NC Man's Months-Long Mental Health Stay: 'Not Medically Necessary' Says Insurer
In a saga more tangled than a North Carolina house remodel, Lâan anxious software wiz and Dungeons & Dragons enthusiastâfaced not just back-to-back suicide attempts in early 2024, but also insurance denial from Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield claiming his monthlong inpatient psychiatric stay was 'not medically necessary.' His wife, Teressa Sutton-Schulman, a chemist-turned-paralegal turned insurance-warrior, crafted a meticulously detailed 200-page appeal so thorough Dr. Neal Goldenberg, an external psychiatric reviewer drowning in student debt, thought a lawyer penned it. Lâs anxiety peaked amid pandemic-fueled housing market chaos, losing $25,000 earnest money just trying to switch ranches outside Raleigh, all while the five cats sabotaged sleep. Seriously, if insurance had a D&D class, it'd be the 'Dungeon Master of Denials.'
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Highmark says Lâs suicide attempt therapy wasnât âmedically necessaryââbecause apparently, fighting mental health and corporate bureaucracy at the same time wasnât dramatic enough for 2024 North Carolina.
Imagine losing $25K in earnest money, getting denied insurance for suicide attempts, and still having your five cats judge your life choices all at once. North Carolinaâs new sitcom: Chaos, Coverage, and Cats.
When your insurance company invalidates months of mental health care citing 'not medically necessary' faster than Lâs panic attacks can spiralâsomeone get a refund on humanity, please.
Source: Propublica | Published: 9/10/2025 | Author: by Duaa Eldeib, photography by Sarah Blesener for ProPublica
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