Responding to the United Healthcare Situation

[@MedlifeCrisis]

I know the public reaction atm is mostly lusting after a hot assassin and I’m sure a low effort Ssniperwolf style reacting-to-memes video would’ve been more entertaining, but not especially professional from a doctor. The memes are unreal though. First to the CEO down news and then the thirst tsunami. I was a little concerned that I would need to change my profile pic when the first shot of a heavy eyebrowed man with a surgical mask emerged, but once his face was revealed I could rest assured in the knowledge that I’m far less attractive, phew!

[@scurvofpcp]

I look at it this way, it was a personal issue between the shooter and the CEO. And considering the US is a nation with a mental health care and gun crisis I'm not sure I can call the CEO a victim of anything other than his own stupidity.

[@averylividmoose3599]

I think a lot of people are viewing it as vigilante justice which is obviously a stark contrast to higher profile individuals pushing it as cold blooded murder and, yes it is murder but given the circumstances in the US right now you can see how people would be more sympathetic to the shooter on top of the social media reaction being hot italian thirst trap and mafia memes but that is just how things go these days. I think if it had been anyone else, even just another CEO and not a healthcare insurance CEO, the reaction would've probably been a lot more grounded beyond the "eat the rich" crowd. Still a bit funny though.

[@willmccann9892]

Very good video, I found myself asking the same questions after the response from the public

[@mbmurphy777]

So I'm a surgeon in the US. I deal with denials and insurance issues from all insurers... including Medicare and Medicaid (socialized government healthcare that covers about 40% of the US healthcare market, including all children, the poor, the elderly, and the disabled). Denials are annoying and time-consuming, but that's about it. Also, all emergency care for the uninsured in the US and also for ~20 million migrants is provided for free (cost shifted to others basically). I have never ONCE seen a case where a lifesaving treatment was withheld for insurance reasons. The reason is obvious. Any wrongful death case would end up in a multimillion dollar lawsuit. Just like a medical malpractice case. If hundreds of people were dying per day because of insurance denials, the courts would be packed with those cases. All systems have to ration care. In fact, most private insurances in the US are more permissive than some of the national healthcare systems in other countries. Denials I deal with generally involve: MRIs (they require a CT or US first... annoying but not unreasonable) Certain medications when other equivalent meds are on their formulary Unproven or experimental medications I have never had any operation denied (I do general and colorectal surgery). I think the "Insurance companies are killing people" is echo-chamber conventional wisdom for which I have not seen evidence. And I've been practicing >25 years. If the evidence exists, please someone demonstrate it. I suppose that there may be some isolated examples, but no way are we talking "hundreds of people per day". The lawyers would have a field day, and the insurance companies know that.

[@nitehawk86]

@@mbmurphy777 Yeah, of course YOU wanna defend the insurance companies. They pay your wages. (usually, when they feel like it) Now go and tell that same thing to my mom that held off on treatments because Walmart's health insurance is shit, and then they fired her when they found out she had cancer. Of course its not the insurance companies fault she didn't go to the doctor and get what seemed like a mild pain check out earlier. Its all her fault right... right? The crippling debt is designed to scare people away from getting treatment. Oh right you cant tell her that, because she is DEAD.

[@ShinSkillet]

This story is getting more coverage than United Healthcare ever provided.

[@andrewharrison8436]

Nicely worded.

[@piparalegal2019]

@@ShinSkillet *rimshot*

[@Ivar-V]

Clever 😂

[@nettewilson5926]

Snap

[@Ray-yt6bn]

Hahaha Good one.

[@Radaos]

How do we know that Thompson died from a bullet? He might have had a pre-existing condition.

[@rwo5402]

...absolutely....

[@snowballeffect7812]

yeah, we need to wait for the toxicology report. after all, he was no angel.

[@earthlighteleven]

lol...he had covid...

[@ImARealHumanPerson]

Found the doors

[@HardClay1]

I totally understand your comment.

[@piparalegal2019]

I'm a UHC customer. I had to have my gallbladder out. UHC denied the CT abdomen my gastroenterologist ordered because I hadn't had a colonoscopy. At the time I was 33 years old. Why I did need a bloody colonoscopy?! I was sick enough to be dropping weight because I couldn't eat - everything I put in my stomach made me incredibly nauseated. Took my primacy care doctor ordering an ultrasound of my gallbladder and a HIDA scan to tell me I needed emergency surgery because of the amount of stones. Surgery took 4 hours and I woke up with chronic pain in my right ribs. I've been partially bed-ridden since then, battling with UHC just to get splenetic (celiac plexus) blocks and a spinal cord stimulator trial done. Do I feel bad for the CEO's family? Yeah. For him? I haven't met my empathy deductible yet.

[@bluepapaya77]

I spent a minute or two earlier feeling bad for the family. I was done, but how about I go back to it so you can concentrate on getting better instead?

[@piparalegal2019]

@@bluepapaya77 that would be lovely.... if there was a "getting better"! Maybe if i were able to get the blocks or trial the stimulator, there would be a better!

[@muf]

They lives in separate houses, probably he was an asshole.

[@mbmurphy777]

The ultrasound was the proper first test for gallbladder pain, not a CT. However if you had gone in through the ER, the CT would have been immediately approved (all emergency services legally have to be covered immediately). OTOH, CT doesn't always show gallstones (they are often radiolucent), so the CT could have been nondiagnostic.

[@DahVoozel]

Are you sure you're an UHC customer? Did you choose to buy their insurance? Were you able to make a market driven choice or were you handed a piece of paper at your employer that told you to log onto the benefits portal and do your open enrollment?

[@TealCheetah]

German has a word for people like that ceo, Schreibtischtäter. It means desk perpetrator.

[@M4TCH3SM4L0N3]

Trust German to have a word for anything, but also, it makes perfect sense for Germany to be concerned with the potential of someone working in a seemingly innocuous role and "just following orders" to cause or perpetuate very real harm.

[@thiscommentsdeleted]

@@M4TCH3SM4L0N3 Germany learned from its history and I praise them for it. Too bad they don't always apply it to their blind spots in the Middle East (probably because of said history).

[@michael1]

Is the German word for 'A deranged halfwit with a gun' "amerikanisch" ?

[@OptionalBean]

That thing you just said, German has a word for that, it's thatthingyoujüstsaiden.

[@vivienclogger]

The words appear unnecessarily long at times, but that's because the description needs to be accurate. I'm adding that to my other favourite word: Schadenfreude - which, as a Remainer, I've used quite a lot in the last 8 years.

[@sadmermaid]

When the rich let people the poor die, it's business. When the poor make the rich die, it's a crime. Brian has so much blood on his hands.

[@MedlifeCrisis]

I would have to agree

[@Vaslof]

He wasn't poor though.

[@med8615]

So true. Same goes for american and uk foreign policy funding wars and killing poor ppl overseas

[@benmarron2545]

@@Vaslof he is compared to the 0.01%

[@MegaNardman]

@@MedlifeCrisis It's important to realize that violence is wrong...but equally important to realize that institutional violence is still violence.

[@pafnutiytheartist]

Relaying the best opinion on this topic I saw: While the CEO might have been a terrible person, no single individual should decide who lives and dies, this is up to an algorithm trained to maximize the company's profit.

[@amicaaranearum]

That is my favorite meme from this.

[@naomieyles210]

Luigi is an engineer by training, and evidence indicates he also applied an algorithm to determine who should live or die, for the good of the country. Very specifically the person with maximum criminal responsibility for the worst offender in the industry. One of the biggest concerns with copycats is that they might not have any algorithm at all. Vigilante violence is usually not this well targeted.

[@bananaananab3916]

@@naomieyles210you sound crazy but go off I guess?

[@lolahernandez6871]

😂😂😂😂 so wrong...

[@justmemyselfandi7760]

​@@naomieyles210Erm... No. No 'algorithm' exists, because we live in a society. Not the hunger games. To imply that killing one guy without changing anything about the ecosystem of healthcare somehow has a positive impact on anybody is absolutely idiotic. As a country, either find the balls to elect people who will make a difference or deal with the consequences. Murdering someone who's entire career goal is to keep his shareholder's happy so they don't fire and replace him with the 1000 or so executives vying for his job is not the solution.

[@BlueScreenCorp]

2:45 when the US took out Bin Laden no one was saying "It was an unaliving of a middle aged guy, a father" arguably Brian was responsible for more damage to the lives of everyday citizens lives than Bin Laden was. We can all agree unaliving people is wrong, the issue is that people are behaving like Brian was this innocent guy who wasn't making decisions that directly harm and in many cases lead to the end of life for people who could have had decades. Some may find it distasteful, but what we are seeing is an inkling of class solidarity in the US that could lead to larger movements and what should be discussed is WHY this shared experience led to the this response, we should not be saying that the response is wrong as in many other cases the end of life of someone who so prolifically ended the lives of so many would be celebrated.

[@StarryxNight5]

Especially since his replacement's saying that they'll continue denying as many claims as possible because that's what's most profitable. Nothing will change so long as your suffering is profitable to the rich

[@wombatconrad]

I think when one is arguing for why murder in some cases might be justified, it is okay to use the words kill and murder. It is a serious and grisly topic that's worth discussing and to try to sanitise away any uncomfy words with newspeak limits that discussion. Brian Thompson was murdered. Killed. He was directly responsible for other people dying. (To make my stance clear: I would have preferred a world where he was found guilty in a court of law, but I'm not crying over his death.)

[@mencken8]

Rationalization or calling it “unaliving” doesn’t make it not murder, nor does bringing someone else into it justfy it.

[@birdiecote8075]

​@mencken8 You've lost the entire point. It's called a comparison and it's showing your cognitive dissonance. And saying "unaliving" is to appease youtube moderation, so find a different talking point.

[@BlueScreenCorp]

@@wombatconrad ​ and @mencken8 I am working around the youtube filters, if you put too many "kills", "murders" etc. you will get auto moderated, and your comment will be removed. Making comments about this specific event in time is just a mine field created by what is youtube content moderation (I know because I have had to adjust some of these comments before they stopped getting sent to a black hole)

[@medula]

I broke my hip in a bike accident and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes during the same year in the U.S. I was denied claims and it ruined my credit. My medical debt plagued me for years as I couldn't work. I was encouraged by many to file for bankruptcy. This could have potentially ruined me financially for the rest of my life because chapter 11 stays on your credit forever. I couldn't rent an apartment with my terrible credit so I have to sublet for a period of 7 years, bouncing from temporary place to temporary place. My story is one of millions and not even close to the worst I've heard. Many stories like mine end in death. In fact, when I had my hip surgery I was told that a man came into the hospital with the same broken hip a month prior and was denied a surgery because he wasn't covered and bled to death internally. I have zero empathy for ceo who was shot. If he's not culpable who is?

