A disabled woman is calling out Blue Cross Blue Shield for refusing to cover prescription tube feeding formula in daily TikTok videos. According to Gigi, who is tube fed herself, the health insurance company began denying this coverage over the past several months after paying for what it considered a necessity for years.
She says they claimed the formula is “just food,” but it’s an essential formula that keeps people like her who can’t digest normally from starving to death.
TikToker calls out Blue Cross Blue Shield for dropping medical nutrition coverage
On May 26, 2025, TikTok user @freckles_g, who goes by “Gigi,” launched a daily video series to pressure health insurance company Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) into reinstating coverage of medical formula for tube feeding patients.
Gigi has gastroparesis, a condition that impacts the nerves and muscles of the stomach, causing it to delay emptying and producing symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and dangerous weight loss. Severe cases often require tube feeding to prevent malnutrition and death, and the formula is expensive.
“How much does this formula cost?” Gigi asked in her first video. “Anywhere from $600 to $1,500 a month.”
@freckles_g Bcbs you know what you’re doing #insurance #tattoos #piercings #alt #alternative #goth ♬ original sound – Gigi
The TikToker says that the reason stated by BCBS for denying coverage is that the formula is “just food.” Then she shows her container of formula, where it reads, “use under medical supervision.”
She further reports that over the past few weeks, she’s seen 10 to 15 videos from tube-fed folks like herself saying that BCBS cut off coverage of this formula after years of paying for it. Now they have to scramble to figure out how they’re going to afford the food that keeps them alive.
“So my question is: Do you want to see disabled people suffer?” she asked the insurance company. “Do you want to see the people who are the most marginalized having issues feeding themselves right now? Because, I don’t know about you, but I don’t spend $1,200 a month on food.”
Gigi already pays $300 per month for her coverage plan, which covers the equipment necessary for tube feeding. Of course, all of that is useless if she can’t afford the formula.
Disabled TikTokers fight for their lives
Gigi has so far published two additional videos on this issue, living up to her daily posting promise. In her second video, she revealed that she has never been able to get BCBS to cover her formula, so she pays $1,200 per month out of pocket for that on top of her $300 premium.
@freckles_g Day 2 of this bs #insurance #tattoos #piercings #bcbs #alt #goth ♬ original sound – Gigi
She reiterated her vow to make daily videos until someone from BCBS contacts her.
“Because you’re trying to kill us,” she said.
Commenters on all three videos evoked Luigi Mangione—the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last December. As often happens when the topic of health insurance comes up, commenters shared personal stories of coverage denials.
“Blue cross blue shield called the removal of my ovary that had a 22lb cyst ‘voluntary’ and tried to not cover it!” wrote @angpdx.
“My grandma was tube fed after her insurance company prevented her from accessing a cancer treatment that wouldn’t destroy the muscles in her throat, forcing her to choose radiation treatment” said @questionablejess. “This is heinous.”
2024 Blue Cross Blue Shield finds tube feeding ‘essential’
BCBS’s medical policy on tube feeding, effective July 1, 2024, doesn’t paint a picture of a company that considers this treatment optional. While the policy has some exclusions, it speaks of enteral nutrition as necessary and life-saving.
“Nutritional support is essential for Individuals who are unable to meet their daily caloric or fluid requirements orally,” the policy document reads. “Enteral delivery (into the stomach or intestine) is the preferred delivery method as it is most similar to the normal physiologic method of nutrient delivery.”
Under its “rationale” section, the policy states that methods like tube feeding have “increased the survival of severely ill Individuals.”
On Dec. 5, 2024, one day after the UnitedHealthcare shooting, BCBS announced that it had reversed its decision to stop covering anesthesia if a surgery runs too long.
“This is just the latest in a long line of appalling behavior by commercial health insurers looking to drive their profits up at the expense of patients and physicians providing essential care,” said American Society of Anesthesiologists president Dr. Donald Arnold.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Blue Cross Blue Shield via email and @freckles_g via TikTok.
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