1w ago

UnitedHealth Group leader breaks silence on CEO murder, says health care system is flawed

www.cbsnews.com UnitedHealth Group leader breaks silence on CEO murder, says health care system is flawed

Andrew Witty, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group, memorialized slain executive Brian Thompson in an op-ed and acknowledged industry flaws.

United States | News & Politics @midwest.social

www.cbsnews.com /news/unitedhealth-group-leader-ceo-murder-op-ed-health-care-flawed/

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Health - Resources and discussion for everything health-related @lemmy.world

UnitedHealth Group leader breaks silence on CEO murder, says health care system is flawed

www.cbsnews.com /news/unitedhealth-group-leader-ceo-murder-op-ed-health-care-flawed/

22 6

United States | News & Politics @lemmy.ml

UnitedHealth Group leader breaks silence on CEO murder, says health care system is flawed

www.cbsnews.com /news/unitedhealth-group-leader-ceo-murder-op-ed-health-care-flawed/

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75 comments

The NYT op-ed is a fascinating read. Very much in the style US oligarchs. Pompous, but still trying to be folksy. Dishonest, but with an attempt to enable plausible deniability.
a brilliant, kind man who was working to make health care better for everyone.
If that was Thompson's goal, he wouldn't be working for a US health insurance company.
We understand and share the desire to build a health care system that works better for everyone. That is the purpose of our organization.
This is clearly false. This a for profit corporation.
I wonder what the goal of this piece is?
- The goal is to try to present themselves as reasonable people, because nothing about what they do is reasonable and that's why public opinion is so firmly against them.
  
  The goal of this is to try and persuade the majority of people that he was reasonable. Right now, they’re scared as there are a lot of people talking about serious change. Social change.
  Little, however, will come of it unless it coalesces and drags along the majority into opting out of the system.
  Until he was arrested, Mangione was Neo in the Matrix. Now he’s be captured, the Agent Smiths of this world are cleaning up
  
  And to shift blame
  
  Pretend the system works fine and it's just a "few bad apples", that conveniently don't include anyone visibly rotten
- They have to make a statement, they're attempting to not hide but also not enrage further. They, of course, because they can't be honest nor fix the structural issue that is the cause of the problem in the first place, failed.
  
  "It's the system we have to work in, not us."
- Their goal is to delay judgement on claims until people die, deny as many claims as legally possible so they can keep as much middleman money they didn't earn as possible. That's it.
- He was under investigation for fraud and insider trading.

they will never admit the truth; for-profit health insurance should not exist.
- Are non-profit insurers really any better? Many of the blues are non-profits
  
  Of course they're better. There are no shareholders to pay off, so the system itself is more efficient. But that alone doesn't solve the problem. Only national healthcare will provide a comprehensive fix.
  
  not really. theyve started a race condition with providers causing prices to skyrocket.
  but ya gotta start somewhere

From the article:
Witty added that Thompson was "never content with the status quo" and praised the CEO for advocating for ideas that "were aimed at making health care more affordable, more transparent, more intuitive, more compassionate — and more human."
This is a complete lie
UHC. Leader in denials under Thompson
https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyfeldman/2024/12/05/unitedhealthcare-denies-more-claims-than-other-insurers---angering-patients-and-health-systems/
Thompson accused of insider trading
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/unitedhealthcare-brian-thompson-insider-trading-lawsuit_n_6751a2abe4b01129dffa8789
Record profits for UHC under Thompson. 20-25% of claims denied
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2024/01/12/unitedhealth-group-profits-hit-23-billion-in-2023/

"We understand and share the desire to build a health care system that works better for everyone. That is the purpose of our organization," he wrote.
Liar, liar, pants on fire.
- "Once we've finished draining the blood from the neck of the people we ensure their remaining time is as comfortable and wonderful as is possible. That is the purpose of our organization."
  
  “Once we’ve finished draining the blood from the neck of the people we ensure their remaining time is as comfortable and wonderful as is possible**. That is the purpose of our organization.”
   
