2 ms·

> I wonder if there's a topology of illnesses where a financially optimal course of action to acquire treatment is to commit some petty crime and receiving trea

by bb88 7y ago

> I wonder if there's a topology of illnesses where a financially optimal course of action to acquire treatment is to commit some petty crime and receiving treatment in prison? YES! https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/02/on-purposely-getting-arrested-to-get-life-saving-surgery/273282/ https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/02/on-purpos... "The next week, he went to a department store and, making sure a security guard saw him, pocketed some moisturizing cream. He looked up at the guard, smiled, and walked out. "After he was arrested, he wrote a note to the judge saying that he needed to get back into prison for a year, to get an operation. He told me the judge said "I'll give you 14 months, go get your surgery."

romwell 7y ago
This was a great read. >Any patient with end stage liver disease who does not have insurance (and is not eligible for Medicare) has the option of trying to qualify for state-funded Medicaid (which includes demonstrating both poverty and disability), stealing moisturizing cream from a department store, or dying. >I have personally taken care of a number of patients who did not want to put their family through the formidable weight of bankruptcy and opted for number three.