Do think there will be changes in how health insurers handle claims, after the killing of United Healthcare's CEO?
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jca2 (
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1 month ago
As you have probably heard, United Healthcare’s CEO was shot and killed yesterday morning, in midtown Manhattan, broad daylight. The killer is on the loose but it’s believed to be targeted, because he knew the schedule of the CEO.
Today, the detectives found a message from the killer, etched into the bullet shells. The words include “delay” and “deny.”
I just read that the killing has induced a torrent of hate on social media from people telling their stories about paying tens of thousands per year in premiums and getting denied coverage while needing necessary treatments for terrible diseases.
This as it’s said that this CEO received over 10 million in compensation last year.
Do you think changes will come about as far as approvals and payouts from health insurance companies?
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It’s possible, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. The insurance industry is in bed with Congress. It is Congress that it would take to implement any substantial change. It might change how the insurance execs feel about walking around without security.
Nothing will change. Killing a CEO isn’t going change the accounting systems used by insurance companies, nor is it going to change their profit margins.
The only way that something substantive would happen would be if dozens/hundreds of corporate leaders were all strung up and shot, as part of a citizen rebellion. And we know that won’t ever happen.
I don’t know that that won’t ever happen . . .
I fear that this killing is going to cause an ‘open season’ on corporate heads that are perceived as treating customers unfairly.
If I were a mortgage company CEO, or the head of a big bank, or even an exec at a finance company – I would be worried that about the public taking illegal steps.
It’s sort of like school shootings – once someone did it, the dam was broken, and now it’s commonplace. Remember, people (in general) are stupid.
No changes.
But.
Maybe the Trump administration will think harder, about removing social security and disability.
If they do, well I kind of hope someone kills them too I guess.
The general public, may be forced, to stick up for itself. Perhaps violence towards those who profit from human suffering, should be more common.
The government only enables massive corporations, to screw Americans. So, they’re no help…
Something tells me, blocking a highway in protest, wouldn’t have gotten the same warning across.
I hope they catch the gunman. He may have other targets.
I doubt any changes will happen. Tragic story. I assume the shooter either was driven crazy by the medical “system” or he lost someone to illness that maybe could have been treated. I wonder if there was an attempt to write the CEO before killing him.
The insurance and medical system in the US is horrible. Drives me crazy that Democrats actually talk about ACA like now the system is fixed. There is still so much more to fix. God forbid a Democrat tries to tell Democrats there is still a lot of work to be done. I am not defending Republicans, they want to throw it all out to the free market, and we know that won’t fix it.
It is crazy that this CEO just fell over dead with no discernable cause of death.
What I have discovered in over 20 years of working in corporate America is that they will do anything to show the board a profit, even on terrible years.
Whether its firing staff, managment or not giving raises in a decade, they do what must be done so those numbers look good.
So nithing will change unless we have a Purge.
Not going to lie, I don’t think its right to kill but if youre going to, these kinds of folks (UHC has the highest denial rate in the US) bother me the least.
You reap what you sow.
I don’t think UnitedHealthcare boss Brian Thompson deserved to die but I don’t think he deserved to make millions from other people’s health problems either.
I doubt it but the comments on social media and news sites have been brutal. “Sorry, but your claim for my empathy has been denied.” “Are you sure that gunshot wasn’t a preexisting condition?” “It appears your assassination was out of network.”
He gets paid $10million, because other CEO’s get paid $10 million. It’s not just the health insurance industry, although it’s more disgusting when we know people are being denied healthcare, but the wealthy making extreme amounts of money hurts our health in indirect ways also.
I used to buy Starbuck’s coffee for my husband for our coffee maker, and a month ago my husband told me not to buy it anymore, because the new CEO was hired with a package of over $100million. Here’s an article: https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/starbucks-ceo-not-move-seattle.amp
If you are going to buy mass produced coffee beans, you might as well go for Lavazza.
Starbucks beans are terrible.
@JLeslie I don’t think you’re aiming at the right target. If you’re going to complain, shoot for the corporate Board members. The CEO is just an employee who reports to them. They have to approve the salary.
That said, I don’t buy Starbucks for a totally different reason. It is incredibly overpriced.
@elbanditoroso I only buy it on sale, so it’s been around the same as many other coffees, or only slightly more expensive.
@gondwanalon Thanks for the breakdown. We tried Peet’s a while back, I’ll have to try it for him again.
I will neither confirm nor deny whether his company was the insurer that wanted our surgical practice to cauterize someone’s vein without anesthesia to save a few hundred dollars and required involving the State’s health insurance ombudsman to resolve the issue. I’m surprised more heath insurance CEOs aren’t taken out more often.
@gorillapaws I believe that was Anthem and I was like WTF when the news reported it, then they reported that the company reversed their decision. I think they realized it’s fucking ridiculous and barbaric to even consider it.
@JLeslie the other thing about the new Sbux CEO is that he is going to be taking a plane several days a week because his home is flying distance from the company HQ. That’s ridiculous too.
