THIS TIME ON CODE WACK!
What would you do if your health insurer suddenly dropped you—and the care you needed cost thousands out of pocket? That’s what happened to Lani Gonzales, a former attorney from Florida who thought she understood contracts—until she came face-to-face with America’s broken healthcare system.
After experiencing medical debt and being denied coverage for vital health treatments, Lani asked herself: Why keep playing a game that’s rigged against me? Her search for affordable, compassionate care led her across the border to Mexico – and to some surprising lessons about what health care in America could look like. This is the first episode in a two-part series with Lani..
Check out the Transcript and Show Notes for more!
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SHOW NOTES
WE DISCUSS
Thanks for sharing your healthcare story with us. Tell us a little about yourself.
“… My name is Lani Gonzales. I was originally born in the Philippines and my family immigrated to the United States when I was two years old.
“So I have been blessed with the ability to see the American dream come into fruition. I became a lawyer at 23, but retired relatively recently. I am now a clinical hypnotherapist. I also do psychedelic work. I’m an author and I’m also a professional public speaker. – Lani Gonzales
Like so many other Americans, you’ve had trouble getting your health insurance to cover the treatments and procedures you needed, is that right?
“I consider myself [to have] above average intelligence and I am educated, right? So I’m an attorney. I’ve had tons of schooling. I love to read. As a child, I read encyclopedias for fun. And that being said, as someone who considers themselves educated and well-informed, I was still duped by the American healthcare system. So we’re all taught to believe that that is our only alternative to health care and affordability of quality care. And from my experience, that wasn’t quite accurate.
“In fact, when I was younger, I was in the hospital. I had meningitis three times, sepsis twice, and they gave me the runaround. And what happened is the way they always treat it, especially when they don’t know what’s going on, they give you these tests, they give you these medications, and that piles up. And even after you are well, you’re probably still paying your medical bills years after.
“And that is what happened to me eventually, you know, I had good healthcare insurance as a lawyer, but transitioning out of that, being an entrepreneur, it led to me having to find my own health care.
“And I was incredibly surprised at how poorly I was treated. The limited options and all the many loopholes. Health insurance is one of the few contracts that you will enter into where you don’t fully understand all of the terms and conditions. And that is terrifying and odd and we don’t find out what happens until our claim is denied, until there’s all these technicalities.
“So that has been my experience with the healthcare system and that is also what prompted me to go into medical tourism and ultimately claiming my second citizenship and heritage.” – Lani Gonzales
After many negative experiences with health insurance, you decided not to buy it anymore. What was the main reason for your decision?
“The main reason was I realized that I was feeding into a system that would never feed into me. And I thought of it as a casino where if you go to the casino and you gamble, you understand that it is skewed and towards the favor of the house, right? You know that there is a higher chance that the house is gonna win and you’re probably gonna lose some money. But people go anyway.
“And I realized that the healthcare system was very similar. It’s like you know it is skewed in their favor. It is not there to take care of me and I don’t wanna keep going to this casino. I don’t wanna put my money and all of the money that I earn as an entrepreneur working hard, putting it into a system and it’s like rolling the dice. Will it cover me? Will it not? There has to be a better way.
So what really prompted me is my mom, me lamenting to her about the situation and she goes, ‘that’s just the rules of the game. This is where we are, play the game.’
“And I asked myself the question, ‘what if I don’t wanna play? What if there is a different game with different rules?’ Which is what led me to the decision to seek alternative ways of getting care, medical care through medical tourism, and ultimately claiming my second citizenship. – Lani Gonzales
Helpful Links
5 of the most frustrating health insurer tactics and why they exist, The Conversation
5 Ways Insurance Companies Meddle in Your Health Care, U.S. World & News Report
Mexico vs. the U.S.: A Side-by-Side Comparison of Healthcare for Medical Travelers, My Medical Vacations
Why the U.S. Healthcare System Is So Much Worse Than Its Peers, Harvard Business Review
Episode Transcript
Read the full episode transcript.
Biography: Lani Gonzales, Esq.
Lani Gonzales is an attorney turned clinical hypnotherapist, author, and public speaker.
After years of practicing law, Lani traded in the courtroom for a passport and a purpose-driven life, traveling the world solo.
Through hypnotherapy and psychedelics, Lani now helps women unlearn the subconscious conditioning that taught them to stay small, feel shame, and disconnect from their power.
With firsthand experience accessing affordable, high-quality care abroad, Lani offers a unique perspective at the intersection of wellness, empowerment, and global mobility.
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