One story that we couldn’t keep out of the press and that contributed most to my decision to walk away from my career in 2008 involved Nataline Sarkisyan, a 17-year-old leukemia patient in California whose scheduled liver transplant was postponed at the last minute when Cigna told her surgeons it wouldn’t pay. Cigna’s medical director, 2,500 miles away from Ms. Sarkisyan, said she was too sick for the procedure. Her family stirred up so much media attention that Cigna relented, but it was too late. She died a few hours after Cigna’s change of heart.
Ms. Sarkisyan’s death affected me personally and deeply. As a father, I couldn’t imagine the depth of despair her parents were facing. I turned in my notice a few weeks later. I could not in good conscience continue being a spokesman for an industry that was making it increasingly difficult for Americans to get often lifesaving care.
One of my last acts before resigning was helping to plan a meeting for investors and Wall Street financial analysts — similar to the one that UnitedHealthcare canceled after Mr. Thompson’s horrific killing. These annual investor days, like the consumerism idea I helped spread, reveal an uncomfortable truth about our health insurance system: that shareholders, not patient outcomes, tend to drive decisions at for-profit health insurance companies.
Don’t they also go to great lengths to conceal information on their practices? And for most people what health insurance is available depends on their employer? There are a lot of obstacles to the public being sufficiently informed and able to exercise agency to solve this from a consumer level. Not to say you’re wrong about murder not being a good solution to this though.
Indeed. It’s a very privileged idea that “If you don’t like someone’s services, you’re free to shop around until you find something you’re comfortable with.”
This only applies to the rich. Everyone else is fucked over by monopolies.
You think I like having Spectrum Internet? There’s no other game in town that provides internet to this street. You think I like having health insurance that completely ignores my teeth? It’s all I can afford.
Then have the balls to not have internet. How far are you willing to go to stand up for yourself?
But fucking murder is too far. Do you think someone should fucking murder the Spectrum CEO? Lots of Lemmy do think that. And it’s fucking disgusting.
I don’t think they’re saying to murder spectrum, but maybe you can see the parallel between people who can’t choose the healthcare they can get and those who can? The vast majority of people get it through their employer and healthcare is expensive. “Switching company” is simply not an option for most people, so when their claims are denied, they might be being told to die. In contrast, I simply care little for the jackass that took advantage of everyone and ran into karma. Not saying we have to murder ceos, but I won’t feel bad for them. As someone said previously, your “go somewhere else” speech just screams privilege.
And that’s fine in my eyes. But many on Lemmy are openly advocating for murder and some have even been saying that there needs to be a hitlist. That’s my issue.
And how am I “privileged”? I work for minimum wage as a teacher’s assistant at an elementary school. I make far, FAR less that the average Lemmy poster. And I’m older, so I get to face ageism too. And I grew up in poverty.
I’ve went without insurance most of my life, friend. And I’ve usually made too little to pay for private insurance, but too much for medicare.
My “go somewhere else” is based on if every claim was getting denied, I would just drop insurance. Because if every claim is getting denied, I’m not really having insurance am I?
What part of my life do you think is “privileged”? lmao
I make less than you. I have always made less than you do.
The vast majority of Lemmy is “privileged,” and so much so, that they don’t even have context for what that word means.
Every time I have gotten denied, I get a letter. They list what gets paid for and what doesn’t.
No, you don’t HAVE to take the health insurance that your employer offers. You can deny it. In most instances tho, it’s worth it to keep it. Which is why the “revolution” that Lemmy thinks is going to happen, won’t.
The only real revolutionary change on that will come by voting for politicians who don’t worship the insurance companies money. And guess what? BOTH the Democrats and the Republicans worship insurance company money.
Which is why we need a third party. When I mentioned that and supported third parties before the election, the .world instance permabanned me! LMAO
Which is also part of the problem. People are too afraid to actually be uncomfortable for a bit in order to bring change.
But that doesn’t mean people should fucking murder CEO’s. WTF?!
Spending years putting up with a company is a pretty steep price to pay to learn the basics of how they do business. Consumer choices can’t effect change very well if they are largely kept in the dark is my point, and they are.
From the book Delay, Deny, Defend:
Yeah I also voted third party, they don’t really like it. Idk how much good it will do, or what the best solution would be, but the people calling for more murders I think are generally falling for the “something must be done, this is something, therefore this must be done” fallacy.
Fair points.