Are insurance executives suddenly scared?

[PJMcK]

It seems they should be, if one reads the comments on social media about the murder of Brian Thompson. Those companies are removing the photos and other identifiers of their executives from their websites. Certainly, they're taking other steps to protect their people.

There's a lot of anger at insurance companies who turn down necessary medical procedures while paying their executives obscene salaries/bonuses.

These are violent times I'm afraid.

[ck4829]

1. I'd feel pretty scared and looking over my shoulder all the time if the $$$ in my bank account was from shorting people

and denying people necessary surgery and treatments.

[C_U_L8R]

2. They are safe in their ivory towers

Until suddenly, they're not.

History repeats.

[Attilatheblond]

15. History DOES repeat but so many just fail to learn the lessons

People with nothing left to lose are the most dangerous people. And the idiots in the top economic bracket, attained via corruption and exploitation, are gonna be building fortresses soon.

Thinking of all the photos of ruined fortresses of Europe and confirmed in my beliefs that the either the rabble or the other war lords will take the castles.

[Lovie777]

3. Unfortunately.....

hatred and violence comes from the top of the GQP, it’s gonna be rough times.

[Ollie Garkie]

4. Yes..

And they will make sure it never happens again. They will beef up security and maintain their evil practices and then some.

[BonnieJW]

29. They might do that, but

unless they change the source of this fury, the attacks might become less "surgical ".
The killer singled out the guy at the top. If future shooters can't find the top guy, then you've got an active shooter in the corporate building.

[Walleye]

5. I remember when I lived in New York in the 80s, I worked for a company that gave pretty good Christmas bonuses

Two weeks wages every year, this one year they were joking or talking about not giving us a bonus. That next day or so some woman in NYC shot her boss because he didn’t give her a Christmas bonus. We didn’t hear anymore about not getting bonuses after that. I guess it got their attention.

[KoosLis]

8. I remember when I lived in New York in the 80s, I worked for a company that gave pretty good Christmas bonuses

Last edited Tue Dec 10, 2024, 03:01 AM - Edit history (1)

Such behaviour is certainly not justified, but there is a certain irony in it: how quickly priorities changed after the incident. Probably, for many people prizes are not just money, but a kind of recognition.


karavan-casino feel the flavour

[niyad]

26. Prizes? Bonuses are prizes?

Welcome to our DU family.

[Lulu KC]

51. Aren't they?

Either a prize in recognition of performance or a prize for remaining an employee through the year?

[The Roux Comes First]

6. Yes, Our Inclination Towards Violence As a Solution is Horrifying (and, of Course, Worsening)

But history seems to suggest that the godawful pattern of oligarchic rip-offs of the most of us, despite claims to want to clean the swamp by some, if left unchecked have a very predictable outcome.

[allegorical oracle]

9. Agree totally about the violence. But don't recall all the fiery rhetoric until the Tea Party

popped up and then *he* began further ramping up outrage in 2015. Throughout history, violence erupted only when people felt they were being badly mistreated. When leaders listen and respond properly, violence is avoided.

[Happy Hoosier]

11. There have been plenty of historical examples...

Most famously the French Revolution, but even our own nation has a history of major violence in response to abuse and oppression by the powerful.... slave rebellions, worker riots, etc.

[waterwatcher123]

7. History repeating - new version of the railroad barons who were shot and killed in their offices by anarchists.

[SWBTATTReg]

10. Playing w/ people's lives via their tightening up of profit margins isn't the way to truly and honestly

make a decent profit. Maybe, just maybe one day, they'll realize this.

I fear that with the new Age of djt, that companies will be more emboldened, to seek out these just of reach profits by tightening up 'loose ends', increase deductibles (I've seen already), don't cover as many procedures, create new fees right and left, etc.

That's what Americans facing dire medical events are facing. They're seeing less reimbursement for medicines, as well as other common procedures that before, didn't cost so much. Seems like all of us will be on the losing end of this vicious profit cycle. I see it now as we move into tRUMP land here in America. So much for tRUMP promising us a better health plan than Obama Care.

And scarier, are companies will promise a so-called better health care system along w/ these higher costs, since they are so emboldened by the incoming tRUMP administration, but in truth, it's not, it is just a simple revamp of the ugly profit motive, our sign of the capitalism here in America. More and more common medical procedures will cost more in adding to the bottom line of these companies, while they promise 'so-called better health care' under the tRUMP regime.

Buckle up folks, it'll be scarier than I thought, when you have folks like Elon Muskrat, and thugs all lined up under the tRUMP banner, all in the name of 'better health care for America', when in truth, it's a big fat lie to justify fattening profit margins.