  **Without violating any end of life profitability constraints, of course.

PR working overtime here. You can't serve shit soup and tell us you understand it's flawed and it has potato in it. We're not going to eat it. Universal healthcare for all please.
- Universal healthcare for all ~~please~~.
  Or else

This is so much bullshit:
Witty added that Thompson was "never content with the status quo" and praised the CEO for advocating for ideas that "were aimed at making health care more affordable, more transparent, more intuitive, more compassionate — and more human."
Yeah, fucking sure. Here's what happened under his watch:
Emergency Room Visit Denials: In 2021, the company planned to deny insurance payments for non-critical visits to hospital emergency rooms, a move criticized by the American Hospital Association for potentially deterring patients from seeking necessary emergency care.
Automated Claim Denials: The company began utilizing artificial intelligence to automate claim denials, raising concerns about the fairness and accuracy of such automated processes in evaluating individual patient claims.
Insider Trading Allegations: Thompson faced allegations of insider trading, with reports indicating he sold a significant portion of his shares shortly before a Department of Justice antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth Group became public, leading to a drop in the company's stock price.
This is just lip service by the new boss. They could drop their rates, have more transparent claims process or any one of a hundred moves that THEY could initiate and would not require new legislation. Guess what, since that gets in the way of profit, they won't bother. People are already getting bored of this news cycle. In another week everyone will be talking about something else and UHC will still be raking in profits taken from the wallets of cancer patients.
Actions speak louder than words and I don't see any actions here!
- Yeah, the profit motive makes it literally impossible to improve. Human nature is trash. The only hope we have is to form institutions. But in the United States anyhow, that's not in style. What is in style? "Fuck you, I got mine"
  
  How is it human nature when it's literally the system that is the problem? This is not about individuals, but about systems, specifically the profit motive
  Competition for the most profit under capitalism is literally the driving factor for all of this. If you don't do it, someone else will take your place and do it instead
- Emergency Room Visit Denials
  Wait, do American hospitals charge people for visiting patients in the ER? Or is this about reimbursements for transport and parking?
  
  They do, often at elevated rates. A simple visit and x-ray, perhaps to check on an ankle after a serious mis-step, can easily hit several thousand dollars in charges beyond any transport costs.
  
  Assuming you're not being sarcastic, "visit" in this context is talking about the patient themselves going to and using the ER, not a bystander visiting a patient who is already there.
- So according to their plan, patients are expected to know whether their chest pain is actually a heart attack before they go to the ER, and if they guess wrong, they're bankrupt?

- The healthcare system IS flawed.
  They are the flaw.
- Isn't the second part of this meme supposed to be something that is not true?
  
  Sort of. It's mostly about shifting the blame.
- It's both.

Oh ok, does that mean you're going to take that $22,000,000,000 you stole from your customers by denying their claims and actually take care of them like you were supposed to in the first fucking place then?
No?
Hmm...

Lots of lies in here, but some truth:
Witty said that Thompson was among the people working in the health care industry who "try to do their best for those they serve."
We believe that. The problem is who he served. It wasn't his policy holders, that's for sure.
- It wasn't corporate shareholders either, not with all that insider trading he was doing. He was serving the hell out of his own ass.

Witty said that while UHC is willing to "partner with anyone" who could help the system work better, "clearly, we are not there yet."
"We understand and share the desire to build a health care system that works better for everyone. That is the purpose of our organization," he wrote.
I would love for him to explain to me why they NEED to deny 1/3 of their claims to keep their business afloat and how they are using their $23.1 billion profit to benefit the policy holders rather than the share holders. That would be a real article, a real plea to the populace. This is just an article full of empty words that mean nothing, but it does show us how scared you execs are, which is nice.
Oh, and I liked this part (emphasis mine):
Witty added that Thompson was "never content with the status quo" and praised the CEO for advocating for ideas that "were aimed at making health care more affordable, more transparent, more intuitive, more compassionate — and more human."
Yea, like the Ai denial system? I bet that really gave it the human touch. I mean, I really can’t believe he said that part.
- I would love for him to explain to me why they NEED to deny 1/3 of their claims to keep their business afloat and how they are using their $23.1 billion profit to benefit the policy holders rather than the share holders.
  Short answer about benefitting policy holders vs share holders is they’re not. They won’t.
  The other part of this is why they deny claims? Short answer is the loss ratio (diving claims paid plus adjustment expenses by the total amount of premiums earned) that they report on during earnings calls.
  It’s apparently one of the most important things to pay attention to. The lower that number, the better! Higher means it freaks wall street out and stocks lose money.
  Learned about the loss ratio from Vox’s Today Explained podcast.
  
  Short answer about benefitting policy holders vs share holders is they’re not. They won’t.
  Yeah, I said that knowing this was true, and I guess props on them for not lying their way out of that part… 🙄
  The second half of what you said is why these companies, that literally have peoples health and wellbeing in their hands, should NOT be for-profit companies. They are actually profiting, and celebrating their record profits, off of hurting people. It’s insane.
  Thanks for the podcast share, I’ll check it out.

