227 points

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?

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89 points

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.

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28 points

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

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12 points

And to shift blame

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2 points

Pretend the system works fine and it’s just a “few bad apples”, that conveniently don’t include anyone visibly rotten

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69 points

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53 points

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.

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9 points

“It’s the system we have to work in, not us.”

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5 points

Plausible deniability.

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1 point

The system you actively maintain

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21 points

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.

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146 points

they will never admit the truth; for-profit health insurance should not exist.

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-5 points

Are non-profit insurers really any better? Many of the blues are non-profits

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11 points

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.

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1 point
*

Are they? They are just as brutal about denials. The most hated insurance company I work with is a nonprofit. I’d welcome anyone with a blue cross or blue shield plan to tell me their positive stories. Or any other nonprofit, for that matter.

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5 points

not really. theyve started a race condition with providers causing prices to skyrocket.

but ya gotta start somewhere

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125 points

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/

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78 points

“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.

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20 points

“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.”

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2 points

“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.

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56 points

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.

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20 points

Universal healthcare for all please.

Or else

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