[lonely bird]

28. According to SCOTUS decisions of the past

Companies are not bound to do anything except make profit. Yes, making profit honestly which includes a legal system that can be bent to the will of wealth. But if you are looking for ethics you will not find them. Oh, to be sure, there are vision statements, mission statements and a host of other window dressings encouraged by the useless consulting/wealth complex but they are meaningless since they are only as good as the humans running the companies. Yes, some companies are “ethical” but even those will shrink when it comes to profit.

As for insurance companies being scared? No, they are not. A suddenly frightened executive here or there is easily replaceable. Since there hasn’t been uprising by labor in multiple decades I don’t see it happening here.

Beyond that, I have no doubt that the vast majority of posters on DU, if not all, have stories of themselves or family and friends regarding insurance companies. I am uninsurable for long term care insurance due to multiple surgeries for bowel obstructions and Type 2 diabetes.

Imo, far too many are either complacent or just dealing with their own issues to truly impact the healthcare access/payment system. The bright shiny objects of some new shoe by Nike or new gadget from Apple et al combined with the bread and circuses of entertainment including all sports keeps hundreds of millions in their place.

[MontanaMama]

43. I've been saying this for years...

Insurance corporations have no responsibility to their insured. They are beholdened to their shareholders. That’s it.

[ms liberty]

12. FAFO is looking like the new thing for all the robber barons and oligarchs

[Shoonra]

13. I have no doubt ...

That the assassination of the United Health Care CEO prompted Anthem Blue Cross to undo its limit on anesthesia coverage.

I harbor a bit of admiration for the assassin and kinda hope he won't be caught. Let the other malefactors of great wealth worry.

[Maggiemayhem]

14. Most people don't know about Anthem Blue Cross

They were going to no longer pay for anesthesia after a certain time limit. Reversed decision after insurance executive shot.

[bucolic_frolic]

16. He could get off. Shot someone on 5th Avenue defense.

He wasn't stealthy about it. Almost like he wanted to get caught.

[Prairie Gates]

25. LOL...history has a strange sense of humor...he actually shot someone on 6th Avenue

Or, more precisely, on 54th street.

But yeah, the way it rhymes and throws us little curves is something else.

[Farmer-Rick]

19. I kind of understand that feeling

I really kind of understand why he wanted to kill that thieving, evil b*stard. But actually pulling the trigger on a person who is currently not endangering my life is difficult for me to imagine.

But I wonder if this guy will become a symbol of revolt. Will
the shooter be honored by the right wing or left wing? (It seems both sides are not too upset by the shooting death of this health insurance CEO.) Will he be their new Kyle Rittenhouse?

[malaise]

57. He will unless the CEO

dying is part of the divorce proceedings

[evolves]

17. A pertinent column by Heather Cox Richardson

https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/december-5-2024?r=bi61c&utm_medium=ios

Today provided a snapshot of American society that echoed a similar moment on January 6, 1872, when Edward D. Stokes shot railroad baron James Fisk Jr. as he descended the staircase of New York’s Grand Central Hotel. The quarrel was over Fisk’s mistress, Josie, who had taken up with the handsome Stokes, but the murder instantly provoked a popular condemnation of the ties between big business and government.
Fisk was a rich, flamboyant, and unscrupulous man-about-town, who was deeply entwined both with railroad barons like Jay Gould, Daniel Drew, and Cornelius Vanderbilt and with New York’s Tammany Hall political machine and its infamous leader, William Marcy Tweed. Tweed made sure the laws benefited the railroads and, the papers noted, snuck into the hotel to say goodbye to his friend in the hours it took for him to perish.

History repeats again and again and again…

[tenderfoot]

24. Some of me wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be a domestic dispute rather than anger over coverage

eom

[Demobrat]

38. I have a friend who works there.

He says a lot of people think his wife is behind it.

[MontanaMama]

40. Her statement was sketchy, imo.

Somewhat dismissive. Maybe she’s a psychopath too. Who knows.

[tenderfoot]

49. Maybe it's a pre-existing condition

[MontanaMama]

50. Indeed.

Being an asshole is certainly a pre-existing condition.

[tenderfoot]

48. There are so many instances where what was initially assumed turns out to be something else entirely

Last edited Fri Dec 6, 2024, 11:36 AM - Edit history (1)

eom

[Javaman]

18. Hope so

Perhaps they will start showing a bit more humanity. I doubt it, but I can dream

[Skittles]

55. profit needs to be taken out of healtcare

it is OBSCENE to profit from denying medical services

[BComplex]

20. It's actually these "can't touch me" corporations that are the "deep state". They count more than the average human

as far as our government is concerned, and what they do in the dark is, well, dark.

[Emile]

21. People are realizing there's no justice in America.

[tenderfoot]

22. They may be scared but this will not change their business practices

The positive is that there is common ground with citizens on the left and right that have had enough.