Someone in my family had said what you said about CEO compensation, @JLeslie. I remember complaining when I heard, about 15 years ago, that the Girl Scouts CEO made 350k or something (which seems like chump change now). I was saying they have these little girls standing out in the cold to sell cookies and the CEO makes x amount of dollars a year, and my family member said if they don’t pay her (the GS CEO) a competitive amount, they won’t keep her, and in order to keep good talent and have them living in the HQ which was NYC at the time, they have to compensate her.
@ragingloli I had Lavazza a few times and it was superb.
@gorillapaws The Anthem thing was within the last two days, and I also think they are realizing that the pushback is going to be severe, now with the online hate about the CEO of United getting killed, and people being pissed about his salary and United denying so many claims. The largest claim denier, which was mentioned by @KNOWITALL.
@jca2 I’m not referring to the Anthem thing that’s been in the news. This was something that may or may not have happened in our office several years ago with an appeal for authorization for a procedure.
It could certainly be the “new” form of American gun violence.
People killing despicable CEO’s…
I suspect another attempt on Trump’s life, at some point.
If they do away with social security, there will be dozens of millions of people with a motive…
@jca2 Girl Scouts is probably nonprofit so the top person likely doesn’t make multi-millions even now.
I don’t know how these $10million plus salaries will change. There either has to be extreme public pressure or government legislation.
The base of the Republican party has been pushing the message that making an obscene amount of money while others barely scrape by is godly and American, but interestingly, at least some Republicans have voted for hikes in minimum wage when on the ballot.
In the 1970’s and 80’s the car manufacturer unions fought for higher wages and great benefits since the people at the top were making so much. What happened? Everyone was paid too much. They didn’t restrict the compensation for C-level. They let the companies go bankrupt, except for Ford showed a little more foresight. The companies also didn’t keep pace with the quality the Japanese auto-makers put out.
It’s not even the salaries that’s offensive, it’s the stock options where the crazy wealth is created.
The wealthy use wealth to control the poor and middle class. If you want to be rich then most people will confirm.
If your are not interested in being rich then it is one less method of control over citizens and non-citizens.
My current working hypothesis is that the killer is either a young Jim Caviezel who managed to invent a time machine, go into the future to assassinate this guy or possibly even a young Tyler Hoechlin who managed to invent a time machine to go into the future to assassinate this guy.
@gorillapaws The salary does matter. It all matters. The stock offering is a gamble for the employee, it could go up or down. The CEO probably also gets a bonus based on salary with a target between 20–40% most likely. The numbers are enormous.
@gondwanalon
The sick joke is all those people with denied claims, which unequivocally changed (and ended) their lives for the worse.
If those couple jokes are “sick” to you…..you have no idea what sick is.
They never have a problem with murder by pen…..
Hmmm… They are now looking at the idea that he himself hired a killer to take him out. Stay tuned…
Thompson was apparently under investigation, by the DOJ for insider trading…
I have a theory. The killer etched the words delay and deny on the bullets, which gives the impression that it was someone who maybe had a loved one whose healthcare was jeopardized by United’s denials, or something like that.
However, the killer knew where the CEO would be and what time he would be arriving at the HIlton. The average person isn’t going to know that info.
The CEO was separated from his wife and living in separate houses. The wife might be someone who would know the CEO’s schedule and she is someone who could possibly gain from his death (life insurance policy, etc.).
Just a theory that the etchings in the bullet were to throw off the investigators, and it had something to do with the wife.
I hope so.
I despise our health system more than anything, and I have a deep resentment for insurance. I feel bad for the guys family, but he can go fuck himself. Even if he could not be made aware of every policy in every state, I doubt he was in the dark. That asshole knew the immoral things his company does and did nothing.
Maybe this needs to happen more for change. What do you expect when you run a company that I believe is fully responsible for any deaths that were caused because people stopped being able to afford treatment, even with insurance?
I was so scared to call an ambulance because I could not afford one. Then I had a seizure and almost died. So. Fuck them all.
I will say, insurance helped me from having to pay $30,000 in bills, but the hospital made it damn near impossible to even get stuff covered because they would not accept my insurance (they for sure do, and eventually did, 11 months later and a month before we change insurance) so I spent over a thousand out of pocket (and then more for what they would not cover)
Yeah I am ranting about more than just insurance. But I hope that this wakes the other CEOs up and if it doesn’t well, see above. Immoral assholes get no sympathy from me.
And it is so funny to me that he was taken to a hospital that United stopped covering lol.
Anyways, one can hope things will change.
I’ve been fortunate that with my health insurance, I haven’t experienced too many denials of coverage and I don’t go to the doctor very often, but the few insurance problems I did have were very frustrating and between the insurance company and the doctors’ offices where the staff can be stubborn and not want to hear it, it was very annoying. Luckily I have someone at the insurer who works with us if there’s a problem, and I would call her and she’d iron things out. I also have a friend who’s a nurse, who happens to have the same insurance I do and the one time I had a problem, she called the doctor’s office for me and got them to see the light.
I can imagine if someone has a loved one with a chronic illness like cancer, and the insurance company doesn’t approve things, or denies medications like pain killers, it probably would make someone who’s dealing with it want to kill someone.