[@HermanIdzerda]

To me as a medical doctor in The Netherlands this is unimaginable. How can any doctor let a patient bleed to death because of lack of coverage. I once had a patient from Surinam who was visiting family. He became ill and needed heart surgery. He did have travel insurance but that was only paying up to € 10k. After some deliberation - the financial department wasn't to keen on this - we still did the heart surgery because he just needed it. BTW Why would having an accident and getting diagnosed with diabetes have anything to do with your health insurance coverage?

[@hellcy7237]

Chapter 11 should fall off of your credit report after 10 years, and honestly if you couldn't work you might have been able to file chapter 7 to dissolve all of the debt

[@GamerGrrls]

@@HermanIdzerda what? you mean he wasn't told to take paracetamol, drink tea, relax and come back in 2 weeks if it doesn't get better? All joking aside though, I rather be diagnosed with anything over here in the NL vs. the US. In fact, I was diagnosed as an insulin dependent diabetic in my 40s and know I probably can never go back to the US to live because I won't be able to get affordable insurance for my "pre-existing" condition. (or afford the insulin)

[@MrCmon113]

You not getting sufficient coverage and the hospitals and doctors for a start.

[@xostler]

bro I think you played the game wrong... My med debt on my credit stopped being reported after 7 years.

[@josielevin3486]

Luigi actually received a botched surgery for his chronic back pain (that he presumably was and perhaps is still paying for) and is still experiencing it now. I think this is an important factor that this man is living in extreme daily pain.

[@misslayer999]

Yeah I saw his x-ray and he's got literal screws in his lower back. That was definitely the instigating factor, no doubt about it

[@stephanie06-9]

Why do you assume it was botched? He’s undoubtedly been in pain, as back injuries tend to be painful, but the x-rays show he had proper medical treatment. I doubt his insurance claim was rejected, even if it was United healthcare. This was clearly a philosophical gripe rather than a personal one.

[@jessicaDd9692]

⁠@@stephanie06-9apparently the injury he had could also have been treated effectively with physical therapy but the insurance company pushed the surgery bc they would make more money off it…

[@wrmlm37]

I heard yesterday that a large part of his anger was actually about a painful condition his mother has, and the poor care SHE received through their insurers. So, 2 ill family members...

[@av_oid]

@@wrmlm37the mother story is made up and from a fake “manifesto”.

[@Megalesios]

My hot take is: Fear of this is the price people like Brian Thompson have to pay for what they do. When they profit off of the suffering and death of tens of thousands, they paint the target on their own back. They give up the right to be "just" a father and a husband. They price they pay for their obscene wealth is knowing one of the people they screwed over may come after them. They know this can happen and they still choose to do what they do.

[@baronvontrap3325]

At least the personal protection industry will get a boost. So some extra employment opportunities for special forces vets. Lookout for senior execs accompanied by guys in suits with earpieces. All funded by the corporation, of course.

[@ronald3836]

You can't blame him for wanting to earn enough money that he can pay for his family's healthcare in case the insurance rejects his claims.

[@MrCmon113]

>When they profit off of the suffering and death of tens of thousands, Lol, how about you get a different insurance if united healthcare is so bad? Everyone pretends like they're obviously villains. Then why do you buy their insurance?

[@joewwilliams]

A father and husband who made other people watch their loved ones die from preventable causes.

[@logical-machine]

Just FYI, they only made a 6% profit this year. If all the CEOs donated their profits back, it wouldn't change the fact that healthcare is over regulated making it too expensive so premiums cannot cover the costs. Also, remember that the job of insurance companies is to deny care that is unnecessary. The real problem is not greed, it's that the government has over regulated healthcare and structured it in such a way that market forces cannot work. Our employers choose our healthcare insurance, and our healthcare insurance chooses our care. We are just leaves in the wind.

[@Riokaii]

ive never understood how an insurance company can deny care, effectively making medical decisions for patients, without license to practice medicine, and without opening them up to MASSIVE class action malpractice lawsuits.

[@exigency2231]

Because they’re not stopping it from happening, they’re just not paying for it. I get what you mean but it doesn’t work like that

[@Riokaii]

@@exigency2231 a semantic distinction without practical difference in reality. "I'm not enslaving you, I'm just only feeding you and providing you shelter if you work my cotton fields. " Purely economic, no human rights violations here /s

[@totally_not_a_bot]

​@@exigency2231Requiring a human being to spend thousands of dollars for critical healthcare is functionally denying care.

[@mbmurphy777]

Exactly. That’s how you know that hundreds of people aren’t dying every day from healthcare denial. There will be unending lawsuits. So we know from that that the premise and narrative is false. Most healthcare denials are not withholding care, but rather requiring some other care be used first in a stepwise fashion before approving the thing that you ordered. They are also appealable so that if you really really want an MRI instead of a CT scan, you can call somebody and talk them into it. Yes, it’s a hassle and a pain in the ass, but it’s not the same thing as withholding care

[@criticalLocus]

@@exigency2231 Oh the insurance frauds are paying someone alright, look upwards....

[@marcolau6309]

I don’t condone murder, especially being shot in the back, but I’m honestly surprised how long it took for something like this to happen. The healthcare system here has caused so much pain its ridiculous

[@NOLNV1]

This has been my thoughts as well, for being a country with a rebellious attitude since the war for independence that has incredible amounts of and access to guns it feels like it would be a common occurrence

[@TheFinalFrontiersman]

This was murder in the same way that Darth Vader murdered the Emperor

[@jennyjohnson5428]

Insurance =/= Healthcare The company in question is **called** United Healthcare. It is insurance companies that have had this coming.

[@mbmurphy777]

Want fewer denials? Just increase the costs of insurance! But then people will complain about that. All healthcare systems deny care. They have too, including any socialized system. Medicare does. Medicaid does. British NHS does.

[@KtVogtF]

Why don't you condone murder? That is a weird perspective.

[@durragas4671]

"He was a father with children" - as if the thousands of people denied healthcare do not have kids. Maybe his kids will learn not to be so selfish and basically psychopaths when it comes to making money

[@CountJeffula]

It’s insulting to the masses that anyone thinks these humanizing arguments hold any water. The man was the head of a monstrous beast that is United Healthcare.

[@Austin0042]

and as if a lot of the deaths he caused weren't of kids

[@realBorisLegasov]

@@moreplatesmorefaceooft - piss-poor take. Insurance companies are completely superfluous parasitic middlemen who have no business profiting from people’s health.

[@CountJeffula]

@@moreplatesmoreface so were the internment camp workers. Doesn’t excuse their evil.

[@moreplatesmoreface]

@@CountJeffula I wouldn't murder an internment camp worker, because I don't really think they were especially evil. They were just average people, and average people go along with the job they're given.

[@jameslawrie3807]

As a historian/pol sci person I'll be blunt. Democracy is a system of 'bloodless managed revolutions'. This means that the people not in the political class can change the management without resorting to armaments. Now, regardless of whether this still works or not is not the point. The point was it was found out that this was a system that was needed at some point in time. There is no equivalent system for pressure relief when corporations and political systems fuse. None. I'm very surprised this particular event hasn't been a regular phenomenon since the 1980s.

[@MrCmon113]

That's 100% wrong. You can simply get a different insurance. You can start your own healthcare system by getting together with others and pooling money. That's the origin of healthcare in the first place. People getting together and pooling money. Your bloodlust is entirely unjustified.

[@SomeoneBeginingWithI]

The democratic moderator on corporate greed is for the elected government to regulate or socialise industries that are creating problems when left to market forces.

[@martian8987]

While I agree that the (implied) bllodlust is unjustified, I think they're right about a political democratic system being unable to protect people from the machinations of transnational coorpataions, who can have as much power as a government (albeit indirectly and through corporate sponsering of candidates, e.g. Super PACs), but are not subject to working in the publics best interest!

[@DvDick]

​@@MrCmon113It is justified, because people still die or get ruined while some savior arises from the people to guide them to what you describe, and those at the top will not just let figures like this mount significant opposition. Your opinion is very naive

[@therflash]

@@MrCmon113 Not that easy. Many new businesses try to disrupt the status quo, but it's an uphill battle against the established regulations lobbied into place by the ones that own that industry. The new business would usually get an offer from the big industries, if that offer gets rejected they'll eliminate the competition via lawyers, lobbying, hostile takeovers and similar means, and if that doesn't work either, expect intimidation, kidnappings of relatives and hired hits. These people don't want to stop owning the world.

[@noahmurphygordon1928]

united healthcare denied my power chair twice because I didn't have a diagnosis that required a wheelchair. When I tried to get the diagnosis to get the chair, I had to get medical tests done. They kept denying the medical tests because I didn't have a diagnosis. It was frustrating and added over a year to my diagnosis process with the constant back and forth with united healthcare to get the tests approved. They never did cover my power chair. I spent a year and half calling various non-profits to find a chair I could afford. That was a year and a half I could not leave my own house. It was hell on my mental health. Some days it was so bad that I would have suicidal ideation. And it was because of united healthcare.

[@shreksyrocks324]

damn. that sounds absolutely harrowing, i'm sorry. you deserved better care.

[@diegoparga9324]

I come from the future, the year 2027. Sad news. The healthcare system is still the same. The gun laws did not change. However, 3D printers are heavily regulated.

[@kennethone6687]

AHAHAH nice one... nice one..

