Historic.ly
historicly
Death Panels and #DannyStrong with Scott DesNoyers
0:00
-1:03:37

Death Panels and #DannyStrong with Scott DesNoyers

#DANNYSTRONG: OUR GOVERNMENT AND FOR-PROFIT HEALTHCARE LET PEOPLE DIE.

Scott Desnoyers, interviewed by (the non-pedophile, non-billionaire, non-dead) Jeff Epstein for Historic.ly. Recorded August 7, 2019. You can find Historic.ly on the web, Twitter, and Facebook. You can find Jeff at Citizens’ Media TV on Twitter, Facebook, and on the web. Music by Wreck Tech, who can be found on SoundCloud and Spotify.

Copy edited by Ben Szioli

On May 9, 2019, Scott Desnoyers saw a Facebook post from his son. It had a picture of a body of water from the inside of a truck, accompanied by the message (paraphrasing) “I’m done with this world.” Scott noticed the timestamp on the post, which read “27 seconds ago.” Scott raced to his car and tried to save his son. Unfortunately, Scott drove to the wrong spot, but it didn’t matter; the correct spot was too far away anyway. His 29-year-old son, Danny, died.

Two weeks prior, Danny missed a twenty dollar payment for his depression medication. This happened partially because the notice was sent to his ex’s house, where he no longer lived and, due to a restraining order, was not allowed to go. He paid the bill but was told by his insurance company, Fidelis, that he would have to wait a month before he could restart his prescription. (Until then, he could pay the full price of $250, but he was unable to afford it.)

As discussed in our interview, the above tweet was deleted by Twitter (unfortunately orphaning the thousands of stories in response to it), but here is a link to Scott’s tweet that responds to it.

What kind of society puts its citizens in a position where failing to pay a twenty dollar bill – whether intentional or not – can cost them their lives; where multi-billion dollar companies are allowed to endanger a life over twenty dollars?

The for-profit health insurance industry and the price-gouging pharmaceutical industry are, plain and simple, monsters. They allow people to die simply because doing so increases their profit. But maximizing profit is in their nature – it’s their fiduciary duty. The bigger problem is the system that allows it to happen. Our government could protect us and provide us with life-saving saving medication for free, but instead they allow these monsters to prey upon us. Our federal representatives withhold from their people what they so desperately need (and which is available in abundance!), while quietly taking cash from the monsters themselves. Our so-called representatives step aside and look the other way – because they would rather get a piece of the action.

Scott shares his own story and the stories of other parents who have also been devastated by the American for-profit healthcare system. He also describes how 2020 presidential candidate Kamala Harris pulled a bait and switch at Scott’s expense, using Danny’s story to prop up the for-profit insurance industry, despite giving the strong appearance that she would do the very opposite. Finally, Scott talks about his upcoming rally in Washington DC, organized with the assistance of former congressional candidate Amy Vilela, whose own daughter was also left to die by the for-profit insurance industry. The rally is still being planned, but confirmed guests include Vilela and Our Revolution President Nina Turner, and tentative guests include Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Senator and 2020 presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders.

You can find Scott on Twitter at @scottdesno. For more on Scott’s story, here is an in-depth interview with Jordan Chariton on Status Coup.

Yet another horror story. Link to tweet

Discussion about this podcast

Historic.ly
historicly
You are listening to Historic.ly: a show where we decolonize history and debunk myths taught in school and on corporate media.