Posted on 12/08/2024 10:03:40 PM PST by Morgana
The CEO of the parent company that oversees UnitedHealthcare brazenly defended the insurer as a 'critical' part of the healthcare industry amid online support for the gunman who opened fire on the insurance company's CEO.
UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty addressed staff members in a two-minute forty six-second long video three days after the unidentified killer fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, outside of a Manhattan hotel.
In the aftermath of the shooting, many expressed online outrage over the company's history of rejecting necessary treatment - especially under Thompson - as they praised the gunman for his actions.
But Witty touted Thompson as dedicated to the role of the company and shared how proud he was of 'what this company does on behalf of people in need across the country.'
He even claimed few people 'in the history of the US healthcare industry [have] had a biggest effect on American healthcare than Brian.'
Witty reassured staff members in his video, which was leaked to independent journalist Ken Klippenstein, that the insurer would continue to do as it has always done.
He said UnitedHealthcare - the largest health insurance company in the US - would keep putting 'patients, consumers and members' first in the company's 'journey to help everyone who needs it within the health environment.'
Witty argued that the insurance company's 'mission... is truly to make sure that we help the system improve by helping the experiences of individuals get better and better.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
You called the murdered CEO an “evil doer.” How do you know he is an evil doer? What’s your evidence of that? You state that by virtue of him being killed he must be evil and God allowed him to be taken out. You can say whatever you want to but you are making a huge assumption.
Admit it. You just want the leader of a huge company to be taken out. Must be nice to feel so superior and enlightened. And I’ll go so far as to say you are making Christians look petty and cruel. Take it up with the Lord, not me.
I do believe the system needs an overhaul. When both the doctor and the patient are spending a 3rd parties money (e.g. insurance company) it’s going to be in conflict with itself. The patient has been paying an and now expects first-class care. The doctor shouldn’t be influenced by the cost of a procedure. So the insurance company is left with trying to fight cost aspects, anything it doesn’t pay out can be considered ‘greed’.
I don’t have the answer. The British NHS system is not the answer either.
When I receive health care, my deductible is high, I’m paying out of pocket, and I have NO IDEA how many bills will keep coming afterwards and I can’t get a competitive quote on the overall cost of what I need ahead of time. This is by design as it hinders people from shopping around and using competition to drive down prices.
There’s also the aspect of profit - this is where things really get emotional. On the one hand, a drug/equipment, should not cost an astronomical figure just because it relates to health. On the other hand, the motivation of profit drives the innovation of the drug/equipment to begin with.
Lasik is a great example - the cost of Lasik was driven down in the USA by competition due to it being an elective procedure. Now other countries enjoy the lower cost and think their system is better (e.g. British NHS) - there’s no recognition that we, effectively, subsidize the development costs of a lot of medical drugs/equipment. That’s not to say other countries don’t do R&D, but there’s many instances of the Lasik story by USA companies.
That all said, it is my understanding that this CEO was responsible for using AI to approve or deny care, of which was way out of line, denying at very high rates. If true, this is fraud - at best. At worst...?
At the very least, once a patient has a diagnosis, there should be a transparent system for discovering a ‘reasonable rate’ for the final bill amount - with basis quotes across different providers.
At the end of the day, health care will always be imperfect...we all have ailments and we all die at different ages. As we learn more about the human body the more we can do, which means costs, via insurance, will also have to only increase. There seems to be, outside of elective procedures, no competitive framework to drive down costs.
These guys sound like a “Psych” series episode of gus’ work colleagues.
Freaks.
It is very obvious that UnitedHealthcare Group and I know people who are saddled with that insurance is the Earl Scheib’s of Healthcare in other words it is the cheapest, most ineffective out on the market as companies who are forced to provide insurance and can’t afford anything else or really do not care about their employees take out these plans...And I will go a step further and make a bold prediction that more wealthy people do not have UnitedHealthcare. You stated “You just want the leader of a huge company to be taken out” I never said anything of the such but God does work in mysterious ways and if you noticed Anthem Blue Cross insurance announced just before this shooting limiting Anesthesia Time and all of a sudden had a change of heart due to blowback...
“These huge private health insurance companies are the product of government regulation, collusion and kickbacks to politians. Worst form of crony capitalism that impoverishes and hurts working people. Its the sort of rot that disheartens people and worsens their lot by leading them to socialism in frustration. Its how Democrats get elected.”
$22,877,120 total from Insurance PACs to candidates, 2023-2024
$9,892,028 to Democrats
$12,895,292 to Republicans
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