We’ve heard the same story hundreds of times. You’ve gone from doctor to doctor, only to be dismissed, belittled, or handed a prescription for antidepressants when you know something is wrong. By the time patients find us, they’re often broken from years of medical gaslighting.
It’s natural to feel angry. And honestly? Some of that anger is justified. Too many physicians combine ignorance about complex chronic conditions with poor patient treatment.
But here’s the deeper problem: doctors are trapped inside a system engineered by multi-trillion-dollar insurance and pharmaceutical industries built not on preventing disease, but on milking it for profit.
The Real Culprit: Your Insurance Company
Your insurance company is financially optimized to profit from chronic illness, not to reverse it. They’ll delay or deny expensive (to them) surgeries for as long as possible, while more readily covering the medications you’ll need for life thanks to kickbacks. United Health Group is projected to generate almost half a trillion dollars in 2025.
Doctors who order advanced or preventive labs outside standard insurance protocols often face reimbursement denials or increased scrutiny from insurance companies.
That 15-minute appointment that barely scratches the surface? Insurers pay the same whether you’re seen for 10 minutes or 60. If your doctor spent an hour with you discussing diet, stress, sleep, and root causes, they’d go bankrupt.
Physicians must float unpaid claims for months while insurers delay payments, pay less than the cost, or haggle over treatments.
The Prescription Problem
Ever been handed antidepressants or another medication instead of real answers? This isn’t just because your doctor was taught a pharmaceutical model. It’s also because the entire system is underpinned by Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs).
PBMs make money from manufacturer “rebates,” earning more from expensive brand-name drugs than cheap generics. They control the formularies that determine which drugs your insurance will cover, often excluding affordable, equally effective options. Your doctor may have no choice but to pick from an overpriced list.
Until recently, PBMs even gagged pharmacists from telling you about cheaper alternatives. Federal law now prohibits this, but enforcement is inconsistent. That’s why your copay can still be higher than the drug’s actual cash price.
In 2024, about 60 percent of UnitedHealthcare’s $361 billion in revenue came from prescription drugs, processed through PBMs. That’s how profitable medication management is for insurers, not you.
Regulatory Capture and the Revolving Door
Why do insurance companies get away with denying nearly 1 in 3 claims while building systems that profit from illness?
Because the regulators have been captured by the industries they’re supposed to oversee.
The publicly funded NIH receives substantial support from pharmaceutical companies through research partnerships and trials, allowing profit to drive science and regulation.
Here’s a textbook case of capture: After approving Purdue Pharma’s false claim that OxyContin was “less addictive,” the head of the FDA’s drug approval division left to work for Purdue.
Meanwhile, about 30 percent of revenue tied to opioids—which have destroyed millions of lives through addiction—went to the top five insurance firms.
What This Means for You
The next time you feel frustrated with your doctor, remember they might be as trapped as you are.
Speaking out may come at a cost. Dr. Elisabeth Potter, a plastic surgeon who performs reconstructive surgery for breast cancer patients, went public on social media about the obstacles doctors face. Shortly after, her surgical practice was dropped from her insurer’s network, throwing her into financial crisis. She alleges it was retaliatory.
Other practices have reported that pushing back risks triggering insurance audits, delayed payments, or clawbacks. While there’s no official proof, many providers believe that vocal criticism invites financial consequences.
The result? The supply of doctors is shrinking. Over 30 percent of physicians say they’re considering leaving the profession, citing burnout, bureaucracy, and debt. Fewer medical students are entering primary care, some due to crippling student loans, (which is another rabbit hole of corruption altogether).
In response, some physicians are abandoning insurance entirely and moving to cash-pay models. In some cases, it is cheaper to fly to another state and pay cash for a surgery than to meet an insurance deductible.
When Insurance Isn’t Even an Option
For millions of Americans, the so-called Affordable Care Act is anything but affordable, particularly for self-employed individuals, small business owners, and those in the middle-income bracket who don’t qualify for subsidies.
As a result, increasing numbers of people are turning to health share ministries and cooperative health plans. While not insurance (and while I can’t personally vouch for them), these programs offer a more transparent, community-based approach to covering medical expenses. For some, they’re the only viable option.
What Can You Do? Take Back Your Health
Our anger and frustration are justified. There are no easy answers in a system that traps both doctors and patients. But the most important thing you can do is take ownership of your health.
Learn how to eat, move, sleep, and live in a way that keeps you out of the doctor’s office as much as possible.
If you have a chronic condition that requires medication, become an expert in your own care: learn what to ask, understand your options, and explore ways to access treatment affordably.
We’ve been conditioned to believe the doctor always knows best—but in a profit-driven system, that’s no longer a safe assumption. Ask questions. Get second opinions. Seek out providers who take the time to listen to you.
And most of all, don’t ignore what your body is telling you, even when the system does. Healing begins when you reclaim your role as an active participant in your own health.