- Comedian Sandy Honig recorded a movie of herself vomiting close to an Anthem Coverage office park.
- The online video was intended to elevate awareness of the denial and appeals method in the insurance marketplace.
- Honig, who suffers from gastroparesis, was denied coverage for a treatment that could ease her signs or symptoms.
In a now viral movie, comic Sandy Honig recorded herself uncontrollably vomiting around an Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield place of work park after the insurance policies company denied protection for a technique that would assistance ease her abdomen-churning signs or symptoms.
Honig, who suffers from partial paralysis of her abdomen due to a ailment known as gastroparesis, cannot typically digest food stuff and has been in close proximity to-constantly nausated for the earlier a few several years given that the onset of her signs. Pretty much something she eats, she throws up.
“It’s challenging to get up in the morning when the initially detail you have to do is consume a cup of water, and that would make you unwell,” Honig advised Vice Information.
A frequent treatment for the situation are Botox injections, which help clients a lot more conveniently digest food by stress-free the portion of the belly linked to the compact intestine. The $3,000 therapy supplies relief for numerous months at a time.
Right after currently being denied protection for the injections in January — Honig explained to NBC Information Anthem decided they were “medically unwanted” — Honig, who is a writer for Three Active Debras on Grownup Swim and HBO Max, found herself offended plenty of to act from the health insurance big in the just about 3-minute online video.
“I imply, this video clip was just designed from comprehensive rage,” she instructed Teen Vogue.
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The clip shows Honig at an office park the place she regularly vomits when discussing her plight and the coverage appeals course of action with passers-by. She tried to demonstrate up straight to the Anthem workplaces, but was denied entry devoid of an worker badge: “Even if I’m a member of the Anthem family members?” Honig asks an worker in the movie.
On camera in front of the Anthem business, Honig vomits into an envelope she joked contained her appeals letter to the insurance policies enterprise — “appropriate documentation,” she termed it — and seals it up. She explained to Vice News she did not truly send out the envelope and her medical doctor mailed her serious attractiveness letter.
In addition to denying her course of action, the corporation allegedly also referred to as the police on Honig adhering to the stunt.
“It was this sort of a attractive surprise to get a stop by from two gentlemen armed with guns and batons in my individual household,” Honig states in the video clip, demonstrating two Los Angeles Police Division officers who arrived at her dwelling to perform a wellness examine on her.
Honig explained to Teen Vogue she at first assumed the officers were there to ticket her for trespassing, but truly ended up termed to carry out the check to make certain she was not a hazard to herself or others.
“It was pretty fascinating,” Honig instructed Teenager Vogue. “I was playing with placing this in the video clip, but it is really way far too challenging — I will not have a concise way of conveying it, but what the cop was telling me was that if I were being to harm myself, [the insurance company] could be liable since they had evidence that I was, you know, performing erratically. They were being basically masking their possess ass by calling the cops on me. It was just crazy.”
Reps for Anthem did not promptly answer to Insider’s request for comment, but told NBC News the insurance coverage company denied the Botox injections to “make sure Ms. Honig receives the ideal treatment for her specific condition.”
“Our scientific workforce has carefully reviewed her situation and our medical insurance policies, and the present health-related evidence does not assistance the therapy she is requesting for her ailment,” Anthem told NBC News. “Therefore, it is not a covered benefit less than the family’s health program.”
“Wellbeing insurance plan is fucking produced-up,” Honig informed Vice Information.
A representative for Honig did not straight away reply to Insider’s request for comment.