‘It’s a death sentence’: US health insurance system is failing, say doctors – Firms including United Healthcare have denied basic scans and taken months to reconsider, physicians say
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/26/us-health-insurance-system-doctors
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> Firms including United Healthcare have denied basic scans, and taken months to reconsider, according to physicians who spoke to the Guardian. “There’s good evidence that these kinds of delays literally kill people,” said Dr Ed Weisbart, former chief medical officer for Express Scripts, one of the largest prescription benefits managers in the US. “For some people, this isn’t just an inconvenience and an annoyance and an aggravation. “It’s a death sentence, and the only reason the insurance companies do that is to maximize their profits. The fact that they might be killing you is not in the equation of what they care about.”
They should be held accountable for this BS. I get that you can’t put a price on somebody’s life, but since money seems to be the only thing these people understand, they should be forced to pay relatives huge amounts of money when their greed causes death. And I’m not talking about people having to sue for it, I’m talking about it being a guarantee for their services, to motivate them to not use people as golden nuggets.
Its premeditated murder.
If we had a public alternative, they would be forced to be competitive with their pricing and coverage. Which is exactly why we don’t have a public healthcare option
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Depose
This is the freedom he wants to give to Greenland i mean how could they possibly resist
>Americans spend the most on healthcare in the industrialized world – an estimated $4.9tn in 2023 – but have the worst health outcomes, according to analysis by the Commonwealth Fund.
>The fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last month prompted an outpouring of public anger toward the healthcare industry. While private insurers report billions in profits every year, many patients – and their doctors – struggle to navigate a complex financial system to get what they need.
>Lobbyists for the insurance firms insist they are “working to protect” people from higher costs, and stress that everyone in the space, including doctors, are responsible for making the US healthcare system care more affordable and easier to navigate.
>But in a series of interviews, medical professionals described their frustration with a powerful industry which had prevented them from helping patients.
death panels deciding who lives and dies via coverage
I know not everyone has the choice of job mobility.
But, it’s really at the point where you need to choose to decline job offers if United Health is their insurance provider. Not even as a protest but as self preservation.
Gosh, are they saying the corps are now like… death panels?
Republican voters who aren’t independently wealthy are so damn stupid.
We’re entering a turning point with the worst possible president for that turning point
The “death panels” conservatives warned us about have come to fruition except the panel is made up of evil healthcare company CEOs.
One of the most annoying things is for a republican bitch and moan about healthcare costs like insurance premiums but still pay $1,500/mo for shitty coverage with high deductibles.
They could instead have paid $750/mo in higher taxes and gotten free healthcare.
“But muh taxes are going up no fucking way” but they pay twice as much to insurance companies.
Yup. I was denied a stress test…. Three times .. that my cardiologist said I need. I can’t afford the 2000 it’ll cost out of pocket.
United Health Care should be terminated. The other fraudulent insurance brokers who are competing with UHC in making profits over people’s lives should be next.
Insurance companies know it is cheaper to let people die than to try and make them better.
Insurance companies are death panels.
United healthcare owns the company that allows providers to send claims to insurance company for payment ( change healthcare). Its been 1 year since the hack and they still haven’t turned over our timely filing receipts which would allow us to fight insurance companies for payment on old claims. Seems like an insurance company shouldn’t own the middle man company that sends claims to the insurance for payment
Of course. Always deny, then tie up appeals for months. Step one saves you money from all the people who accept no as an answer the first time. Step two saves you money because some people will die in the meantime
That’s the point. That’s the business model
The good news: I no longer have Stage 3 colon cancer!
The bad news: I now have Stage 4 liver cancer.
The good news: I have one (1) small hepatic lesion that is readily treatable with radiation (SBRT)! I just need a PET scan and they can begin.
The bad news: insurance will not authorize the scan. It’s been delayed twice now.
UnitedHealth is *not* my insurer, by the way.
Just wait until the republicans get what they want and remove the ability for hospital employees to qualify for PSLF.
It’s not just United Healthcare, BCBS denied a prior authorization for a polypectomy the other day for one of my patients.
This is the first time since I’ve been a nurse that I’ve seen that happen.
They’ve denied diagnostic procedures, sure, but someone with known and documented polyps…. It could be cancerous.
If one person refuses to pay their medical debt, that person is in trouble.
If everybody stops, the medical creditors are in trouble.
How do we organize this though?
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