[@moki5796]

Commenting to remind myself to fact check this in 2027

[@LaViejaConsolada]

Fucking TOP comment xDDD

[@jaegrant6441]

Oh yes true. 3D printers are a way for people to maintain theirnown autonomy over production. Of course it's going to get regulated to the max

[@Hannah-y2z]

@@moki5796 same

[@CLKagmi23]

I don't think outside observers can fully understand the depths of the rage Americans have over our healthcare situation. Many of us worry constantly about ending up homeless or in debt for life if we get sick because there are no regulations on how much corporations can charge for lifesaving procedures. We've been trying to get legislative reform for years, but somehow both political parties have been promoting candidates who are against universal healthcare. Thousands of stories have been circulating on social media of people whose spouses have died after having their medical treatment denied or delayed by insurance companies, people who almost died many times as children because their insurance company refused to cover the only effective treatment for their genetic condition, etc.. I was taken aback by my own emotional reaction to the news. I first assumed Thompson had been shot by a hitman hired by one of his company's investors who was worried he would cut into their profit, because that's the level of cold-blooded murderousness that I expect from investors and specifically from the healthcare industry. When I heard about the words on the bullets, I felt hope. I was astonished by how much hope I felt that something might actually change if CEOs were afraid of the people.

[@CLKagmi23]

@@Robespierre-lI I don't watch Hollywood thrillers. I watch true crime documentaries.

[@jojonesjojo8919]

If you're angry at the current system, then tell me. Did you support Bernie Sanders in 2016? He seems to be the only US politician with a prescription for change.

[@Juttutin]

I think most 'westerners' outside the US have been amazed at the LACK of rage by American society towards your healthcare system! You just keep voting in the same corporate friendly and profit driven toxic politicians over and over and over again. It cannot be simultaneously true that America is a democracy, and that the system makes it impossible to effect changes that seemingly everyone wants.

[@okeefedelia6202]

​@@jojonesjojo8919i did. What did that support get me but more fuel for the rage tire fire?

[@CLKagmi23]

@@jojonesjojo8919 of course I did. Almost 75% of Americans under the age of 35 did. Whether he lost because the DNC felt he was too radical or because older voters were too afraid of "socialism" remains a topic of contention in the US. Although I suppose it's basically the same questions since the DNC leadership has a mean age of something like 70 years.

[@roberthines2741]

As a Canadian, My wife was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer 4 years ago, and after 5 major surgeries, radiation and chemo, she is still happy to be alive. In the USA she would either be dead or we would be in such enormous debt, that what sort of life would we be able to even live?

[@KelsomaticPDX]

That’s the reality for most of us here. I’m lucky to be healthy, but I think almost daily about the fact that if something terrible happened health-wise I would be ruined.

[@maybeinanotherworld]

Also in Canada- I've had two major, unrelated emergency visits this year, and I also have a chronic pain condition- I would be bankrupt many times over if I lived just a bit south and that's if I didn't die. Our healthcare system has its problems, but I sure as hell wouldn't trade it for the one our neighbours have to deal with.

[@mbmurphy777]

That's just not true. I'm a colorectal surgeon in the US. Remember, ~40% of US healthcare is already socialized (Medicare and Medicaid, which cover all children, elderly, disabled, and poor... they deny plenty of stuff too BTW). For people that don't meet those qualifications and do not have insurance, their care ends up essentially free (or the charges are dropped to be in line with their income). This also applies to the ~ 20 million undocumented migrants in the US. Their care is free. I do many "no pay" cases per month. The costs are shifted to others (eg those that have insurance). That's one reason private insurance is more expensive than it should be. Dealing with the insurance plans is a PITA, but it's simply NOT TRUE that people just don't get treatment. Hospitals in the US provide ~42 Billion dollars a ready in uncompensated charity care. There are also Federal, state, and other charity clinics throughout the US. There are reasons that there are not riots in the streets over healthcare in the US, even though we've been told it's a "CRISIS" since 1985.

[@anivicuno9473]

​@@mbmurphy777 Assuming your stats are presented in good faith, let's put some context to the picture. Your surgical services might be no pay, but what about non-surgical care? Like the hospital stays to recover or medications in between treatments? 40% of care being covered by medicare/medicaid is a pointless statistic because it's not 40% of care costs for everyone, it's stepped so some people get 100% and some people get 0% Also also, nobody says you don't get treatment in the US, everyone agrees you can get treatment, it's just that you get treatment when you start bleeding all over the ER, and then when you die from the cancer, the hospital takes your house.

[@mbmurphy777]

@@anivicuno9473 well those statistics are quite easily verified if you have doubts. The hospital stays frequently are written off by the hospital. That’s how you get over $40 billion of charity care provided by the hospitals every year. Your point is well taken because most of the expense of the surgery is the hospital charges not the provider charges. Per ChatGPT Only about 7 to 8% of people in the United States are uninsured. Most of those people are young and healthy and kind of roll the dice bedding that they won’t get sick or injured requiring hospital care. Usually that’s a good bet. Most of these people aren’t going to get random life-threatening cancers, etc. Even if they had insurance if you get a random cancer at a young age, that’s just bad luck and having insurance doesn’t necessarily mean that it would be diagnosed earlier, etc. Anyway, there are tons of programs for people that don’t have insurance that end up needing expensive care. There’s church charities, there’s secular charities, lots of providers do a fair amount of charity care. It’s just not the case that there are people dying in the streets without getting care. And no, it’s not the case that people only get emergency care. Like I already said anybody, that’s elderly, disabled, a child, or poor is automatically covered. All undocumented migrants are getting free care. All dialysis patients are covered. You can self ensure if you want to. Or you can buy a disaster plan that covers everything over a $10,000 deductible. There are many choices to be had. Even if you don’t have insurance, there are numerous federal and state clinics where you can get free, primary care, etc. Yes, you have to sign up for it and qualify for it from an income standpoint just like Medicaid. Like I said elsewhere, there’s a reason why there aren’t riots in the streets over healthcare. There’s reasons why there isn’t even a strong political push to radically change things even though we’ve supposedly been in a “crisis” since 1985. If you look at surveys of what voters rank as their most important issues, healthcare is in there, but it’s behind a lot of other stuff. Think about the last election. How much did the Democrats talk about healthcare? Hardly at all. They talked about abortion access and trans rights and fixing the economy, etc.

[@beskamir5977]

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." Damnit, you mention it towards the end. I should have just watched the video instead of sharing that fantastic quote. These CEOs have spent countless years and billions collectively to ensure that peaceful reform becomes impossible. Now they get to reap what they planted.

[@space_1073]

The title and thumbnail make it seem like an apology video by Luigi and it's killing me 💀💀

[@epicalprototypeW98]

what if thats what he was aiming for lmao

[@thiscommentsdeleted]

"Sorry for getting caught, last upload probably"

[@jamesnurgle6368]

that'd be a hell of a banjo solo

[@lailimade]

😅😅😅😅

[@ffc1a28c7]

As a Canadian who's gone through leukemia and needed really expensive immunotherapy (I got curious at some point and asked how much it costed, and it was somewhere in the range of $250000), I have tons of sympathy for anyone caught up in the US healthcare system. I got diagnosed as a young adult and had I been in the US, I would've likely either entered life hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt (added to university), or would've straight up died.

[@mbmurphy777]

Not true. Only 7-8 % of people in the us are uninsured (usually young healthy people). And those people in your situation get charity care. US hospitals provide >40 billion dollars a year in charity care. Pharma companies donate 20-30 billion dollars a year in charity care. Where do people get these ridiculous ideas? If half of what were claimed about the US system were true, there would be riots. Instead, healthcare is barely an issue on the voter's minds. Looks at a voter survey. It's on the list of concerns, but behind a lot of other stuff.

[@chrisj8764]

Yeah, I'm at $50,000 so far (after a couple of years) all paid for by my country's health system

[@droppopcandied]

as a fellow canadian, be wary of upcoming policy changes from conservative governments! our healthcare system is in jeopardy under their watch :(

[@mbmurphy777]

@@droppopcandied my understanding is that it was under financial pressure regardless.

[@mbmurphy777]

@@ffc1a28c7 well you wouldn’t be able to go to university without having health insurance. So you could’ve just had health insurance and then you would’ve been covered. But if you were an undocumented migrant, or if you were truly destitute, all of your care would’ve been covered for free in the United States.

[@collinsnyder8682]

Doctors and for profit hospitals themselves change their mindset of treatment based upon the feared rejection of health insurance claims. I was in hospital having a very bad Crohn's flare and the attending GI told me he would put me on rescue remicade but said that the pharmacy will deny it and they'd have to bring my case in front of a board to say why I needed it and he warned me unless I was about to loose my colon, it would be rejected. He didn't think I was quite there yet so it never happened. After a 2 week stay, I was released only to go downhill 5 days later. I decided to go to a not for profit, much larger, university hospital where after a scope, there was no question, I needed it. After 2 doses in 4 days, an additional scope revealed absolutely zero improvement and was given the bad news, there was nothing left to do and I needed my colon removed. Looking back, if that first hospital wouldn't have had insurance denials on their mind, would earlier intervention have resulted in me keeping my colon? That was me at 32 years old. Fit, top cyclist, now my quality of life, forever reduced because of subpar care due the dark cloud that hangs over doctors and hospital that is health insurance companies. Screw the US health system.

[@sadmermaid]

American problems require American solutions...

[@steamfire]

American solutions fail for ignoring others lessons

[@MedlifeCrisis]

Yeah I guess I didn’t even mention guns in this video…that’s a whole ‘nutha American topic. In this case a 3D printed one! With access to bullets and suppressor…

[@sadmermaid]

It's crazy you can 3D print one now, I remember years ago I think someone tried, the plastic wasn't thick enough or something. I'm not American, I don't have much knowledge of guns, fwiw.

[@grahvis]

@@MedlifeCrisis . The total cost of firearm related injuries and deaths in the U.S. for 2020 was $493.2 billion.

[@moi01887]

@@grahvis But it's all worth it because it prevented at least one guy's TV from being stolen. (/s in case it's nor obvious)

[@SquareyCircley]

Is violence only committed with a gun? I love that people are expanding this concept to the healthcare system and to the capitalist system as a whole. Engels on 'social murder': "when society places hundreds of proletarians in such a position that they inevitably meet a too early and an unnatural death, one which is quite as much a death by violence as that by the sword or bullet; when it deprives thousands of the necessaries of life, places them under conditions in which they cannot live - forces them, through the strong arm of the law, to remain in such conditions until that death ensues which is the inevitable consequence - knows that these thousands of victims must perish, and yet permits these conditions to remain, its deed is murder just as surely as the deed of the single individual"

[@LuSanFR]

Humanity has been through so much and yet its history just keeps on repeating like a broken machine in which humans are the clogs.

