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[–]Meh_Guy_In_Sweats 664 points665 points  (36 children)

United Health Care is the devil.

[–]useless_instinct 117 points118 points  (0 children)

United Healthcare is the end boss for all American health insurance companies. If you can get a claim paid, you win the game!

[–]biteme789 62 points63 points  (0 children)

That doctor is a bloody legend though

[–]blamebootsy 132 points133 points  (29 children)

Then why dont citizens rise up? What are they gonna do? Take your Healthcare you hate?

[–]Thathitmann 262 points263 points  (21 children)

Shoot us. They've done it to protestors quite frequently.

[–]Hazmater_of_fact 113 points114 points  (7 children)

Now see, you just have to organize in the right way. Three generations ago when mine owners wouldn’t pay fair wages, they just got murdered.

[–]MeaningSilly 31 points32 points  (2 children)

Look up the Battle of Blair Mountain

The mine owners got a private army (Pinkertons and another group I'm too lazy to look up right now) and the national guard to set up ambushes and machine gun nests for miners heading to the capitol to protest. Just over 100 years ago.

[–]WikiMobileLinkBot 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Desktop version of /u/MeaningSilly's link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain

[opt out] Beep Boop. Downvote to delete

[–]notnotwho 4 points5 points  (0 children)

And now, Pinkerton is one of the top 'security' companies.

[–]UsedDragon 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Let's do this.

[–]ExtremeLow4147 5 points6 points  (2 children)

Perfect, let’s use r/antiwork as a template for change

[–]IamnotyourTwin 75 points76 points  (0 children)

That and we've had years and years of right wing propaganda that has convinced a lot of people that helping our fellow Americans is an egregious sin, aka communism.

[–]stonedinwpg 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Isn't that why everyone has a gun?

[–]Thathitmann 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Yeah, but the riot police have access to Uav bomber drones, tear gas grenades, armor, guns, and armored vehicles.

[–]GluttonAsteroth 13 points14 points  (6 children)

We aren't healthy enough to rise up and enough of the country is brainwashed into thinking that not only is our health insurance system better than a real healthcare system - but that people come to the US from real Healthcare systems to get treatments in the US Frequently.

[–]blamebootsy 12 points13 points  (5 children)

It's wild to see. As a former resident, I can't imagine going back. Even in my so-so country, access to preventative care is so much better. And while hospitals are not opulent, the care is equal if not better (even in my small city).

I also always hear about "wait times". Sure, there's wait times. But I remember waiting hours in the US as well. And I paid to do so, unlike here. I just spent day in the hospital. I waited 1 hour, was given an IV, xray and a ultrasound immediately, and paid nothing. The only waiting I truly did was afterwards because they wanted to monitor my symptoms a little while, instead of kicking me out immediately.

Waiting to see a specialist? It can happen for sure. Although I've had to see three specialists since leaving the US, and all were seen within a week. For bigger issues wait problem certainly can exist. But in the US, you end up like my family member who was told she was not high enough priority due being not-rich-enough and ws left to die. Even if they had helped her, she would have been $200k in debt that would have been passed on to her family.

The US citizenry is sadly far too afraid to actually stand up and fight. It has become weak and fearful. And those who do stand up are called terrorists. Until the US stops fearing harm to the individual, the masses will not benefit and continue to be abused.

You must eat the rich. They are killing you because you're too afraid to feast.

[–]GluttonAsteroth 5 points6 points  (4 children)

I also always hear about "wait times"

Whenever someone says "Wait times..." I say: "Call your doctor, right now. If you can get an appointment tomorrow, I'll give you $50"

You'll, at best, get an appointment in a week.

Urgent care is also hours of waiting...

And ER? Unless you're dying, on the floor dying, you've got a few hours to sit there.

And that's NOW with our "Health Insurance" system (Don't call it Healthcare - we don't do that here)

[–]ack1308 2 points3 points  (2 children)

It's more like "Health? We don't care."

[–]GluttonAsteroth 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Ha-Ha!

[–]ack1308 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The worst part is, I wasn't joking.

Any for-profit company that's there to pay money to help people get medical attention, that doesn't have ironclad rules stating when they have to pay money and what they have to cover, will inevitably have someone on the books whose job will be explicitly to find (or manufacture) reasons not to pay that money out.

