The Healthcare System Is Scamming You
Comedian, actress, and host Michelle Buteau boards the subway with a sharp take on America’s healthcare system. From outrageous costs to endless red tape, she breaks down why basic care feels like a luxury. Host: Kareem Rahma Guest: Michelle Buteau Creators: Kareem Rahma & Andrew Kuo Camera: Anthony DiMieri & Tian Sippel Editor: Tyler Christie Associate Producer: Ramy Shafi Artwork: Andrew Lawandus
Summary
Michelle Buteau, comedian and actress, boards the subway with Kareem to talk about America's broken healthcare system. She points out the absurd reality that "it's easier to get insurance for your dog than it is to get insurance for your child." The conversation gets personal fast. Buteau shares how her Dutch husband walks through life with a confidence she never had growing up without coverage, while she recounts taping a popsicle stick to her torn ligament in college because she couldn't afford treatment. They tackle the wild costs of dental work, vision insurance being inexplicably cheap despite eyes being irreplaceable, and why basic care feels like a luxury instead of a right. Buteau wishes she could focus on pettier takes, like celebrities doing standup for money, but this issue hits too close to home.
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Full Transcript
So, what's your take? Um, why does health insurance have to be a luxury in America?
100% agree. It should—it should be the opposite of luxury.
Do you know what I mean? Like, basic human needs. Also, like, we need to care about health insurance. Like, people have insurance for their cars but not their bodies.
It's easier to get insurance for your dog than it is to get insurance for your child.
That is not okay with me.
That's the American way though. We care about the dogs. We care about the dogs more than the humans. Not me personally. I mean, that's a very big standard.
No, but not me personally.
Okay, good.
I know someone that has insurance for their little uh, guinea pig.
No.
And then they don't have health insurance.
No, I don't like that. I don't like that person.
It's not their fault. It's the government.
No, it's—it's everybody's fault. We have to choose better. Like, I am married to a European and you never realize—
You're married to a European.
I'm married to a European guy. He's Dutch and you know what?
What?
What?
What?
What?
What?
What?
I like Dutch people.
Me, too. Obviously, I'm—I just wanted to make a weird face on camera. I mean, I like him. I don't know about the rest of Holland, but like—
You don't ever realize, like, growing up with no health insurance, like, the way we walk down the street is so different. Like, he's out here confident.
Oh, he is.
Skiing on mountains he's never met before.
Because he has—
Because he's had health insurance his whole life.
You want to know something? When I was in college, I didn't have health insurance. And now look at this.
What am I looking at?
Look at my finger.
Why?
I'm a victim of no health insurance. I tore a ligament and then I've taped a popsicle stick to it. Oh my god.
And they were like, "It's not a broken bone, you idiot. It's a ligament. You need surgery."
Even down to the surgeries, it's just like, even down to dental. I'm just like, "Why is everything so expensive? Why is it a luxury?" You know that some dental surgeries are considered cosmetic? Like, I thought my whole life it was just like a family thing to have like missing teeth on the side of your mouth. And I realized no, no one could afford it.
Oh—
Isn't that crazy?
That is crazy.
It's insane. Why is vision insurance that's the cheapest one, but the eyes are so important to the body? You can't get a replacement eye.
You can get a replacement arm. You can get a replacement nose—
If you're lucky.
But you can't get a replacement eye. And for some reason, that's the cheapest insurance.
And I wish I didn't have to talk about this. I wish I had like a petty take like, "Why are famous people doing standup? Like, that's terrible."
That's a good take.
Do you know what I mean?
I know why they're doing it.
Why are they doing it?
The check.
There's no money in standup. Stand up. What are you talking about? First of all, nobody does. What?
How many specials you got?
What, in the 1980s?
How many specials? How many specials you got?
I mean, like, one hour specials, two like fifteen-minute specials. Like a couple. Why?
So that's about—
Don't let this four million you.
For who? For who?
I don't know, man.
Are you talking about like what I'm supposed to make?
No.
Or what Chappelle's paying in taxes?
Cook.