[@ashleywalker3813]

The building class consciousness is beautiful to watch. And the normal attempts at trying to turn this back to left v right are failing (see all the "why are leftists cheering murder?" from right wing commentators, and their audiences cheering the murder instead of agreeing)

[@lawrencefrost9063]

Ironics isn't it? Engels' description of society ia exactly like Soviet Russia, China, North-Korea. Glass houses and stones.

[@roymarshall_]

We really quoting Engels now?

[@GodIwishIknew]

Big E to the rescue again

[@MaxPower-11]

United Healthcare is the largest health insurer in the US. They reject one of every three claims. That is just insane.

[@mbmurphy777]

It depends on what the claims are for. They aren't for lifesaving care, otherwise they would have been sued into oblivion by now. Yes, denials are a PITA. Yes, I hate dealing with them as a provider. But people aren't dying because of denials (many of which get reversed on appeal). That's important, because this unsupported contention is being used to support vigilante MURDER.

[@yottaforce]

@@mbmurphy777 I had an abscess in my behind. It (probably) wouldn't have killed me, but I can tell you a lot about how uncomfortably it is. Are you advocating for a life-threatening/non-life-threatening criteria?

[@mbmurphy777]

@@yottaforce i’ve never heard of any such thing being denied. An abscess would be easily classified as an emergency, especially in the rectal area. All Emergency care legally must be covered. I’ve never seen anything like that denied in my 25 years of surgical experience. I don’t want to be pushed into defending insurance companies because I hate dealing with them and they are a pain in the ass (sorry for the pun). I’m just saying that it’s simply not been my experience and I’ve never heard of an actual incidents of life-threatening care ever being denied for insurance reasons. That’s an important point because that “conventional wisdom” is being used to justify murder.

[@cr10001]

@@mbmurphy777 "I don't want to be pushed into defending insurance companies" Yet that's all you do, all over this comments section. Do you work for a 'healthcare' company?

[@mbmurphy777]

@ nope I work for a hospital. I’m a surgeon as you could probably read if you’ve read all the comments. I’m not defending insurance companies. What I’m saying is that hundreds of people aren’t dying every day because of insurance company denial. That’s just a ridiculous claim for which there is zero evidence. And it’s important because people are using this false premise to justify murder. That is all I’m saying

[@hellcy7237]

"Americans don't even want to attempt to reign in the unregulated capitalism in healthcare" That's categorically false- According to gallop 62% of Americans view healthcare as the government's responsibility, 51% view the Healthcare industry negatively, and 78% view the availability and affordability of healthcare as a problem worthy of a great deal/fair amount of concern. The American people want change, however our purchased officials, sorry, "elected officials" don't support changing the system since it is so profitable for their donors. THAT is why there was so much public support for Luigi

[@BoredErica]

So... half of the people are okay with the healthcare industry? That's... pretty high lol. Good luck trying to get change when 40% of country doesn't agree that healthcare is government's responsibility when of the 60% that think it is, only part of them actually really care about the issue (after all, half the country apparently views healthcare industry neutrally or positively) and of those, people are split on how the system should be set up. Neither are nebulous policies passed in practice based on a national poll. That is not at all how the political system works.

[@KtVogtF]

Agreed, the people want change but the political system is totally broken.

[@steoderfragt1821]

You going fishing to find data you like doesn't mean your opinion is true. Ask how many Americans want their taxes to rise for healthcare, then you can see the true face of the american people. There is a reason people voted for Trump, a billionaire. He said everything is going to get cheaper, taxes and prices, that's what the people want.

[@GuruCube]

But if they want that, why do they vote billionaires into political positions (rather than experienced and qualified professionals)? The incoming government is the exact example of people like this CEO. What they say in surveys is one thing but they need to vote and act accordingly. 🤦🏼‍♂️

[@Adowrath]

@@GuruCube Because people are not logical. They do not vote for their best self-interest. Most people don't even want to have to think or have time, so their only peripheral information they gather is "the other side is bad because" and vote based on that. There is often very little belief that voting can actually change things anymore.

[@95mudshovel]

I'm gonna need prior authorization to feel real empathy for him.

[@hive_indicator318]

And I'm going to need the deductible being met and the copay. Before services are rendered

[@steoderfragt1821]

You actually don't need to feel empathy for him to condemn extrajudicial killings, you should have a basic grasp of morality.

[@who-did-what-now]

I'm sorry, that's not included in the plan. Neither is dental, because those are clearly just for cosmetic purposes.

[@Goreuncle]

@@steoderfragt1821 So judicial killings are ok, then? Quite the morality. Are we talking about the same judiciary that has filled US prisons with a disproportionate number of blacks? The same judiciary that lets rich people get away with murder and locks up poor people for life on made up charges? The same judiciary that overturned Roe v. Wade? Such a great beacon of morality 🤣

[@brandon9172]

@steoderfragt1821 Should I feel bad for war criminals and child molosters too?

[@LordofBroccoli]

Brian Thompson was a mass murderer - he knew his actions were murdering tens of thousands, and he did not care. All those lives so he could have an extra yacht and mansion. We are told to abhor murderers, no? Oh wait, only the lowly ones, not the ones at the top of the ladder. He was not the engineer, but he reveled and relished in it. He wasn’t forced to be a tyrant, he chose to be one. All of these “oh, but murder is evil” takes misses the key point - his murder wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t choose and revel in this path. If murder is evil, then why was no justice served? Why wasn’t he arrested and tried for all the deaths he caused? When the foundations are this rotten, when justice only serves those who rot the system, dismantling the foundations becomes necessary. And there is no foundation more rotten in America than the healthcare industry.

[@mbmurphy777]

You say this like it's a known fact. Please provide evidence of the 10 of thousands "killed" by UHC. And then explain why there aren't 10s of thousands of wrongful death lawsuits. You are using a false premise to justify supporting murder.

[@mf--]

​@@mbmurphy777 I got some back of the envelope math estimate for you. Roughly 350 million USA citizens. 91% are insured according to the census. So say 310 million are covered. Industry average for denied coverage is 16%. UnitedHealth, the largest healthcare provider denied coverage for 32%. UnitedHealth has the largest market share at about 15%. If every person with UnitedHealth made just 1 claim it would be just under 15 million claims denied. If 1% needed it for the long term health (which is the whole point of paying for health insurance) or life, it would be 150,000 people. Less than 1/3rd of that number of people are ended by firearms per year in the USA and everyone calls that a major problem.

[@RICDirector]

Lawyers are EXPENSIVE. Reason #1 why there are 'so few' wrongful death suits....

[@RICDirector]

Not to mention the emotional toll and distress involved in filing one.

[@BalletomaneM]

@@mbmurphy777 Why are you licking the boots of a corporation that doesn't care about you, only your money?

[@foreverNwonder]

When you say Americans don’t want a different system for healthcare- a lot of us do. We’ve been fighting against a political system funded by these ultra wealthy corporations… it’s like going into a fight against a giant and they give the giant a large sledgehammer, and were expected to fight using papercuts

[@Parabueto]

Interesting you mentioned the 2008 crisis. I was in my mid teens at the time and spent a lot of time playing games online. One of my American friends disappeared one day. Came back months later and explained what he'd been doing. His father in law, about the same age as my Dad, had been made redundant because of the financial crash, just like mine. His father in law had his health insurance through his employer and couldn't afford it seperately. After a few months he had a massive heart attack (likely stress was a contributing factor). He got rushed to hospital, but as soon as he was assessed as stable he was sent home with absolutely no followup care to address the cause or prevent reoccurance. Few weeks later, another heart attack. This time, he was left bedbound when he was discharged so my friend helped provide round the clock care for about three months, during which time the same sorry cycle would keep happening eventually leading to the father in law's death. If the man had been given the treatment required in the first instance, possibly combined with lifestyle adjustments, the odds aren't terrible that he'd still be living a fufilling life now. That was a real shock. As it is, my Dad was recently admitted to hospital with suspected pneumonia. Turns out it was actually serious lung blood clots and he's lucky to be alive (given all of the clots passed through his heart from his limbs). Drugs, oxygen, monitoring and other follow up care, all delivered without even thinking about charging for it. If it was the US, in near minimum wage conditions, I suspect the whole family would be bankrupt now to line the pockets of some greedy scumbag at the top of an insurance company.

[@BlueScreenCorp]

0:20 "To look like a crazy person talking to a phone" I am pretty sure that is what phones were invented for, you would look like a crazy person if you were talking and there was no phone

[@anthropomorphisis]

As someone who works in the EHR space and who has worked in retail pharmacy... the difference between America's charging for meds (and healthcare in general) as I support multiple countries is totally depressing. Especially for oncologic meds. It's the most depraved sort of evil you can get. Telling elderly folks that they were in the Medicare "donut hole" made me cry multiple times as a non crier. PBMS supporting their own pharmacies only for max profit is depraved. I worry so much about patients, but also all clinicians.

[@anthropomorphisis]

That being said I am an American. The discussion this has sparked impacts me personally. I don't think anyone should be shot directly for what they are doing, but I think they should be held accountable. Profit focused healthcare has been the cause of death of so many Americans, and AI will be the death of American healthcare, and hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Americans themselves.

[@mbmurphy777]

The real reason drugs and healthcare technology are more expensive in the United States: the rest of the world doesn’t pay their fair share for drug production cost, development costs, or entrepreneurial risk costs. These countries (like the EU etc) use their monopoly purchasing power to dictate terms to the drug companies under threat of revoking patent rights. Therefore, the only country in the world that pays all those costs is the United States. This is ridiculous because the European Union is rich. Canada is rich. Australia is rich. I can understand India pulling that kind of free riding, but the rich countries? Time to step up. The same is true for all new surgical developments and surgical technologies. They’re all developed for the US market because that’s the only place people will make any money. Yet the rest of the world gets to enjoy those advancements in surgical technologies and pharmaceuticals.

[@cr10001]

@@mbmurphy777 That is complete bullshit. The rest of the (civilised) world pays for healthcare at realistic prices, not price-gouging with most of it going to insurance company middlemen.

[@mbmurphy777]

@ that’s just not a very convincing argument. It’s because something doesn’t agree with your preconceived notions. Doesn’t mean that it’s wrong. You could probably spend five minutes on Google researching it and find out. From ChatGPT “While the use of compulsory licensing and threats to revoke patents is more common in developing countries, some wealthy nations have also adopted these techniques, especially in response to pressing public health needs or to combat high pharmaceutical prices. Here are a few examples: 1. Canada 2. Germany 3. France 4. Australia 5. European Union Use of Patent Leverage in Negotiations Even if not directly using compulsory licensing, wealthy countries may indirectly use the threat of these mechanisms as leverage in price negotiations. This strategy forces pharmaceutical companies to reconsider pricing policies to avoid losing market exclusivity.”