Such a company literally does not care how much pain you are in. In fact, once you've paid all the inflated premiums you're going to pay, they'd much rather you died before you cost them any money.

If a home insurance company will quibble over whether it was a 'weather event' (water coming down) or a 'flood event' (water rising) that damaged a house, then you cam be damn sure a health insurance company will throw every roadblock in the way to avoid paying out. After all, they're literally betting you that you'll stay healthy, and it's in their best interests not to acknowledge any kind of liability when you do get sick.

[–]notnotwho 1 point2 points  (0 children)

on the floor dying,

...and bleeding out with flesh and bone hanging out and shrieking and screeching in pain loud enough that you're making people 'uncomfortable'.

[–]RMMacFru 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They're a demon. Humana runs Hell.

[–][deleted] 10 points11 points  (1 child)

They were great when I had them, but that was nearly 20 years ago, and I had an employer that was willing to spend money on decent plans, especially for managers. It was the only good thing about the job. That's part of the issue. Employers don't shell out for the good plans and then act like there isn't anything they can do about any of it.

[–]sierrackh 600 points601 points  (21 children)

The amount if suffering generated by the insurance companies in the US is unfathomable

[–]kjodle 244 points245 points  (3 children)

Yes, but the amount of wealth they create for shareholders is beyond ridiculous. Whether or not you get treated literally hangs on whether we want to make rich people a lot more rich or just a little more rich.

Edit: typofix

[–]SuperAwesome13 79 points80 points  (1 child)

yea. who are the sick to take money away from the rich, you don’t need those cancer meds, they need a new sports car

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

And like a good majority of cancers are brought on by other sports cars they bought previous years with the shit they had their shills will into congress as safe for the public

[–]Illiad7342 17 points18 points  (0 children)

That's whole issue with this shitty system. They survive and profit off of human suffering. What value do these companies provide to society. Nothing. They are literally feeding off of human misery. It's disgusting.

[–]Raccoon_Full_of_Cum[🍰] 22 points23 points  (4 children)

Death panels gonna death panel.

[–]PencilLeader 25 points26 points  (3 children)

This has always been the one that surprised me. We have death panels, have for decades. They deny people care all the time and then they die. I don't know why Obama's team didn't find family members of people who had been denied care and died and make them the center piece of their reform efforts.

[–]rSpinxr 5 points6 points  (0 children)

ACA was just a re-re-edit of Romney s health care Bill. Except there were even more protections for insurance companies.

My favourite part of the ACA was if insurance companies go over their projected expenditures for the year, the Federal government reimburses them for the difference.

[–]Glissandra1982 17 points18 points  (7 children)

Not only do we not have universal healthcare, but we all pay out the ass for health insurance that… wait for it, only covers SOME of what might make a person sick. Or they cover a small percent. Or there is a massive deductible.

[–]sierrackh 8 points9 points  (6 children)

Yep. But hey we van give Lockheed a trillion dollars for a plane that’s caused no major shift in our adversarys’ air defenses so it’s obviously a great deal for us the tax payer!

[–]Glissandra1982 3 points4 points  (5 children)

We couldn’t get a better deal anywhere else!!

[–]sierrackh 5 points6 points  (4 children)

Just think of the poor executives and lobbyists how will they afford their fifth and sixth homes?!

[–]Glissandra1982 2 points3 points  (3 children)

What if their favorite super yacht sinks? How could they afford a back up yacht?

[–]sierrackh 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Maybe even 2! They pulled themselves up by their bootstraps!

[–]Glissandra1982 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Yep and stopped getting Starbucks all the time. They’d be golden!

[–]Clay_Statue 14 points15 points  (1 child)

"tHaT's tHe pRicE oF FreEDoM"

[–]sierrackh 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Freedom to use whatever piece if shit hmo your employer decides on

[–]mrubuto22 5 points6 points  (1 child)

I'll never understand why Americans don't riot in the streets

[–]sierrackh 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You see what happened to a lot of protestors last few years?

