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I Was a Health Insurance Executive. What I Saw Made Me Quit. (www.nytimes.com)

submitted 1 day ago by [email protected] to c/longreads

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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.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 23 hours ago (33 children)

I mean, you are right, murder shouldn't be the way to change this. But one has to look at the whole thing and wonder, can it change through non-violent means at all? People have been long complaining about the system, there's groups advocating for universal/free healthcare for a long time. How much change did that bring? Maybe the murder will have similar small impact in the long run, we will have to see. But then actions will just get increasingly more extreme over time.

[+] UniversalMonk -14 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (32 children)

But one has to look at the whole thing and wonder, can it change through non-violent means at all?

Doesn't matter. I will never advocate murder. I don't care what the argument is. If you don't like a product, then don't use it. But don't fucking murder a person walking down the street because you are pissed at the company he works for.

Thank God that most of society doesn't think the way Lemmy does when it comes to this subject!

I had a shit insurance company. They never paid any of my claims. So you know what I did? I dropped them. I went uninsured because the insurance company wasn't doing shit. So I stopped giving them money.

And you know what? If everyone did that, then the health insurance company would go out of business. You don't HAVE to pay for health insurance if you feel it's denying every fucking claim. Because if they are denying every claim, then you don't really have health insurance. So you are no worse off for not having it.

The Democrats didn't do shit about it. The Republicans didn't do shit about it. But if we all stopped paying premiums, then guess what? People would wake up.

But you don't fucking murder people to make your point. I don't give a fuck what your point is.

Luigi committed murder. The jury won't let him off just because they don't like insurance companies. I hope he gets life in prison. Lemmy can feel free to write him all the fan letters they want, but doesn't change my mind about it.

[–] Rekorse 5 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Corporatist.

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