[@mbmurphy777]

@@cr10001 From ChatGPT While the use of compulsory licensing and threats to revoke patents is more common in developing countries, some wealthy nations have also adopted these techniques, especially in response to pressing public health needs or to combat high pharmaceutical prices. Here are a few examples: 1. Canada 2. Germany 3. France 4. Australia 5. European Union Use of Patent Leverage in Negotiations Even if not directly using compulsory licensing, wealthy countries may indirectly use the threat of these mechanisms as leverage in price negotiations. This strategy forces pharmaceutical companies to reconsider pricing policies to avoid losing market exclusivity. --- Now I can’t blame these other countries for doing this, it’s in their own best interest, and in the interests of their people. However, as I said before, it’s not 1945 anymore, these people need to step up and act like grown-ups. I don’t blame India in Africa for doing this sort of thing, but rich countries? We already pay for European security, which allows them to spend more money on their social programs (which are unsustainable even under these circumstances). We also police the world’s oceans allowing free trade in energy (Oil) and guarantee frictionless trade. We also allow these countries free and open access to the world’s largest markets for their high margin exports (which their own economies cannot absorb). We also inject billions of dollars a year directly into European economies by stationing troops at their bases This along with free riding on medical development costs allows these countries to fund systems that are not sustainable without our subsidies. So when you compare how much money we spend on healthcare versus other countries, the numbers are skewed because a lot of the money that we spend directly and indirectly subsidize European healthcare systems. And when you look at results, you have to realize that healthcare incomes are heavily dependent on Ethnicity. They’re also heavily dependent on obesity. Obviously, America’s way ahead in obesity (other countries are catching up, of course). Also, we import something like 1 million immigrants per year many of whom are not super healthy. I know because I operate on them all the time. Hopefully the new GLP one medications will help us crush the obesity epidemic. That alone could provide Something like a cure for diabetes and reduce many other chronic medical issues which will reduce medical spending by hundreds of billions. But it’s time to stop subsidizing other rich countries. It’s definitely not as simple as “voting for a better system”. What does that even mean? You can’t vote for changes in ethnicity, obesity, or what European countries do. What you can do is pressure them with retaliatory, tariffs, or other diplomatic means to start carrying their own weight. This has been working with NATO expenditures and it’s time for them to step up on everything else as well. These are highly developed countries full of adults. They need to stop parasitizing the United States.

[@I_Am_SciCurious]

Thank you! I’m American but lived overseas for decades, and it makes me nuts that my fellow Americans think we need to reinvent the healthcare wheel. It would be so easy to look at countries that function well and replicate their system.

[@roymarshall_]

Define "function well". The problem is that so much of people's opinions about healthcare system quality is based purely on vibes. Lots of different countries have different types of problems. A tourist might be blown away at the quick and free treatment they get for a broken arm in a country with socialized healthcare, but somebody else living there with a chronic illness that is resource intensive to treat might find themselves constantly at odds with shortages and beaurocracy. In terms of healthcare outcomes and quality of service America's system is doing a lot better than many others. It's weird blend of insurance companies and government policies definitely has a lot of problems for sure.

[@SamAronow]

@@roymarshall_ True as that may be, those problems are primarily a matter of _availability_ of service: funding, prioritizing, and having the necessary doctors and nurses to administer specific services. Based on my experience abroad as well as that of others I know, this is actually one area where the US does exceptionally _well-_ provided that your insurer allows you to use it. We have perhaps the greatest availability of care but the least access to it.

[@Januaryschild]

Ahhhh....but that would take Americans to realize they aren't the whole world.

[@esthermcafee5293]

Like they’re right beside Canada! The Canadian system didn’t spring fully formed from the brow of Zeus - and it only came about in the 1960s, so there’s plenty of documentation about how to transition from a private insurance system to a public one.

[@mbmurphy777]

Other countries' healthcare systems could not exist (in their current state) without the US paying for their security, providing open markets for their high-margin exports, providing security for frictionless seabourn international trade, and enforcing a free market in energy (oil). The US is also the only country that pays the costs of drug and medical tech development. The EU countries use their monopsony purchasing power (and the threat of compulsory licensing) to force pharma/tech companies to sell their products at cost or a little over. Even though they are rich countries. Therefore, the only place these pharma/tech companies can make money is in the US market. It is only a small exaggeration to say that new drugs and tech are driven primarily by the US market. However, the rest of the world gets to enjoy those advances, but without paying for the development, liability, or entrepreneurial costs. So it's not as simple as "just vote for the right system".

[@Innuya]

14:38 "Idk if this whole thing, executing a ceo, is indicative of some kind of societal decay beginning" one might argue that it's a continuation of the decay. The social contract was broken by the billionaire class, this is a reaction.

[@scottpreston5074]

@Innuya This is the beginning of societal decay correcting itself.

[@shinypaintf588]

More like the beginning of the society bettering itself

[@sadmermaid]

Last time i was this early, the United CEO didn't have a lead allergy

[@Zgembo121]

too soon? nahh

[@Rollacoastertycoon]

@@Zgembo121not if you’re a liberal

[@sadmermaid]

​@@Rollacoastertycoonthis isn't about being on the left or the right. Don't side with the 1%, they don't care about you bro.

[@sohigh10]

That's just his immune system automatically rejecting any incoming claims.

[@MsAnpassad]

@@Rollacoastertycoon I've seen both sides writing stuff like that. this turned out to be the one thing everyone agrees about. Luigi for president?

[@anikasharma5052]

Not the US literally having capital punishment, a torture island, an abusive prison system, war-happy foreign policy, and then expecting people to be uncomfortable with retributive violence...

[@thecolorjune]

THIS

[@canadiangemstones7636]

And every child has a machine gun...

[@aparker7777]

The American *PEOPLE* def want the insurance situation to change. The insurance companies who line the pockets of the Dems and Repubs do their best to make sure that doesn't happen. But us people are TIRED.

[@mbmurphy777]

Is that really true? Look at voter surveys. Not a priority item. It's supposedly been a "crisis"... for 40 years. How much time did the dems spend talking about healthcare this election? Barely any. Instead they talked about abortion access, "fixing the economy", "preserving democracy", trans rights, etc. If it were a priority, one of the political parties would have made it a key part of their run. Neither did.... which suggests that the situation may be blown up out of proportion for the purpose of media attention. No it's not a perfect system, obviously, but it's not the disaster portrayed.

[@unconventionalideas5683]

Most Democrats actually want the system to change, and one of their strongholds, Hawaii, already has its own NHS style system which produces good outcomes and is well liked by Hawaiians. Unfortunately, getting the hundreds of people in Congress to vote in Unison within one party on such a controversial issue is almost impossible.

[@mbmurphy777]

@ that’s because a lot of people don’t want to sign over another 20% of the nation’s economy to government control. That hasn’t worked well in education and also would have negative effects on healthcare innovation. My concern is that the United States system is what drives healthcare innovation for the entire world essentially. Personally, I am so tired of dealing with all the different contracts and hassle and insurance company bullshit that I wouldn’t fight A universal system. On the other hand, I don’t wanna throw out the baby with the bathwater.

[@bobdole8830]

Plenty of brainwashed Americans that will defend the system

[@naomieyles210]

@@unconventionalideas5683 some of those Democrat politicians are taking dark money political donations from UnitedHealthcare.

[@charmsz566]

LOL I am sadly a pre-authorization princess. This whole story hits so close to home for me, literally and figuratively. Not only do I pass by the hotel where the shooting occurred on my way to the hospital most mornings (i was thankfully in clinic that day), i also live blocks away from the hostel where the shooter stayed. Furthermore, i have been denied coverage by UHC of medication that i've needed since birth, and seen the prices on my medications almost double, despite the manufacturer of the drug themselves selling them direct to consumer for the base rate I've paid for >20 years (which is how i now get my medications, uninsured, and cheaper). I have to constantly work around my patients' insurance policies to cleverly piece together the best quality care i can possibly offer them, which often runs contrary to my medical knowledge and skills, all because some paper pusher at a corporate insurance company says, "nah." I implore you to speak to real people in the US rather than follow the news - there is a disturbing sensationalist narrative being pushed about online behavior on news outlets but I assure you, nobody in real life is celebrating this event, and the likelihood of copycat violence is extremely low (we are angry at CEOs who are making our lives harder - we don't want our lives to be harder, meaning, we dont want to go to prison. its pretty straightforward). That said, "murder is bad" is a moot point and it doesn't resonate among those of us (myself included) who are personally invested in this story. We in the US are desensitized to murder. Our kindergartners are murdered. Our mentally ill and suffering are murdered. Its devastating but its a fact of life that's as American as apple pie. I'm incredibly frustrated by the portrayal of our response to this event as "glee" and "celebration" of violence when it is instead a sense of unity and shared, collective grief that we have not felt in decades -- grief for our loved ones and our own health. This is a very strange feeling, since our awful healthcare business affects people on the left and on the right equally, and after a demoralizing and upsetting election season, maybe it does appear as joy that we are relating to one another but its certainly not a bloodthirsty party over the killing of Thompson. The fact that the media continues to hammer on this narrative of Americans rejoicing the killing of a man, rather than trying promote the difficult conversations around modifying our broken systems, is yet another among many colossal failures of shoddy American institutions. And those are my two cents, an embarrassing proportion of my paycheck, as a resident doctor (and former oncology nurse who is indeed familiar with gallows humor) in the US.

[@RICDirector]

Based on what Im seeing and hearing, on and offline...you are speaking for a very few when you state that no one is celebrating or condoning this murder.

[@michael1]

This guy is supposed to be smart but figured the solution to his problems was shooting someone....now you can see what is playing out is him living his life in a small box wearing orange. Is that better than his prior situation? Hmm? 3 things that won't solve the issue or pretty much any issue (a) Americans national sport of wallowing in self pity - especially strong amongst new yorkers, (b) Social media and (c) Guns. Your main problem as a species is, you're all selfish and clueless - and then you need medical attention and instead of saying "I voted against the guy who wants a national health service because I thought 'fuck those other assholes - get insurance" - you blame the insurance company - but the insurance companies have given you exactly what your nation wanted for healthcare - and the hospitals too because make no mistake insurance companies are overcharged and falsely billed for unnecessary procedures by doctors and nurses. But everyone go stand look in the mirror - that is the person to blame for America.