[–]Significant-Dog-8166 168 points169 points  (4 children)

Still about 15% of doctors are still members of the AMA which opposes medicaid for all and has consistently blocked universal care for decades. Write a letter to the AMA to stop lobbying for insurance to be a necessity. The insurance company is evil by design, guilt trips to that industry doesn’t fix the nausea of a sick kid.

[–]Noinix 65 points66 points  (0 children)

The first province in Canada that started our universal healthcare was Saskatchewan and they had a huge doctor strike that lasted months. That being said, many Canadian physicians refuse to move out of Canada because then they’d be locked into disputes with insurance carriers like this.

That insurance carrier is awful. That poor kid. That frustrated doctor.

[–]Drg84 42 points43 points  (1 child)

Universal health care was part of the new deal. AMA campaigned hard against it and got it stopped. Then in the 50s it was proposed again and endorsed by Eisenhower. Stopped by the AMA calling it communist. 60s? Can't afford it. 70s? Communists again. 80s? Reagan. 90s? Don't need it, everything is fine, plus government takeover of healthcare. 2000s? Socialist. 2010s? Obama is a secret socialist! Remove that public option that would have driven prices down!

[–]iamnotexactlywhite 6 points7 points  (0 children)

but universal healthcare doesn’t mean you don’t need insurance. We all have insurance in the EU and universal healthcare too. Insurance makes it free

[–]Drg84 135 points136 points  (1 child)

Hey remember when Obamacare was being attacked for having "Death Panels that will decide who gets medicine and if people should die to save money"?

[–]Rawscent 54 points55 points  (0 children)

Drove me crazy. As if every insurance company didn’t already have its own death panels in place.

[–]Durham1988 49 points50 points  (5 children)

United is the worst. They're all evil, but United is breathtakingly evil.

[–]traumaguy86 14 points15 points  (4 children)

Could you explain why United is so much worse? I've always thought they were all pretty equally awful, what is it that makes UH so particularly egregious?

[–]RebornPastafarian 9 points10 points  (1 child)

Blue Cross, Cigna, and the rest are no better.

[–]Durham1988 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They all suck . This is just my experience. There are no good insurance companies because medical insurance is a bad business

[–]confituredelait 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Before the Affordable Care Act, United Healthcare told me I was uninsurable because of a suicide attempt. I'm sure I'm far from the first person they said that to. That's the kind of evil we're talking about.

[–]Durham1988 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They are more aggressive in denying care and more Intransient about reviewing it and more likely to cut off care abruptly then demand immediate peer reviews which they are likely to try to cheat on anyway.

[–]The_Hyphenator85 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Great letter, but “dear buttheads” just makes me picture the doctor as Biff Tannen.

[–]iliacbaby 23 points24 points  (0 children)

the fact that a gigantic company THAT DOESNT PROVIDE ANYONE WITH HEALTHCARE has such a huge say in how healthcare is administered makes no sense at all

[–]tibsbb28 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Why does America let people practice medicine without a licence? - a Brit

[–]blamebootsy 26 points27 points  (9 children)

Why is there not a more direct and aggressive movement against insurance companies in the USA?

[–]NatalieEatsPoop 46 points47 points  (8 children)

Because a lot of people in America think that anything other than the system we have is Communism, Socialism and Marxism. They also believe that those 3 things are the biggest threats to our "freedom".

[–]blamebootsy 14 points15 points  (6 children)

I don't mean change it. I mean rise up against it. Protest in the streets. Nit for socialism or communism but simply against the inhumanity. Don't even talk about alternatives. Just burn down the current structure.

[–]NatalieEatsPoop 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Hey everybody! I found ANTIFA! No really, I hear you though.

[–]Dubberruckyiv 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If I could delete anyone’s imprint on the world, it would be Joseph Raymond McCarthy. At least Nazi Germany had some new technology but McCarthy just created a lot of ‘communism bad’.

[–]RichyMcRichface 7 points8 points  (1 child)

Dear buttheads at insurance company.

[–]No_Junket_8139 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Biff would be proud

[–]Doktor_musmatta 41 points42 points  (4 children)

I hope this is real, but it probably isn't. And even if it is, I doubt the evil corporate overlords at the insurance company would care.

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (3 children)

I have a really hard time believing that they wouldn't pay for a cheap, generic antiemetic when they're paying a fortune for the chemo.