"No employees — be they the people who answer customer calls or nurses who visit patients in their homes — should have to fear for their and their loved ones' safety," Witty wrote.
There’s something we can all agree on. Executive fear though…
- They shouldn't have to fear for their safety either, they should just do right by their customers and it wouldn't be a problem.
- No insurance customer should have to fear dying because their medically necessary procedures are denied. Of all the things wrong with Healthcare, prior authorization should be target number 1 for legislators. It should be 100% illegal for insurance companies to require pre-authorization.
  If a doctor regularly prescribes unnecessary treatments or medication, let the proper ayluthorities investigate and pull their credentials, if necessary. Don't kill thousands of people to save a buck and say it's to protect them from unnecessary procedures.
- They should be exactly as uncertain of their survival as the people that they're deciding claims on.
- Exactly. Don't do evil things, and you'll have a lot less to fear.

"It's not us and the millions of dollars in lobbyists we spend to make sure the health care system is the way it is, it's the health care system that's flawed." The United Healthcare CEO was being investigated. The way they've shifted the narrative to say "Hey, we were fighting for you all along, we are the good guys!" is absurd but predictable. Though it took hurting them where it mattered to them - tanking their share price - for them to do it.
- Privatized health care has long been the known problem with the system. They are not going to cooperate to help dismantle it.
- Predictably asinine

"We know the health system does not work as well as it should, and we understand people's frustrations with it. No one would design a system like the one we have," Witty wrote. "And no one did. It's a patchwork built over decades."
So it's nobody's fault. And nobody can fix it I guess. Oh well, guess we just take it then. Good to know nobody is responsible for a despicable system that kills when it should heal.
- The thing that gets me is that it's true. It's a patchwork... of so many people taking more than they should and giving less than they should. If UHC tomorrow used every penny of the premiums they charge purely to cover healthcare, they still wouldn't fix the problem. A fix would require change to the pharmacies, the drug companies, the medical equipment companies, the hospitals and hospital networks, and more levels of bullshit middlemen than I even know exist. No single person, be they President or CEO or billionaire, can fix it.
  He is still an asshole though. He is just pointing to the problem and saying "Good people are trying to fix it." Are they? Where's the evidence? I would love to read an article that made me think, "Yes, the healthcare industry is making one small step in the right direction" but it hasn't come up. If this dude wants me to sympathize with him or with Brian Thompson, he should say ONE THING that either of them has ever done to address the problems of the industry and make things genuinely better for everyone. My money is that he can't.
- Describing it as a patchwork is such an abdication of accuracy and responsibility, too. Any old system has evolved over time, and this one has had half a century to get into the state that it's in now. Just because something is old and has been modified many times over the years doesn't mean that the current situation is accidental or inevitable.

That's a lot of words for "please don't kill me next."
- I think that will require corrective action, apologies, retribution, and active lobbying for a better healthcare system… as a start.
  My guess, they’re just buying time.
  Dddepose!

Cool, so you're dissolving your company, right? Right?
No?
More biz execs it is.

You made it that way and don't pretend you didn't. Blaming other for doing what you do isn't any kind of excuse, shitheads.

Well, obviously it was flawed. This kind and honest working class CEO didn't get the healthcare he required while he was bleeding out like a kindergartener at nap time.
Don't worry. United and all the other murderers are going to make sure they raise our premiums so they can afford a permanent trauma team to follow all the hard working execs around and ensure this tragedy never has to happen again.
And if some poors need to have even more basic human rights taken away to keep the investors happy? That is a risk we are all willing to take to protect those hard working execs.

Now ask him if his industry should even exist. His answer to that question is the only thing I care about.

We are sorry that our childraping pedophilic organism didn't do better to kids, but Brian worked hard to lower the age of consent so it wouldn't look that ridiculous anymore.

Actions speak louder than words.
- This is constantly where my headspace is for any public statements by people, companies, or politicians.
  I don’t judge people by their words, I judge them by their actions, and that makes the world make so much more sense.

Uh huh, now that the company is crashing, the C level meeting decided that maybe it's better to play our side, act as if you actually care?
You use words like "understand" and "share" so lovely and freely that one might almost be tempted to believe that you know what those words mean...
Almost.
The simple fact is that you won't change your bottom line, enriching your shareholders. If thateans you need to pretend that you actually have a heart, and that you care, then that is what you'll pretend.
Anything for the shareholders.

Show it, don't say it. Til then, stay scared.

Ha, you don’t say. What other noble truths will they cautiously admit? That suffering is bad?

https://www.givesendgo.com/legalfund-ceo-shooting-suspect

To Witty: No shit Sherlock.

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