[@Muritaipet]

Loved your comment, and enjoyed reading it *except for the lack of paragraphing.* Please consider an edit. Even if you just put a space every third line.

[@WhichDoctor1]

i saw a clip of a fox news broadcast where the presenter was talking about how sick and horrifying it was that people were celebrating this CEOs killing, and said something about how it shows the depravity of the left. And then immediately segwayed to a story about a guy who killed a homeless man on the street being found not guilty of murder and talked positively about how people were calling him a hero

[@sinephase]

People celebrating the murder en masse has made that the story and I don't think the discussion about healthcare is seemly when a man is dead

[@esteemedmortal5917]

Some elements of a functioning society cannot be run like a business. A business is not an inherently superior model. It shouldn’t be applied to things where maximizing profit fundamentally undermines the societal element. I believe healthcare is one of those things (prisons are another). You don’t get to pick and choose the conditions you get. You can pick and choose what risks to take, like smoking, volunteering to be in the armed forces, taking on activities that have elements of danger (like scuba diving or rock climbing). But you don’t choose what genetic conditions you have or illnesses that may occur spontaneously in later life like MS or ALS. You don’t choose to get struck by a drunk driver or your brain cells to turn into a glioblastoma. Treating such conditions is fundamentally different from picking what car to buy. If you don’t make Porsche money, you’re not getting a Porsche. If you’re born with type 1 diabetes though, you NEED insulin to live. You’re not paying an exorbitant price because you’re reckless with your budget, you’re paying an exorbitant price because a company literally has your life in their hands. As an American, I hope at least this solidarity continues and prevents the next administration from repealing the ACA and/or reintroducing high risk pools. I already pay a pretty penny because despite health insurance, I have a genetic condition for which my best treatment is from a specialist clinic that is out of network. I’m grateful I can afford that, but if high risk pools come back, this is going to make it much harder to afford. I also hope it opens people’s eyes to all the goddamn billionaires they voted into office who are hucking their wares and planning to make it easier to victimize the average person.

[@RICDirector]

Here, here!

[@anahidkassabian4471]

I’m an American, with a host of challenging health conditions, who moved to the UK 20 years ago. The NHS was part of what drew me to accept the job offer that brought my family here, but the difference between the NHS 20 years ago and now is mind-boggling. The American healthcare system is beyond comprehension by anyone but the billionaires and millionaires it supports. And Americans are truly, righteously angry. But I have to say, I think there’s a fair bit of anger brewing here, too. Not to the same degree, obviously. But somewhere in all of this, there are some very important lessons about the consequences of late capitalism.

[@psd993]

May be at your age, one would think you'd have the patience to look things up instead of just using clever-coded terminology to sound smart. Late-stage capitalism doesnt mean something like the excesses of capitalism have reached unbearable levels, or gotten too greedy, or that it's in it's final stages with a collapse imminent, or neoliberalism, whatever vague meaning you've pieced together. It was a term used by marx himself, not a recent invention. It means a stage of capitalism where capital itself became a commodity (stocks, equities, financial markets and the like). Nothing more. Since this has been true for a hundred + years, and the NHS, since it's founding had existed in such a system, I dont know what you mean by "consequences of late capitalism" other than that you just picked up that term from some pseudo-intellectual leftist college kids.

[@anahidkassabian4471]

@ It strikes me as a bit odd that you’re so triggered by one phrase. I used it as a shorthand so that I could refrain from writing an essay. I just hope that your principles mean you are more generous than you appear to be in this post.

[@johanngambolputty5351]

Louis Rossmann put it pretty well. (paraphrasing) No one is going to shed a single tear for this ceo, and that's fair. But, vigilantism is a slippery slope, today maybe justified, next time maybe not, its not a thing we want to normalise. It's a systemic failure that this ceo was not tried through the normal justice system long before this event.

[@positivevibesveda]

That’s true, but the justice system is corrupt as well. All systems are rigged to benefit the rich and powerful. It’s understandable why people who distrust the system want to take justice into their own hands.

[@GodplayGamerZulul]

And when the system catches up (never) is when there will be no need for vigilantes. The only people who could fix everything are the people that broke it in the first place. It just doesn't work.

[@कनलदअ_गनगयव]

well the justice system does protect the rich, plus the board of directors and shareholders who hired the ceo r also responsible

[@naomieyles210]

The systemic failure is still there, allowing these insurance companies to legally run racketeering operations, profiting on the deaths and disability of countless patients. Avoidable deaths are still very profitable for US health insurance companies. The problem of perverse incentives and lack of any legal recourse to bring them to justice is a deliberate part of the system. I agree with you that vigilante justice is extremely dangerous, and very worrying that it's come to this.

[@apocalypse487]

Legal system. Justice system is a myth.

[@hevad]

5:27 "Correlation is not causation" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@d.b.cooper1]

georgey boy osbourne would like a word

[@Ms.Pronounced_Name]

If the CEO had lived, he would have gotten to experience the joy of his claim being denied

[@purplegalaxies2149]

I live in Sweden and as many flaws our system has at times, long waiting time in the ER for example, it’s no where close to the American healthcare system. I realise how much I take for granted when it comes to my health care when I hear about shit that happens in the US. My friend has Schizophrenia and other issues, but the medicine is insanely expensive and I don’t think their insurance covers it either. It’s a disgusting system that care more for profit than for health.

[@wogsi]

As a fellow sweden resident working in medical field. Yeah, I see the constant push for better use of resources and saving money and so on. Every year it gets worse. The ER and mental health are the worst hit. But honestly, we're pretty well set. Our issues can be fixed in as little as five or six years with a dedicated focus and committed leaders. The american issue is... Deeply entrenched. It's cultural. It's changing into a system that none take for granted and would drive people out of homes due to redistributed costs. The changes would not stick unless gradual over decades.

[@unconventionalideas5683]

Unless you live in Hawaii, in which case they have what is a very effective universal healthcare system.

[@unconventionalideas5683]

@@wogsi If you lived in Hawaii, the American issue would not apply. I actually think that the current system in the rest of the US is collapsing in slow motion, so it will probably stick simply because the old system will have already imploded. Hopefully we can find a way to contain the suffering along the way.

[@wogsi]

@@unconventionalideas5683 I hope so too, but complicated and humane solutions are difficult to enact.

[@d.b.cooper1]

Same in the UK, we need to cherish what we have, cause sadly there's a growing trend of right/conservative polticans being lobbied by American think tanks & consultants to slowly creep us into a private system. In the UK the conservative tories on purpose underfunded & tried to break the NHS system, it's an old school tactic 'Break it on purpose & then say the private industry would do a better job'. The populists are no better, they're even more blatantly corrupt & when it doesn't work out they can always fear monger & blame which ever segment of society/deep state/opposition they want that's the favour of the month.

[@charlesmanning3454]

I think most Americans, including American in red states and strong believers in capitalism, recognize health care in America is broken. The problem is that recognition doesn't translate into voting behavior, it gets overwhelmed by concerns about transgender bathrooms and sad plight of billionaires being figuratively taxed to death.

[@naomieyles210]

There are enough Democrats taking dark money from UnitedHealthcare that the issues are still not fixed even when Democrats have a Congress majority. I think that's part of the rage that US citizens are feeling, with some of them even blaming the problem on ObamaCare. You are right that culture war issues are used in Republican advertising in an attempt to rile up voter support on issues that actually don't affect them. It's the same old blaming gay people, blaming black people, blaming immigrants as being the cause of everything bad in America.

[@Serioslump]

Businesses of all kinds need to wake up to the fact that they serve their communities, not their shareholders. There needs to be a radical restructuring of the economy.

[@meinname8933]

Hello, I share your sentiment, but why would a business vouluntarily serve the community?

[@TeamSprocket]

@@meinname8933 Because companies impact the community whether they want to or not, and if they do it negatively then they get wackos or antitrusters in government and uncle teds and luigis in the streets

[@pattheplanter]

@@meinname8933 Because they are composed of people who make up the community.

[@arturo7250]

@@meinname8933 Maybe if Brian served the community he'd have had a different fate.

[@Ompasikom]

Stakeholder economics instead of shareholder economics

[@5kribbles]

Yes we all have our weaknesses. It turns out CEOs weakness is bullets

[@calpic9748]

How much empathy can you be expected to have for someone who enriched himself off of the murder and suffering of others?

[@carverredacted]

It's one of those things that really confuses me. on one hand, we shouldn't be romanticizing a traumatizing crime, but on the other hand, I'm a victim of United Healthcare. I live in a far right/deep red state here in the US and due to a congenital disability, have both Medicare and Medicaid. My state basically farms out dual enrollment to private companies. Every time I try to fill one of my meds, we have to argue with United. I have never managed to be on it for more than a month straight.

[@RICDirector]

You have my deepest sympathy on that one.

[@fluffigverbimmelt]

Just looking at the outcome of "I have never managed to be on it for more than a month straight", that is insane. Looking at you living in a first world industrialised country. That's a very unlikely outcome in Europe. I'd expect something like that in a (civil) war-ridden country, just for context. I really hope you guys are able to fix your health care system soon.

[@UniquelyPenny]

As a Canadian who was flown on the day of my birth to a different hospital in a different city, I would be dead if I was born in the USA. I don’t take where I was born for granted. Is ours perfect no, but the same problems we have here, they have in the USA AND they have to pay on top of all of it. I feel for all USA citizens stuck in that system. It is not going to get any easier in the next 4 years.

[@DahVoozel]

Probably not dead. Your parents may have gone deeply into debt though.

[@mbmurphy777]

All children immediately qualify for Medicaid. All emergency treatments are covered by law. No one is ever denied care. in emergency situations.

[@emil1063]

​​@@mbmurphy777 maybe not but they might spend all their savings paying it off

[@TC-8789]

Yeah we actually have some pretty amazing childrens hospitals in our major cities. You'd have probably been medivac'ed to one of them in a serious situation. We usually get treated first and billed later which is why more of us are in debt than dead.

[@BalletomaneM]

My empathy claim was denied and my thoughts and prayers are out of network. I care about him just as much as he cared about the millions of people UHC screwed over.

