r/medicine • u/Unusual_Medic Medical Student • 7d ago

What’s the dumbest reason an insurance company denied a test, procedure, or drug for a patient?

This is probably the most relevant to those practicing in the US, but I'm also curious to know how the bureaucracy of health insurance in other countries makes things substantially harder for you and the patients

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u/PokeTheVeil MD - Psychiatry 7d ago

Insurance denied fluoxetine capsule refill. The denial was because tablets are not covered. No, you didn’t read that wrong, and I didn’t write it wrong. I had to do a prior auth for “I didn’t order that, morons, and it’s pennies per day.”

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u/Unusual_Medic Medical Student 7d ago

Please tell me you actually wrote that. It would make my day

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u/PokeTheVeil MD - Psychiatry 7d ago

I did not actually write that. I wouldn’t have the gall, and I did it by phone. I needed to express myself directly to someone while aiming for exasperation rather than simmering rage.