tikibarrister
Guru
- 501
Doctor Conflicted About UHC Killing
- Thread starter somarco
- Start date
-
- Tags
- brian thompson uhc
I guess they see it as if they are part of a revolution and they have no moral compass.
Are there any drugs, high-priced or otherwise, that actually cure anything? If you're Big Pharma, that would be a really really bad business model.
I don't know about COPD except for knowing some people who have had that for years. For cancer if it is stage 4 cancers those stats are likely correct. For many, but not all, stage 1 and 2 cancers those stats are likely way off. Many cancers are curable that weren't many years ago (or even more recently). For most (but not all) childhood leukemias, for example, the outcome for that went from around 90% died to around 70+% (depending on which one) live 5+ years thus likely cured since it is rare for it to recur after that many years.
Some of the breast cancers are curable, most of the non-hodgkin's lymphmas are curable. Of course not everyone is cured but the cure rates are pretty high (I know the most about BC and nhl as I have had both). For example with follicular non-hodgkin's lymphoma (the one I have) it isn't curable but I am on year 13 in remission with just 4 rounds (instead of 6 due to effects on my bone marrow from the chemo) of rituxan and bendamustine. Depending on their initial chemo between 3/4 to 4/5ths of those with this cancer are alive 10 or more years with many dying 20-30 years later, often with that cancer rather than because of it. It used to be, prior to better chemos, that your lifespan with it, regardless of what you did for treatment, was around 8 years.
Now pancreatic cancer is another story. It is one of the ones with the worst outcomes as are several others. And some are somewhere in between. But again it depends on the stage at diagnosis and the particular cancer.
I'm suspicious of any article that depends on anecdotes.
"Diagnosed with leukemia three years ago, Tsoukalas, 26, was stunned to learn that her insurer's coverage of the drug she needed came with a $13,000 monthly copay, which the recent college graduate could not afford. She was forced to go without the medication for three months, when she was finally able to obtain it through the drug manufacturer's assistance program."
Do you really believe her doctor let her go without medications for 3 months when there was an assistance program available? You're telling me she told her doctor the medication wasn't covered by her insurance and her doctor just said "that's too bad, those evil insurance companies…"?
I've had clients in similar situations and every one of them has been able to get manufacturerer assistance and the prescribing doctors office assisted them in applying for it. So, if her story is true, and she really went without her medication for that long when help was so readily available, it sounds like her doctors office failed her more than anyone.
If the medication isn't covered then the insurance company isn't collecting premiums for it. She didn't pay for the coverage she's wanting. And unfortunately for her, that's how insurance works. People read these stories and get outraged but get equally outraged when their premiums increase.
- 30,490
Trelegy has extended my life by a lot more than 180 days. 12 years and counting. It also makes life better and more comfortable.
Last edited:
- 4,961
So, we are only looking at the suffering of those that were denied coverage or limited in their coverage or couldnt get medical providers to pursue treatments.On the one hand, I shed no tears for Thompson. The man made millions off the suffering of others. More than $10 millionopens in a new tab or window last year, in fact. Likewise, every penny of the $22 billion in profitopens in a new tab or window made by parent company UnitedHealth Group in 2023 was at the expense of the suffering of others.
I have no small amount of schadenfreudeopens in a new tab or window for what has happened to him. Sometimes, I even find myself wanting to crack jokes at his expense. Is Hell going to require a 2-night qualifying stay prior to admission? Does he have a skilled demonic need that would merit admission to Hell? Others have had similar reactions, posting online comments like, "Unfortunately my condolences are out-of-network," and "Prior authorization is needed for thoughts and prayers."
As physicians, I understand how easy it is to sit back and take some pleasure in the death of a man whose leadership of an insurance company led to the untold suffering of hundreds of thousands of our patients. Patients we care for every day.
Opinion | I Am Torn: Grappling With the Killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO
I detest everything Thompson stood for, yet I am troubled by thoughts of hatewww.medpagetoday.com
This is sickly disturbing on so many levels
Not sure I blame the CEO for all that, just like I dont give him credit for all the people whose lives were saved when the company did pay claims in the hundreds of thousands or millions in some case.
UHC paid out $87 Billion in claims & expenses in 2023 & profit margin was 5%. Not saying they are some great company, but we cant act like they dont do way more good than bad & no one deserves to die over it.
If you as an insurance agent business make more than 5% profit, does that mean you are making your customers suffer or pimping for the carriers that deny health, life, PC claims
This is bizarro world that people on both side of the political aisle are literally celebrating the death of a human & at the same time making the cold blooded coward that killed him into a heart throb celebrity
- Thread starter
- #18
Correction and amplification of my earlier comment.
Stage 0 - 2 can be mostly curable . . . not so much for 3 or 4th stage.
Somewhere, maybe in this thread, someone made a comment about huge (excessive?) profits in the health insurance business. My response mentioned a profit margin of 4% which is an average for Medigap insurance carriers.
That being said, I am not sure you are addressing me or the author of the linked article?
- 30,490
Similar threads
