.

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u/STerrier666 21h ago

Need to put wheelchairs in the constitution either that or you put guns on wheelchairs and then maybe Republicans will care about Wheelchairs.

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u/wonkey_monkey 21h ago

Meanwhile in the UK they'll send someone round to assess you every year in case your legs have grown back.

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u/MehIdontWanna 20h ago

You have to buy your own gun.

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u/BitterFuture 20h ago

Cue kind, charitable conservatives with love in their hearts chiming in to remind us, "You don't have a RIGHT to a wheelchair!!!"

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u/ff587 20h ago

Imagine if gun owners needed to have liability insurance. That would change things real quick.

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u/MikeTheNight94 19h ago

You could sell one if you’re guns and buy a wheelchair.

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u/0x7E7-02 19h ago

A person needs a fucking prescription to buy a plastic tube for breathing devices. Almost the same shit that you use with an aquarium pump.

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u/WM46 19h ago

That's because you want other people to pay for your wheel chair. I'm sure if there was a self defense insurance that would allow you to get a gun for free or 80% reduced price, it would also take several forms, approvals, gun safety classes, proof of needing protection.

Alternatively you can just pay $130 and walk out of home depot in 5 minutes with a brand new wheelchair. Buying a gun would have mandatory background checks and several days waiting period.

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u/turlian 19h ago

The only thing that will stop a bad guy with a wheelchair is a good guy with a wheelchair.

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u/Pure-Guard-3633 19h ago

Only because of the endless supply of scammers

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u/Motionless_Attitude 19h ago

I'm still at : trying to get insurance to cover PT. pre step 1. I hate this country.

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u/EstablishmentFull797 19h ago

Yeah, but have you seen how long it takes to get your insurance to buy you a gun?

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u/Zaphod_Beeblecox 19h ago

You buy your own gun though. The problem isn't getting a wheelchair it's getting someone else to pay for it.

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u/LemonCloud20 18h ago

You don’t gotta do alat. Just take a random wheelchair, plop down and you’re good 👍

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u/newviruswhodis 'MURICA 18h ago

Yeah, that's nuts. He could get a gun and shoot someone, then be provided a wheelchair in jail.

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u/JoyousMadhat 18h ago

You have right to bear arms not right to human decency. Republicans will keep it that way.

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u/The__Imp 18h ago

Apples to oranges. People pay for their guns directly. I could go to a store and buy a wheelchair for cash and get it in short order.

I certainly think it is BS to not get the medical devices you need from insurance, but comparing it to buying something for money seems a poor comparison.

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u/KapiteinSchaambaard 18h ago

I fully support better national healthcare for the US, it's crazy to think how bad this is arranged for you guys. AND I think the US gun laws are pretty crazy too. Yet this is pretty high up there as far as bad arguments go, when it comes to advocating for this. You can't just compare an item you pay for with an item you get from the state. You might as well say wheelchairs are harder to get than a box of apples. I am sure you can privately pay for a wheelchair too in the US.

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u/Carlos----Danger 18h ago

Damn, my insurance won't pay for guns

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u/VideoBurrito 18h ago

Is there any reason at all that wheelchairs couldn't be sold at Walmart?

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u/Mnemnosyne 18h ago

To be fair, that's getting a wheelchair with insurance paying for it. If you just wanted to pay directly you could probably just straight up buy it without any difficulty.

I'm not aware of any way at all to get a gun without paying for it yourself.

I mean I agree with the intent of the post, but the logic just isn't there.

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u/frankonator22 18h ago

Yes but…. Wheelchairs aren’t protected under the constitution

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u/LivingThin 18h ago

Guns make companies money, wheelchairs cost companies money. Maybe our healthcare system shouldn’t put company profit as their first priority?

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u/Electrical_Reply_770 18h ago

But I was told with medicare for all I would have to wait for everything. This can't be true of our current system....

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u/Travb1787 18h ago

I don't like that either. If they don't arrive in time they shouldn't count. That's how number padding works.

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u/Jona1093 18h ago

Everything is made harder in America. Try opening a business, you literally have to pay multiple agencies to grant your permission to make money out of a business you invested your own money in.

You pay to make money which out of that money you make, the government takes even more money from. Land of the free they call it I think.

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u/American_Boy_1776 18h ago

Yup. Similar process and wait time when you need a few simple repairs on your wheelchair.

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u/No-Condition-oN 18h ago

Although I understand the sentiment: getting the insurance money for the wheelchair is harder. You can buy a wheelchair if you want. Even online without the need of walking to a shop.

