It’s cloudy today, right on the cusp of rain vs. snow but I don’t think it’s supposed to do either. You never know though.
It could go either way.
Yesterday I spent a big portion of the day deciding on a health plan for next year, one that felt like a shell game with no pea. No matter what you decide, you lose.
I’ll admit I was influenced by the chart going around showing the rate of denials from various insurers, with UnitedHealth denying nearly 1/3 of all claims. Think about that.
You pay your premiums, but you can’t be sure you’ll get anything for them, not even the coverage they told you you had when you signed up. In the end, it all feels pretty futile.
And given we have no idea what will happen next year, it may be for naught anyhow, because the plan may suddenly disappear or change.
This is what happens in a society in which money is the only ethic.
The CEO of UnitedHeath had a lot of it, so his death matters; the people denied care who died or went bankrupt or now have chronic pain or limited mobility don’t matter.
Jordan Neely didn’t matter either, apparently.
But the UnitedHealth CEO? He was a person, despite the DUI and the investigation into insider trading. Details, by the way, which have been scarcer and harder to find as he is morphed from the guy presiding over an AI algorithm with a 90% “error” rate in to a tragic victim.
We can all agree that at 90%, it’s not an “error.”
So why isn’t it a crime? Insurers make promises to get you to sign up–drug coverage; providers in their networks; covered care–and then do absolutely everything they can to ensure you don’t get what you paid for. That, instead, you get nothing and they keep your money.
And regulation, so far, doesn’t help for a very specific reason. It only works when there are people in power willing to enforce the regulations. The insurers know that, and bank on it.
Literally.
Of course we are angry and frustrated and feel powerless because we are entirely powerless in this dynamic. And instead of recognizing that, media instead focuses on people not being upset enough, not being caring enough.
About a man who spun misery and pain into gold.
We are, eternally, props, ATMS or villains. There’s no empathy for us, no looking to the heart of why people have reacted the way they have, why people seem to have more concern for the shooter than the person he shot.
As though that’s the first time in history that’s ever happened.
It’s just what that person killed looks like, his financial status, that is different.
Nothing that is happening or will happen will make regular more empathetic to the plight of the people who exploit us for personal gain. And when you think about it, it’s a very odd thing to demand.
So I picked a plan, understanding full well I wouldn’t know what it actually covered until I got there. I even went so far as to call a hospital a different plan said was in its network for 2025.
After going through two people with the second person calling a third, it turns out it was not.
It’s an issue many have tried to actually fix, while the others come and find ways to undo the fixes, to unravel them, to chisel through the openings and make it worse.
That is done deliberately.
Why are we supposed to pretend we don’t see what is clearly there?
And with that, I wish you a good Tuesday.
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