Out of Patients
with Matthew Zachary
Welcome to 2026: The Year of the Patient where the sick shall inherit the ballot.
When an Insurer Calls Your Treatment Investigational and the Alternative Is Brain Surgery
When an insurer labels trigeminal nerve blocks investigational, patients may face brain surgery instead. This essay examines how coverage policy, coding decisions, and actuarial incentives shape care for trigeminal neuralgia and what must change to align patient protection with economic logic.
Out of Patients?
Join the recurring Out of Patients dispatch from Matthew Zachary covering the latest American healthcare shenanigans. Essays, podcast episodes, media appearances, book updates, and live events delivered with a sardonic Gen X perspective from a patient who simply refuses to shut up.
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