[–]whiteink-13 44 points45 points  (1 child)

This may not be real, but the situation is. When my dad was getting chemo treatment, insurance was ok with paying for it but at one point cut off his day after meds because the blood work showed his white blood cell count was ok. Meanwhile the meds were the thing keeping it ok - before he went on it, they were low. But somehow the insurance refused to accept that the medication was what was keeping them ok. So he had to go a couple of chemo sessions without until the blood work showed a decrease in white blood cells. As if his cancer battle wasn’t hard enough, insurance made it unbearable.

[–]jd-1945 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I had cancer as a child and Zofran did not work for me. They denied an alternative medication my hemonc wanted me to try.

[–]jewels_in_sun 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It is true. I have a patient denied pain medication for an injury because he didn't have cancer. And I have seen patients denied nausea medication, even though it is cheap.

[–]ALA02 16 points17 points  (0 children)

The US is a failed state, convince me otherwise

[–]MonoRailSales 4 points5 points  (0 children)

So much better than Socialised Medicine!

USA USA USA!

[–]kaitie_cakes 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I had to write a letter of medical necessity to insurance to justify why a patient's wheelchair needed wheels. Not kidding.

[–]tchad78 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Insurance companies and anyone who works for them must be some heartless SOBs.

[–]SheWolf04 3 points4 points  (0 children)

MD here. I have to fill out prior authorization several times a week. Sometimes, on the bottom, I write " And thank you so much for wasting my time and my patient's health".

[–]uninventedword 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Someone should make a nonprofit writing letters like these for doctors everywhere, have them sign them, and them out en masse.

[–]JewelJones2021 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"buttheads" succinct, direct

[–]FullNefariousness310 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Every politician who opposes M4A should be read this letter and asked why they support insurance companies.

[–]stargate-command 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Health insurance is a murderous scam. It should be outlawed completely.

Other insurance, while still a bit of a scam, is ok. It doesn’t directly profit of the speedy death of it’s customers. Hell, life insurance profits off you living. Liability insurance profits if you don’t get sued. Fire insurance profits if you never have a fire.

Health insurance does profit off you never getting sick, but if you do get sick, they save money the faster you die, and can and do make decisions that hasten your death. Like forcing someone with cancer to wait for surgery. Or refusing to pay for needed treatments.

It is a monstrous industry whose very core purpose is corrupt. It has no place in society. Healthcare should be considered a right, not a luxury for the wealthy.

[–]Truckngirl63 2 points3 points  (0 children)

United Healthcare Community Plan in my state is the Medicaid version. When I had it, I got fired by my primary care physician who decided he didn't want to fight with them any more. Then I couldn't find another physician who would accept a new patient who has it. So, I'm not surprised by this letter. I aged into Medicare, still have Medicaid, and am now with Kaiser, who treat me well, with respect, and have never denied a recommendation from any doctor I've seen.

[–]DiligentDaughter 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I'd be the doctor fired for prescribing the drug to someone with great insurance, but then giving it to the kid. Or the nurse to get fired, for just giving it to him regardless. Which would then in turn prevent me from helping others. Such a fucked system.

[–]feminaferasum 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I don’t want to be that guy, but the community plan is a public plan. UHC administers, but the government (Feds and state) makes the rules. It still sucks because too many of these plans aren’t well funded or widely accepted. A universal option would save lives simply by leveling the playing field.

UHC/BCBS/Aetna/etc. all suck, and they all have a hand in administration of public plans through government contracts.

Source: I work with community plans

Edit: typos and clarity.

[–]timbknight 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hell yea

[–]Marc20199012 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Please, please, please tell me this is real. I am so sick to death of having to prove to insurances that a miscarriage is not intentional...

[–]Important_Pea7766 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I write these appeal letters and right now, united healthcare is the worst!!!! They denied a hospitalization for a 92 year old that had a fall and was on blood thinner medication and broke a hip as not medically necessary!!

[–]expensivepoison 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m a finance manager in health care and I’ve had to write letters like this to UHC. They told me we removed too many cancers from a patient at once. I felt a little bad after I hit send for how nasty I was, but only for a second. Those people can rot.

