https://mas.to/@MikeBeas/113666556469008087
EDIT: I think you should get the service you pay for, just so that’s clear.
UnitedHealth Group is so vertically integrated that, in fact they do own doctors, hospitals and pharmacies under the Optum brand. So yes, they do have a duty to take care of people even if they act like they don’t.
it’s a business that helps you pay your bills
Quite the opposite, it’s a business that makes your bills expensive.
This gaslighting won’t work anymore
Yeah, similarly, Burger King doesn’t have to give you the whopper you’ve paid for. BK employees didn’t take an oath to feed you whoppers. They only have taken an oath to the managers, who have taken an oath to the CEO, who has taken an oath to Friedrich Hayek and the shareholders to make shitloads in dividends, as is their social responsibility. Everything is working just fine in our society thanks to these nice concepts.
You know… that kinda vow would be a great idea! Doctors take an oath like thing too, right?
Without realizing it, Mike Beasley makes a great argument for why private, for-profit health insurance shouldn’t exist.
It’s like all the media that think they are defending Brian Thompson by saying he was less horrible than the average healthcare CEO. Sometimes I wonder if they are making an argument for resurrecting the guillotine industry.
“It’s a business” is not a justification for evil, and yet that’s always how the phrase is used.
It’s my understanding that health insurance companies hire doctors, who have taken the hypocritical oath, to review claims and deny them.
Not a meme.
Beasley kind of has a point that it’s a stretch to call monetary debt as murder, but I really hope more people start voting for politicians who will end privatized healthcare.
Even if a claim gets denied the fact that it was submitted means you already got the treatment.
Even if a claim gets denied the fact that it was submitted means you already got the treatment.
That’s quite often not true. There are tons of procedures/tests/etc that don’t get run until a “prior authorization” has been granted by the insurance company. Also medications and durable medical equipment are not dispensed until insurance has been approved. If the prior auth is not granted or the medication is not covered, they usually will not be performed/provided unless the patient pays up front, and without the negotiating power of the insurance company, the patient will be paying 5 to 10 times what the insurance company would have paid.
I’ve personally been dealing with medical issues the past 3 months and the amount of prior auths I’ve seen go by is astounding. Tomorrow I actually go in for some more tests that they couldn’t do a few weeks ago because these ones in particular needed some prior auths that are harder to get.
Generally speaking, uninsured medical costs and medication are cheaper than what the insurance company pays. SOURCE
Hospitals and Insurance companies do this because it’s a write-off for the insurance company and it makes the patients feel better about their coverage plan.
You likely could get the treatment without the authorizations if you pressed, I sincerely doubt the hospital would try to stop you, but that would put you into debt so obviously don’t do that.
The very concept of paying for health care through insurance is evil.
Why do we even allow a profit motive to deny health care? Should be straight up illegal.
We should stop calling it “insurance”, it doesn’t ensure anything. We should call it what it is - a protection racket. Either that, or we could refer to it as “medical loans” - of course, it’s all paid in advance, in many installments. Oh wait. That’s just defining a protection racket again, isn’t it?
Loans pay out.
Oh no, each claim is a new loan application. You pay in your premium to have the right to apply.
Funny how life insurance always pays, no problem. Because if they get a bad rep, people will go elsewhere. We can’t do that with employer-covered healthcare!
insurance is a fucking scam that preys on the most vulnerable segment of the population in order to enrich themselves and their shareholders. and the vast majority of people think that’s just the way things are in america, therefore it’s the best possible way for things to be. what’s not to understand?
… This dude needs to understand how other types of insurance work