I saw a report about how some CEO’s have professional body guards and security like celebrities and politicians.
Ooohhhh then I misunderstood what I read then, I thought UHC stopped coverage.
Yes. Premiums will go up to cover the added security.
@jca2
“I was fortunate due to literally only knowing two people personally.”
If every person has to have some insider friend to help them….there’s a massive problem.
Update on the case: NYPD detectives are en route to Altoona PA, where a man was found with a similar gun to the one used in the shooting. They are going to question him. It’s a little more than 5 hours to get from NYC to Altoona so I suspect it will be that long, at minimum until we have an update.
Update from the Update Lady lol.
That sucks. Should have hid better.
Should have grown a beard for the hit, then shaved after.
He was carrying the murder weapon, a manifesto, and a bunch of fake IDs. The fuck was he doing for the past several days? Clearly not trying to get away.
It’s almost too perfect from the police’s perspective…
@ragingloli I was thinking if I were him, I would have shaved those big eyebrows off. The eyebrows were very distinctive.
Not sure if he was walking around or driving, but not too smart of him to go into McD’s. If he was driving, he should have gone to the drive thru. He would have had a better chance of hiding if he were in his car rather than right out in the open inside.
^I think he was on a bus.
Luigi Mangione charged with murder.
funny how they move heaven and hell to find a killer when it’s a rich asshole who gets whacked.
Shortly after his arrest, a video was released on his YouTube channel stating that, “if you’re seeing this, I’ve probably been arrested…” and a manifesto was released on SubStack. There is a promise of another video tomorrow.
Here’s a good story that is slightly off-topic but worth relating. The dermatologist suggested I try a cream for my rosaecea. He said it was expensive so they work with a dispensing pharmacy that will deliver it. That company called me up, said that my insurance wouldn’t cover it so it would be $600. Since I doubt it will work and it is not a physiological problem, I said no thanks. They said they would submit it again and it came back that my co-pay would now be $430. I said no thanks again and then they suggested a compounding company that would make it for $45. I said ok.
Then the doc’s office called and said he really wanted me to use the original cream so they would forward the prescription to my regular independent pharmacy. The pharmacy called me yesterday that the medication was in. When I asked how much it would cost, they said $16.50!
WTF is going on?
Another innocent white victim, of immigrant crime…...
I had a problem with a local medical group that my daughter’s pediatrician works for. He didn’t work for them when I started taking her to him, when she was a baby, but then they took him (the pediatrician) under their wing and so it is what it is. It’s called Optum. used to be Caremount. Anyway, so she and I both get one “well” visit/exam per year on my health insurance, where there is no copay for me to pay because it’s a “free” visit. With Caremount, when she would go to the pediatrician for the annual exam, if he gave a diagnosis, let’s say “asthma,” Caremount would say it wasn’t a well visit because she has a diagnosis. I can tell you that almost every adult is going to have a diagnosis of some kind, like high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, asthma, etc., so what kind of bullshit is that? With Caremount/Optum, if you get billed like that, as they would bill me for the copay because it’s not a well visit, if you get a bill but you don’t dispute it within a certain time frame, the bill stands even though it wasn’t legit in the first place. What kind of total shit is that?
Since the pediatrician is Optum and she is only going to have a few more years with him, we still go to him but I refuse to go to any other doctors in the Optum group because this, to me is some sneaky bullshit and I don’t have time for it.
@janbb It’s a racket and prices are totally fake most of the time. Fake amount quoted to your insurance company and then they say how much your policy will pay for it and then you get to be so happy that your insurance saved you money. Same with doctor visits and hospital stays.
I have told similar stories on fluther like your medication story.
Is it metronidazole cream? That’s an old drug, generic, and should be cheap.
@JLeslie Don’t know. i haven’t picked up the prescription yet.
@jca2 My internist’s practice was taken over by Optum and I hate it. I am planning to leave soon. You have to go through a call center to reach the front desk.
@janbb This past summer, there was a lot of talk on social media about Optum not answering their phones, too. People talked about being on hold for three hours and things like that. They’re better now, but you’re right, I used to be able to call the pediatrician’s office and the ladies would just answer the phone, and now it’s pressing 1 for this, 2 for that, 3 to hear hours and locations, 4 if you’re a doctor or hospital, 5 for this, etc. Very time consuming and annoying.
I just went through a week and a half of hell trying to get my daughter’s last well visit exam printed out for her to get working papers from school. They can’t just print it and you go there and pick it up. You have to go through a center where they request it to be printed and it takes over a day. The lady I spoke to the first time put in an order to print the exam from 2023. My daughter picked it up and took it to school, where they told me it’s from 2023. I then had to call Optum back and say why did you print 2023 when she was just there for a visit a few months ago, in 2024. “Oh. Ok, we’ll put in the request to print the new one” and that took about four days because they never called me to tell me it was actually printed, the way they did the first time they printed it. This shit never happened when it was just the pediatrician working on his own. It’s like they added three layers of bureaucracy to something simple.
NYT article, says Luigi’s pistol was almost entirely 3D printed…
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