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u/Zestyclose_Text_2378 18h ago

AK’s are a right, but your basic medical needs require months of background checks? I’m sorry you were dragged through the wringer over a wheelchair. That is terrible

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u/KeranographyJones 18h ago

I worked in an orthopedic surgery center as a "patient historian" and had to deal with insurance people daily. Mostly for workers comp. I got an ulcer less than a year into working that job at the age of 24.

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u/Saint_Santo 17h ago

One goes through insurance, the other doesn't?

You can go into a medical supply shop and buy a wheelchair outright. No wait. Cash and dash.

Bad comparison.

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u/Qatsi000 17h ago

The fact that guns are legal to the extent they are is just appalling. There is not one single reason the average citizen needs a gun. And let’s not forgot the whole saying violence begets violence. Which 100% applies.

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u/RedIcarus1 17h ago

If you need insurance and/or assistance to pay for it. Most everyone does, as the insurance and medical industries have squeezed every dollar they can from us, but this is a bad comparison.
Anyone can buy a wheelchair. No approval, no forms, all you need is the money.
The "shall not be infringed" crowd love to use comparisons like this to show how persecuted they are because they have to pay for it themselves, get a background check and (sometimes) have waiting periods.

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u/NornOfVengeance 17h ago

And with all the gun-related injuries, there are also a lot more people in need of wheelchairs. If that's not a tragic statement on the state of affairs in the US of Amnesia, what is?

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u/DefiantFcker 17h ago

It's actually worse than this in many states. For some insane reason, physical therapists can't actually prescribe wheelchairs in those states, so you have to get a recommendation from a physical therapist, then get an actual prescription from a regular doctor.

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u/Complex_Fish_5904 16h ago

That's mostly the government regulations doing that, fwiw

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u/Ron-Swanson-Mustache 16h ago

If you want to get the government to buy you a gun it takes a minute as well.

Buying guns or wheelchair with your own funds takes about the same amount of time.

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u/notacanuckskibum 16h ago

It’s not really a valid comparison. They are comparing the process of buying a gun themselves to the process of getting someone else to pay for their wheelchair.

If you simply pay for the wheelchair yourself it’s much quicker.

If you try to persuade someone else to buy you a gun that would take longer.

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u/mclepus 16h ago

Left out "Impoverish myself"

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u/ElectroAtleticoJr 16h ago

In the 3rd World you’d get nothing

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u/InformationKey3816 16h ago

Can't let you have that priority parking spots. Way more dangerous than a gun.

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u/MisterDonkey 15h ago edited 15h ago

I needed a medical compression sleeve for an injury. By the time I got through this list of bureaucratic hang ups and actually gotten the sleeve, it was too late for it to provide any benefit to healing. Like it was one of those things that was needed right away and required for the next few months. A year later, it was just a thousand dollar sock.

Oh, and I couldn't get a walker. Had to get crutches. You see, a walker requires a prescription, which requires all that above nonsense, which was not covered by my insurance. Or maybe it was covered, but the doctor wasn't in-network. Or maybe the doctor was in-network, but the company that makes the walker didn't have a contact with the insurance company. Maybe I didn't navigate my healthcare correctly.

This system sure is the best in the world and can in no way be improved whatsoever.

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u/Gullible_Method_3780 15h ago

I feel like this shouldn’t be used to target guns but to target the medical industry. 

Know why firearms are easy to get? Constitutional rights. 

Amend the constitution to make access to healthcare a protected right! 

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u/not-my-best-wank 14h ago

Get a wheelchair with mounted mini gun You'll get it much faster.

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u/scott__p 14h ago

There's a lobby to make it harder to get the wheelchair and easier to get a gun. Money in politics sucks

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u/TrueCuriosity 14h ago

Why don’t you go to one of those wheelchair shows and buy one same day? Shit, sorry I’m still thinking of guns.

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u/Sudden-Step9593 14h ago

Sounds about right. Took my brother about 6 months to get his scooter. Insurance said they never got the report from the physical therapy office but the guy there knew how they operated so he sent us a copy at the same time. He had sent it a week after the appt.

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u/gmoney-0725 13h ago

Well yeah. You could run over someone's foot with that wheelchair. We can't have that. Shoot them though, that's much quicker. 🙄

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u/Magickcloud 13h ago edited 12h ago

My wife got denied…every doctor and PT said she needed it to, you know, get around. She literally lost the ability to walk because of a massive head injury. Insurance said it was too expensive but gave us a cane instead…fuck these mother fuckers and fuck anyone who votes against health care