[@Shade.85]

Yours was a voice I was hoping to hear from in this discussion, regardless of not being linked to the US 'healthcare system'. Thank you. I agree. I am not in the US, but the societal despair is palpable even here.

[@Beery1962]

Americans DO want to rein in the unregulated capitalism when it comes to health insurance. But when we try to, we have to counter the billions that the health insurance industry pays to put politicians in their pockets and to pay media companies to manufacture consent. The problem is, in the US, all avenues of nonviolent change have been closed off.

[@dawnkeyy]

"This doesn't justify the murder, but..." is the perfect way to describe the vibes of this situation and is exactly how I felt about it

[@andrewjpalla]

You hit the nail on the head at 10:29 I'm not american, but the feeling of powerlessness in the face of institutional collapse is relatable. Its understandable that when your actions cause people to be dumanised, they stop considering your humanity.

[@korakys]

Democracy is supposed to be the solution to systemic issues, not killing people until you get the change you want. But America's version of democracy isn't working and hasn't been for a long time, so violence is the fall back option (like your Kennedy quote suggests). If Britain wants to fix its healthcare system people should really look at proportional representation for their parliament. Somebody would do well to start a political party in Luigi Maglione's name.

[@V01DIORE]

No it's because people are easily placated and fooled. The current system makes it so you have to have the intelligence to vote tactically to gain constituencies, which limits the power of I like guy I vote dummies. So the Tories are currently having a crisis being their party was just split and their voters are those dummies.

[@V01DIORE]

Also we don't have a problem with companies sabotaging our health system we have a problem with the government sabotaging our health system (the Tories for 14 years of cuts).

[@Jake12220]

America is an unusual case as it was founded by a group of rebels. It's why the second amendment exists, it's not about home protection, it's about protection from a dysfunctional or tyrannical government. The people were meant to rise up against the system if it became so broken, but of course later governments went to great lengths to reduce the power of the people and to subject them to ever more methods of control.

[@jons9721]

Sorry democracy is just a way for various tribes in a country who utterly hate each other to mostly live peacefully together. It's basically a civil war with strict rules. It's not a debate /discussion about the way forward

[@Dusty.Spinster]

UHC gave me one of the worst years of my life. Among other things, would deny my SSRI (that I had been on for over ten years) until a day or two after I was out. So last year I lost about 10 to 12 days to SSRI withdrawals all to save UHC a couple of dollars. SSRI’s aren’t even expensive, although the UHC plan was twice the price of any other insurance plan. Free Luigi.

[@RICDirector]

And they wonder why some people hoard medications....knew one guy who reported a burglary once a year so he would have a months reserves....

[@r.b.rozier9692]

It wasn't a murder. It was an extrajudicial execution. He may not have invented the system, but he had the power to change it and didn't. In his career in high level management of Health Insurance, how many people do you think he killed by denying life saving procedures, and people dying from not getting the procedure or by self-euthanasia after getting overwhelmed by the debt created by their evil greed?

[@korakys]

He didn't have the power to change it, even being at the top (he actually had another CEO above him btw) he would have been replaced. But just because he couldn't have changed the system it doesn't mean his assassination was unjustified. Democracy has broken down in the US, there is no other way.

[@pattheplanter]

His plea will be health defence.

[@GrahamSiggins]

Someone like the CEO actually doesn't have the power to change anything that would be meaningful. The real issue is companies set up in a way such that the CEOs are *legally required* to maximize shareholder profits. If a CEO tried to subvert a company they would simply be replaced and most likely face legal consequences, resulting in no change and just more turmoil

[@Adowrath]

@@korakys If he does not have the power to change it, yet while having more than enough money, he kept staying in that position/job instead of quitting, that means he was either in favor, or didn't care. Or in short: No difference.

[@PWNsoldier]

@@korakys "Just Following Orders" hasn't been an acceptable defense for a long time. Conspiracy to murder is still a crime. If you don't want to be convicted of crimes, don't be complicit in them.

[@thingsIlike-rd1sp]

This will not change anything in healthcare. From the response it's clear that the only change will be that the government doubles down on surveillance and civil rights become more subject to discretion.

[@VintageToiletsRock]

The gall of the corporate media and corrupt law enforcement officials to downplay the obvious frustration thereby ignoring any hope for change.

[@thingsIlike-rd1sp]

People in power do not do self-reflection. They think what they are doing is working, and all the problems are outside themselves. They are effectively NPC's reacting to a situation.

[@davidsanders9426]

Interesting seeing the actual real-world manifestation of the saying "one death is a tragedy, a thousand deaths is a statistic"

[@TobyLegion]

3:11 correct. He was not the engineer of the system. He was the profiteer. You can engineer a system that has unforseen consequences or blindspots, or it can get altered over time so that initial system it was build for breaks. A profiteer however deliberately abuses the system... in this case, at the expenso other peoples lives and health.

[@Mandragara]

Every dollar earned in profit is a dollar not used to care for a sick person. That dollar of profit has far less value to society as a dividend payment than it does to having healthier citizens. For-profit health insurance companies have no social license to operate. Resources are finite and should be triaged according to medical ethics guidelines, not some stock market metrics.

[@darkwing3713]

This is totally true. For profit health insurance is a lot like theft. And most of UnitedHealth's profits don't even go into dividends. In 2023 they had a $22 billion profit, and paid $6.7 billion in dividends.

[@_ashB]

US skepticism on socialized healthcare feels driven by mistrust that we'd ever come close to doing it right, I can easily imagine it going so poorly as to make the current state of UK's system look impeccable.

[@purplegalaxies2149]

He was caught in Luigi’s Mansion?, seriously?😭😭😂😂

[@nielskorpel8860]

Finally someone said it. Everyone was thinking about this joke.

[@VintageToiletsRock]

Luigi's Mansion AKA Maccas.

[@BlueScreenCorp]

8:15 minor correction, they didn't Blue Cross/Blue Shield wasn't going to not fund operations that went over time, they were planning on instituting a cap on the length of time that they would cover anesthesia for. So most of the operation would still be covered, its just that if that operation was identified to take 4hrs by the insurance company they would cover no more than 4hrs worth of the anesthesia and the cost to administer. It wasn't the whole surgery just the anesthesia, still scummy but we should be accurate.

[@nony_mation]

He did effectively say that about things taking longer, which was the point

[@BlueScreenCorp]

@@nony_mation he did eventually get there but wasn't terribly clear on that, as to not misrepresent the situation I thought it necessary to point that out. Although I wouldn't be surprised if putting time limits on how long a surgery could be covered wasn't already a planned way to "make" more money

[@mrserkoz]

​@@BlueScreenCorp you're onto something there!

[@NootalieWalf]

I went to the wrong ER after being violently SA’d and United wanted thousands for the receptionist to call 911 for me and the doctor gave me a clamp for my bleeding nose…

[@acatnamedm4529]

2 videos in a month? Seriously though, I am glad for your thoughts.

[@leander_d]

"Violence never solved anything" is a statement uttered by cowards and predators.

[@Rollacoastertycoon]

Quick video : 20 minutes

[@MedlifeCrisis]

Quicker than an e-bike ride through Central Park

[@Justanotherconsumer]

It would have been shorter but he didn’t have time.

[@MrWyzdum]

This is justice on a primary level that every person can appreciate. It wasn't handed down by a court--so what? Trump got off from actual CONVICTIONS, so what does it really mean?

[@jeffreychandler8418]

exactly. Our justice and political systems are fundamentally broken. So who cares. Trump shouldn't have made it past october 2016, yet here we are. CEO's shouldn't profit off of extreme exploitation and the deaths of others, but here we are. I'm not one to be violent, but I will not pearl clutch when an evil person is killed.

[@TKHaines]

I was trying to talk to my sister about ways people could springboard off the attention from this event to band together for nonviolent protest pushing for change and she just shut me down saying that it would never work. The absolute certainty she had that we can't do anything was depressing. I know a lot of people agree with her, but we aren't powerless and we don't have to resort to violence.

[@roberthernandez5802]

We don't have to resort to violence and they don't have to change. I'm not trying to be pedantic, I'm just trying to illustrate where we are at, and it seems to be an impasse. The fact that blue cross blue shield changed there tune right after the shooting and the fact that companies are hiding there CEOs shows that we only have a limited time to truly change anything before they find better ways to hide.

[@esteemedmortal5917]

Yeah, the only thing that’s really changed is CEOs trying to scrub their info to be less easy to track down and kill. People keep jeering about how awful this CEO is. And I agree, he was complicit in a fundamentally unethical enterprise. But then why did so many people vote in a con man who does nothing BUT try to scam people? Why did they listen to a billionaire? Now we’re getting an administration where the members are either ultra rich or want to make it easier to victimize the average person, disguising it as choice. If you want to drink raw milk, you’re an idiot but it’s your body. That doesn’t mean deregulating raw milk promotes freedom. Elites want you to believe you’re powerless. Don’t let them get away with this shit! You don’t need a gun, you need a show of force and solidarity.

[@pattheplanter]

A movement needs a good slogan like "Health Defence".

[@FeelsGrimMan]

Probably because all the ways you gave are feelgood nonsense that doesn’t change anything. But makes you feel like you both support change, & are a “good person with morals.” “Vote for change” Both/all candidates support the system in place. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be allowed to be candidates. While I would never suggest that both are the same, there certainly are some things that neither aim to fix. “Peacefully protest” These companies do not value human life, you are an ant to them. Doesn’t matter how many ants you gather if all you’ll do is chant & sit. “Sign a petition” They will then put that petition in a shredder. “Strike” You’ll what? Not buy insurance? Good luck with that. All your peaceful ideas likely come with the assumption that they care. They don’t, which is why your sister disagrees. Appealing to the conscious of people who profit off human misery is a joke.

[@Abby-ug4xc]

I've seen that attitude about pretty much every issue affecting where I live to. Some people are aggressively apathetic. They want to spread their apathy to others and I find it extremely frustrating. "Voting doesn't work" "protests don't work" "violence doesn't work" It's simply just not true. South Korea recently didn't just lay down and take it, so neither does anyone else

[@TKHaines]

@16:14 Why do all of these companies need to keep making record profits? It's not sustainable, it will end. Either with all of us standing up to them or all of us being drained dry.

[@Justanotherconsumer]

They have a legal obligation to maximize value for their shareholders.