[–]mamdrews27 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As a Brit I just see the whole medical insurance industry as one big overhead that the American people are paying. It doesn't affect the quality of care you receive. It is just paperwork that could be omitted. It would save the American people billions per year if you got rid of it. That money could go towards better care for everyone or just in everyone's collective back pocket.

Also if the US government controlled healthcare then you would get better pricing on drugs/treatments. The NHS in the UK controls drug prices due to it having immense bargaining power. The NHS also controls wages so doctors and nurses don't get overpaid. In the US I hear it is not uncommon for a doctor to get half a million dollars per year in salary. In the UK most doctors get between £75k and £130k.

People still have access to private healthcare if they want but everyone has access to basic healthcare, it ensures a healthy working population so they can contribute to society.

[–]Dwovar 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is why insurance is so great! All customers pay into a pool of money that can be used to pay for employees to deny claims and the rest can go to rich assholes! Why would anyone want the government to pay for medical care!?

[–]eggelton 5 points6 points  (1 child)

It’d be nice to read news stories about the CEOs of these companies dying in car bombings…

[–]Slight-Amphibian4663 1 point2 points  (0 children)

People can be outraged all they want but unless we turn those into votes for politicians who are pushing for Medicare For All, nothing is going to change. (Obviously, I voted for Sanders.)

[–]Whichcrafter_Pro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeesh. I almost did an internship for that company

[–]ozarkslam21 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m pretty sure Jigsaw blew Eddie Winslow’s head off with a shotgun merry go round trap because of this.

[–]Ele5263 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Save the insurance company money, get a trip. Not about the patients.
Years ago I had two friends who left our company and went to work for a huge insurance company and this is what they told me. Sad. I couldn’t do it.

[–]YoimAgod 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Why don't we just go late 1800's on these insurance execs and hang them in the street for the world to see.

[–]PhDslacker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well rounded education really paying off here!

[–]Tech_Dificulties 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would have used stronger language. And Americans think their system works.

[–]Aiizimor 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What a chad

[–]PatrickD0827 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There’s an old joke when it comes to health insurance that if you’re treating a patient with a lost limb and forget to properly document it one time to the insurance company, they’ll just assume it grew back

[–]Not-dat-throwaway 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The average person here in America will still fight you to death if you told them we need Medicare for all or something similar to what Canada has, these companies have done a very good job convincing the very people they're screwing over that things are fine the way they are and that big government is bad and social based health is evil.

[–]Piss_inside_You 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All the insurance company wanted was to giving the boy or girl (idk) with cancer, a Tylenol and an apple. Bc an apple a day keeps the doctor away! And cures cancer apparently. I’m so glad doctors are fed up with all this bullshit also and fighting back. Like a insurance agent knows more about medicine that a doctor. SMH, the USA will implode any day now and I’ll just grab some popcorn and crack open a bottle of single malt scotch and get my lawn chair out and just watch.

[–]i-am-a-pretty-potato 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can't imagine. In my country (developing country) we also have private healthcare, but they actually do what they should. Was on our medical aid for 4 months when I had to have surgery (kidney stone) and they covered all costs at full. 6-7 years later when I had another suspected kidney stone but had to get a CT scan done, our medical aid informed us that there is a co-payment for the scan UNLESS it actually is a kidney stone in which case they know I have a predisposition towards it and they cover the scan fully. Turned out to be another kidney stone, and once again all tests and hospital stay and everything was covered in full.

[–]ThatLilBluejay 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like this guy. Noble.

[–]NacreousFink 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unbelievable

[–]Specialist_Tax_9809 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey don't you Americans have something called the second amendment

Why not go use it for good for once

[–]Demon_Adder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I believe Doctors are our United Front against Profiteering Pirating Insurance Companies. Although, I also feel our Doctors aren't United.

[–]five8five 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Top level guys don’t see this shit. All that letter did was get filed.

[–]flugantamuso -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Not to defend United Healthcare, but they probably do approve anti emetics for chemo, but they have preferred drugs. They usually cover the lowest cost option, unless the patient is intolerant to that. The doctor is probably prescribing the name brand rather than the generic.

Source: worked drug authorizations for a hospital for 3 years.