Don’t get me wrong, insurance companies can be dicks about denying optimal treatment, but in this case Walt’s HMO did nothing wrong. If there is no advantage for a patient going out-of-network, then an insurance company has no obligation to pay for it, any more than it is obligated to cover experimental treatment based on visualizing unicorns. So, rather than a grim commentary on the American health-care system, we should see Breaking Bad for what it is: a really good advertisement for term life insurance.
