The shocking murder of UnitedHealthcare (UHC) CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday (4) in New York has triggered a wave of negative reports about the confusing healthcare system in the U.S. on social media.
It is still unclear what motivated the crime against the businessman, but investigators believe it was targeted and premeditated.
Many people shared stories of denied medical assistance from health insurers. One person said that her mother’s test for stage IV lung cancer was recently denied. In another post, a father shared the letter that UHC sent him denying a wheelchair for his son with cerebral palsy.
UnitedHealthcare is the largest private health insurer in the U.S. Its parent company, UnitedHealth Group, reported $371.6 billion in revenue last year and is facing an antitrust lawsuit to block its $3.3 billion acquisition of a rival home health and hospice service.
Americans generally say they are very happy with their health insurance, according to survey data from the health policy research organization KFF — unless they are sick. Those with “fair” or “poor” health are nearly twice as likely to be dissatisfied with their insurance compared to those with “good” health.
Health policy surveys show that the American healthcare system is exceptionally maddening to deal with.
The U.S. health insurance system relies on private insurance, which covers 200 million Americans, and government-administered programs. Americans receive coverage through their employers, government programs like Medicaid or Medicare, or by purchasing coverage themselves — often at a high cost. Even when an individual is covered by insurance, medical coverage can be expensive, with copayments, deductibles, and premiums adding up. Going to an out-of-network provider for care (which can happen involuntarily, for example, if you are taken by ambulance to a hospital) can lead to exorbitant bills.
And then there’s the fact that, according to data from state and federal regulators, insurers deny about one in seven treatment claims. And most people do not react — a study found that only 0.1% of denied claims under the Affordable Care Act, a law designed to make health insurance more accessible and prevent coverage denials for pre-existing conditions, are formally appealed. This causes many people to pay out of pocket for care they thought was covered — or skip treatment altogether.
For many, the cost of life-saving treatment is too high, and medical debt is the number one cause of bankruptcy in the country. Not to mention the emotional toll of navigating the complex system.
The murder of Thompson highlighted a sad reality: the private insurance industry forces millions of Americans to choose between debt or death.
Source: APR and Yahoo News