[@TKHaines]

@@Justanotherconsumer Then that needs to change or redefined to reasonable or sustainable profits. We can't keep maximizing everything year after year.

[@schmuelinsky]

@@Justanotherconsumer1. No company is obligated to sell shares in the first place. 2. If the company still wants to sell shares but has a conscience problem with being forced to maximize profits, they could use some of their massive wealth to lobby for legal changes, no? 3. If UHC's denial decisions are inevitable because of their profit maximization obligation, how come other insurers have lower denial rates?

[@calpic9748]

They need infinite growth to survive in capitalism

[@moi01887]

A valid complaint, but everyone seems to focus on profits and that's only part of the problem. The insurance companies employ roomfuls of people who argue with doctors in an effort to deny claims, and doctors are forced to employ staffers just to argue with insurance companies. The amount of money that's wasted on that is staggering.

[@kbea121]

For those outside the US, every American has had to base their care on what insurance will allow. Most people have a story about how that negatively affected them.

[@nathan12521]

you know you've encountered a cardiologist when the guy has an ekg caliper on his id lace 😂

[@xWood4000]

I am against extrajudicial consequences for crimes, but I honestly don't know when the judicial system isn't justice

[@lostvarius]

Legalism is a terrible basis for ethics. I am personally deeply non-violent, bit I consider that to be a very fringe and radical position. I absolutely abhor all the hypocrits that claim to be non-violent while supporting state-sponsored violence (as most people do), and have far more respects for those who don’t share my nonviolent ideals but at least are somewhat honest about what they stand for.

[@supalaplic9641]

Even as a MD I don't support this "violence is never acceptable" attitude. We celebrate events like the French revolution and all sorts of independence days. Why? Let's apply the same logic. They should have presented the issue to the authorities (who were clearly unaware) and hope those authorities would become reasonable eventually (why wouldn't they?), the use of violence was deeply uncool bro!

[@tiagomoraes1510]

This "no violence" bs is repeated so much that people do not think about it.

[@Steven_Edwards]

It wasn't Luigi, he couldn't have done it, he was with me surfing in San Diego. It must of been his evil brother, WaLuigi.

[@KimClarke777]

Really helpful for USA-ians to hear from a professional from a nation with universal healthcare. For all it's flaws, viva la NHS

[@Sarcasticron]

~40,000 people in the US die every year from lack of health insurance, and many, many more have their lives destroyed. Yes, it's like violence, and you're never going to make them care about a CEO. And yes, it's the same in Canada as the UK, where our healthcare system kind of sucks, but it's still MUCH better than not having free universal healthcare.

[@mikecurry6847]

I thought I was going to die last year because I was so sick. I dropped from 155lb to 115lb in about a month and a half and couldn't even hold water down for a significant portion of it. I was so weak that I could hardly move. I still don't know what it was. I would rather just die at 38 than live a life of total financial ruin

[@auggiedoggiesmommy1734]

I told my husband that if I get sick with a major illness I will not treat it and bankrupt us.

[@theoblincko18]

The whole justice system in the US is in a slow motion carcrash. This is just a symptom of that.

[@Zeyev]

Thanks. I saw no humour/humor in the murder. I was talking to my dentist today about the possibility that the new administration would try to ban fluoridation and he said the burden would be on underserved communities. I went into a full snark mode and said we don't care about people who have no money. I tried to make it funny but it's truly not. Decades ago, our right-wing member of Congress sent a questionnaire with a line something like "You wouldn't want to pay for someone else's healthcare, would you?" It was at the time that Medicare was being proposed. My father slammed his fist on the table and sternly said , "Healthcare is a right!" I'm sort of happy my father is no longer around to see what we're still not ready to agree with him or you.

[@maluinthe90s]

My heart goes out to all the victims of United Healthcare and every other insurance group.

[@Soguwe]

My sister was in the US on vacation, and got into a car accident(not her fault) She preferred the risk of waiting a few days and only going to a doctor a few days later, when she returned to Germany. For all intends and purposes, that entire country did not have any doctors, at all. Flying to a different continent was the only way she could visit a doctor, _after a car accident_ This country is evil. Plain and simple evil. I feared for her a year back when she was almost a part of a mass shooting while just going to a festival,and I had to fear for her again because healthcare just doesn't exist there. Only exploitation and greed. I would never tell her to stop going. She has people there that she loves. But if I could, I would bar her from ever going back to that cursed, wretched land. I'd rather have her go to Mordor.

[@Brett323]

your sister let fear make her stupid

[@moki5796]

Temporary health insurances for trips to the US are surprisingly cheap for us Europeans and fully cover urgent care costs.

[@RebeccaOre]

The Miami airport clinic didn't take travel health insurance when I needed treatment for vomiting due to flu. Could not fly without that clinic's clearance.

[@drmatt1984]

I'm incredibly proud of the Australian Health Care system I work in. As a doctor I cant comprehend having to ask an *insurance* company for permission to provide the care I recommend. Like wtf? I'm the doctor and this is what the patient needs, insurance companies should have no say here and just be picking up the bill.

[@maybeinanotherworld]

I've lived in India and in Canada. I've been dealing with the healthcare system across both countries for years now because I have multiple chronic mental and physical health conditions. I have my opinions on healthcare in both countries, and how either could be improved. In Canada, where I am now, I Frequently complain about how hard it is to get a specialist referral or the hours and hours I've had to wait in the ER- but I would either be bankrupt or dead if I lived in the USA, and I don't take that for granted. I don't know if anyone anywhere is ever going to have a perfect healthcare system- but a for-profit system is never going to value the lives of consumers more than profit. I feel for Thompson's family, but I find it hard to have sympathy for the man himself.

[@jimmiethesainttech]

"Nobody deserves to die." Unless their US insurance company decides they do.

[@qactustick]

It really doesn't feel like healthcare here in the US anymore. It's a health industry, and it's just one big legitimized conflict of interest. These health insurance corporations are as profit-driven as any other business, and providing the service that their customers pay for, often for many years, would cut into those profits. Anyone who pays for health insurance in this country is getting scammed.

[@RICDirector]

And if you look at the insurers of homes in fire areas, you see what happens when they pay out....they stop taking clients and dump risky ones as fast as possible.

[@monsoonsheep]

I'll post the obligatory here: "Thou shalt not kill also means thou shalt not let profit margins decide who lives and who dies"

[@carolyncopeland2722]

My personal theory is the guy actually wanted to get caught. He had the ability to get away/leave the country etc. He wants for this to be captured by the media in America and publicized everywhere, in the way the American media does. The next OJ trial if you will. He wants the American public to be really really focused on the inequity of the US health system and maybe force change to the system. Maybe hes hopeful the US prison system will fix his health issues, if he even gets convicted and allowed to walk by the jury.

[@misslayer999]

I think so too. He's a smart guy. He's got a master's degree from penn in comp sci, well read, comes from a good family, etc. Everything about him and everything he did screams intentional and intelligent. He could have easily left the country, but instead he stayed around the same area. Why else would he have the "manifesto" monopoly money, gun and everything else on him? He was obviously planning on getting caught.

[@michaelolsen2760]

The CEO made millions denying care to customers. How far removed from causing death and pain do you need to be not be responsible.

[@jimbobur]

2:08 If the widespread glee at the CEO's death shocked you, you can't have been following healthcare in the US that closely.

[@benoithudson7235]

What shocked me the most personally was my reaction of utter revulsion at the hagiography the papers tried out when the news broke. Here was a man who was personally responsible for a huge amount of human suffering, and the papers were all about what a nice guy he was in person... largely ignoring his professional life! So the papers knew what this man had done, and decided to say nothing at all about it. It took another day before they could integrate that information in.

[@benoithudson7235]

@@Robespierre-lI : are you saying I'm next on the list for the guillotine already? Darn.

[@simplexicated]

Many many years ago a HGV driver told me the world would soon run by mega conglomerates. Over the past few years I've been watching with horror as corporate greed ruins everything. Profit first, above all else. A system can't have a conscience.

[@pattheplanter]

Cyberpunk dystopias were supposed to be a warning - not a blueprint.

[@neilwilson5785]

Corey Doctorow wrote a dystopian short story a while ago (Radicalised) in which a man whose wife died after being denied healthcare by insurers went after the medical insurance industry with bombings etc. It was supposed to be a dire warning for the future, but came true very quickly. Edit: I called it radicalised2 when the sequel does not exist, yet.

[@theinternaut1991]

Yes! it is a evil company!

[@Moon_x_sun]

As someone from Denmark I have just heard story after story after story about how shit the insurance companies are in America so I can completely understand the reaction this has gotten and while yes it’s sad a person died but those companies have murdered so many people bc of denials :/

[@johannahoneyman697]

I live in Australia and our healthcare system is pretty effed to be fair. The public health system has been underfunded for decades and private health insurance is BS because… insurance. But even with all its problems, the Australian health system is vastly superior to the US.

[@Mrjonnyjonjon123]

6:19 slight correction, Americans do, Our Politians and Fox News don't

[@fluffigverbimmelt]

I don't think that's fair to say. We saw the results of the election and the country is split down the middle. Maybe half of Americans don't, but at least half of the voters are at least accepting of this. I don't feel it's a fair analysis to push this to only Fox and "politicians" in general.

[@Snappy1143]

​@@fluffigverbimmelt Gallup polls show that 62% of Americans believe it's the government's responsibility to ensure healthcare to all citizens. 36% oppose, 2% no opinion. If universal healthcare was on the ballot, it would win. People vote for their candidate for many different reasons, and are also generally very misinformed. Also, neither candidate campaigned on universal healthcare or even made healthcare a major part of their campaign. Of course, Kamala was clearly much more in support of public healthcare to anyone paying attention, but most people aren't. I know several Trump voters who are very supportive of public healthcare, actively benefit from it, and want to expand it. They just genuinely don't understand that they're voting against it, or have other priorities. But I don't know anyone who doesn't want the system to change.

[@Mrjonnyjonjon123]

@ First let’s not pretend Kamala was campaigning or fighting for universal healthcare, The trump win was mostly due to a repudiation of the current administration, and past inflation. And Californians have voted in a governor who has campaigned on Universal Healthcare and they keep killing the bill before it can even go for a vote your not wrong that it’s only Fox News, they are the only ones who are overtly against it, the rest of the media is just dismissive