Out of Patients
with Matthew Zachary

Welcome to 2026: The Year of the Patient where the sick shall inherit the ballot.

OPINION Matthew Zachary OPINION Matthew Zachary

You Are NOT Medically Necessary

Health insurers turned “medically necessary” into a denial weapon. This article breaks down how coverage policies, anonymous medical directors, and financial incentives allow insurers to override doctors and block cancer care, then outlines concrete fixes that could shut the system down.

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OPINION Matthew Zachary OPINION Matthew Zachary

Freedom to Go Broke

After surviving brain cancer at 21, Matthew Zachary examines how modern healthcare policy repackages risk as freedom. From cash subsidies to math free promises, this essay exposes why consumer style healthcare fails the moment illness enters the room.

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OPINION Matthew Zachary OPINION Matthew Zachary

Trump's Meeting With Insurers Is Already Over Before It Starts

24 million Americans watched premiums double overnight. Now Trump plans to pressure insurers who banked $543 billion in profits over a decade. The solution? HSAs—which create new revenue streams for the same industry while shifting costs onto patients who already can't afford care. This isn't reform.

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OPINION Matthew Zachary OPINION Matthew Zachary

Can We All Just Admit 2025 Was a Goddam Shitshow?

Congress left while ACA subsidies expired. Premiums spiked 114%. UnitedHealthcare dumped costly seniors. RFK Jr. gutted the CDC. NIH cancer research was slashed. The advocacy community stayed silent. 2025 was a catastrophe for patients. If you can't admit that, you're complicit. Be pissed.

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OPINION Matthew Zachary OPINION Matthew Zachary

2025 Gratitude Reflection: The 30-Year Overnight Success

People call it overnight success. From the inside it looks like decades of repetition endurance and saying uncomfortable truths out loud. This reflection examines advocacy patience family grounding and why progress in healthcare only comes through time memory and staying power.

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