2 years ago, I had a tumor on the right side of my thyroid. After 2 ultrasounds and a biopsy, it was decided by my doctors that the right side of my thyroid needed to be removed. The left side was healthy, and the tumor turned out to be benign, so only the right side was removed. After the surgery, I still had abnormal thyroid labs so I went to an endocrinologist. She wanted to do some further testing to figure out why my thyroid still wasn’t functioning properly. (It was strange because my thyroid was overactive and yet I only had half.) The tests were quite expensive so she checked with my insurance before scheduling anything, and the tests were denied. I still have the denial letter. It says that they have already paid for several tests and surgery and if those procedures didn’t solve the problem, I should have had my entire thyroid removed instead of just half. My surgeon wrote the insurance company a letter explaining that the tumor only affected the right side and he does not remove healthy tissue for no reason, and also that the overactive thyroid problems were most likely not even related to the tumor. Still denied. 2 years later, I have a different insurance company and still can’t get the testing paid for because it’s a pre-existing condition. I got lucky, and my thyroid seems to have settled down and I’m fine. But anyone who tells me that government run healthcare puts a beurocrat between me and my doctor needs to think again. The insurance company is who got between me and my doctor! I couldn’t afford thousands of dollars on testing. I thought that’s what I had insurance for. Guess I was wrong, huh?