[Bluetus]

54. If one CEO won't do it, there are 100 more who will step up

but the cost of CEOs just went up another $10 million a year.

[Prairie Gates]

23. Leadership of publicly traded companies is public information

They can take the pictures off the websites all they want. It has to be filed with their disclosure documents, as it is a risk consideration for investors.

I mean, we're all about transparency these days, right?

[3Hotdogs]

27. It don't matter. If two screwballs could get close to Trump, whatever security the CEO's have, can be bypassed.

[CrispyQ]

30. Some have removed executive bios off their web pages & more industries will follow.

Did United Healthcare ever speak out against easy access to guns? How about General Mills, you know the folks who stock the cereal aisle where lots of our kids shop. Do they give a crap about children's safety in school? Have any of these companies made statements supporting gun legislation after the hundreds of shooting we've had?

[VanceFan]

31. Hopefully

I want billionaires to be scared too.

[azureblue]

32. Karma

caught up with these bloodsuckers. Who knows how many people they have killed due to denial of coverage? They know full well what they are doing - profiting while killing people.
Note how much effort is being put into finding the shooter. Note how little effort is put into punishing a CEO when his / her decision kills someone.
Karma, and it's about time.

[dchill]

33. Hence the high-risk hazard pay.

[PJMcK]

56. That's funny!

But our society is sick.

[azureblue]

34. These are violent times I'm afraid.

And the Insurance companies created violent times. Did they think they could continue with killing people, and not suffer consequences one day? No doubt he CEOS thought their money could insulate them from blowback.

[liberal N proud]

35. Hope so

[Blue Full Moon]

36. We need to see who they are.

We need to protect ourselves and loved ones from them trying to kill us. That CEO caused deaths.

[Alpeduez21]

37. Security will be hired by insurance companies

The expense will be saved by more claim denials. What a fucked up world we live in

[MontanaMama]

39. They should be. n/t

[ProudMNDemocrat]

41. Let this be a warning to Insurance CEOs...

That the days of excessive profits over the health of Americans may be over.

Denials of credible claims has reached a peak. My experience with HMOs and Insurance companies denying me treatments my Eye Doctors at Mayo requested, or medications that required box loads of case studies in order to be prescribed for treatments, has become tedious and unnecessary.

CEOs of Insurance companies see the bottom line, profits for their stock holders, themselves, and NOT the general well being. They are in part what is so WRONG with our Health systems.

[Mr.Bill]

42. My personal story about insurance, and in particular, United Health Care.

UHC is our insurance carrier for Medicare part B. My wife, who, like me has traditional Medicare. We have over a million dollars invested in her pulse. She will be getting her fourth Pacemaker installed next year. She has had six ablations, none of them successful. She has had A-fib since her teens. She is now 74.

Last spring, I, who had not spent the night in a hospital since I was five, fell and took a bad bump on the head and went comatose for about a week then spent 12 days in the hospital getting rehabbed and and having a fractured orbital and a brain bleed heal. I am fine now and with home health visits from four different therapists, am completely healed.

You know what all this has cost us? Zero. Zip. Nada. Nothing. This is because my wife is a retired RN has spent the last five years of her career as a Case Manager. A case manager is someone who among other things spends most of her time on the phone with insurance companies arguing with idiots who are trying to deny coverage. She just about always won. I mean she brought in millions of dollars every month for the hospital she worked at. It was her profession.

You may think this is a wonderful thing, but the problem is someone should not need to be a medical professional to get the insurance companies to pay up. Anyone should be able to do this. This is the problem.

[TBF]

44. The obvious violence against women is the reason I got

involved in this election (I had largely walked away from politics after 2016). And it is obviously going to get worse as Trump takes over. He seems to revel in violence and a lot of folks have bought into it.

[NotHardly]

45. The whole barrel of Billionaire Boys ought to be doing "life reviews" frankly

[Arazi]

46. Hope so 😈

[homegirl]

47. ALL OR NOTHING

An after consequence of the fires in California is insurance companies deciding to not issue fire insurance in many areas of the state. Time for California legislators to pass a law: Cover all types of insurance ---fire, health, liability, home, auto, life or none! Want to do business in CA you have to provide all types of insurance!

[redstatebluegirl]

52. Nope.

They had that guy's office cleaned out and another one just like him in his place before end of business the day he died.

Lots of people sell their souls for power and money. They will just hire more security for their executives.

[RockRaven]

53. Because they are realizing how much the public knows about how they

enrich themselves by increasing the suffering of those they claim to be helping. They know what they do, and now realize we all know it too. And they know people have a reason to be aggrieved.

[Flatrat]

58. We are in the era of late stage capitalism

Eventually something will have to give.

I just dont know what or when.