Backlash continued to build over the weekend against UnitedHealthcare following the shocking assassination of CEO Brian Thompson and a subsequent rant by parent company UnitedHealth’s CEO Andrew Witty, during which he defended the insurer’s practices as justified in order to prevent “unnecessary” care.
In response, a flood of social media users shared stories about how the insurer denied them coverage for what it deemed “unnecessary” care. (The Daily Beast)
UNNECESSARY CARE. Just two words, and as you read my blog, think about ALL of the thoughts racing through your brain, listen as your heartbeat almost sounds loud enough to cause you to look around and see if someone is playing a drum.
UNNECESSARY CARE. Exactly for whom? Is it unnecessary for the patient, or is it unnecessary for the shareholders, who might not see their usual high-yield profits?
AND THEN THIS CEO, I SUPPOSE SITTING ON HIS GOLDEN CEO THRONE IN SOME GLASS PALACE, PROVIDING EVEN MORE ARROGANCE, SAID:
“Our role is a critical role, and we make sure that care is safe, appropriate, and is delivered when people need it,” Witty said. “And we guard against the pressures that exist for unsafe care or for unnecessary care to be delivered in a way which makes the whole system too complex and ultimately unsustainable.”
Too complex, unsustainable, for whom, I beg the question once again, is it too complex, unsustainable for the Patient who, without the drugs or procedure, won’t sustain his or her life, or even a semblance of a normal life? OR, will it become too complex and unsustainable to keep the salaries of these Healthcare CEOs in the six or seven-figure digits and once again keep the Shareholders from staying rich?
YEAH, I know that Healthcare is a part of Capitalism, where profits matter…but maybe it is about time. Healthcare is no longer an institution created to profit but rather becomes a way to save people!
