For-profit medical insurance corporations are often referred to as “healthcare providers.” THEY ARE NOT PROVIDERS. Healthcare providers are doctors, nurses, therapists and other medical and healthcare delivery professionals.
For-profit medical insurance corporations are NOT providers. They do not provide health care, they obstruct health care. They are middlemen who stand in the way of medical providers. They add nothing to actual health care except that they suck value out of and cause worse health care outcomes.
They practice medicine without a license, diagnosing patients they have not personally examined, by overruling professional medical decisions of actual licensed medical professionals.
Their entire business model is to charge as much money, while providing nothing of actual medical care, while paying out as little money as possible to actual health care providers.
How many does the insurance system murder using policies and procedure per year in the US empire? Just wondering. Oh, sorry, I guess it is not murder if it is legal and underwritten by greed.
Honestly, I worked for Blue Cross for ten years – left in 1983 – but what they are saying is not true. Things may have changed since then, but we approved nearly everything that came in. And if it was originally rejected, most of the time it could be reprocessed.
Maybe one day the U.S. will actually consider good health to be a necessary objective for citizens and ensure all have low/no cost coverage. But not in the next 4 years.
The history of employer-sponsored health insurance can be traced back to the 1920s, when some employers offered “voluntary” programs to specific groups of employees, such as teachers, railroad workers, and postal employees.In 1943, the War Labor Board ruled that health insurance was exempt from wage and price controls, which encouraged employers to offer it as a way to attract and retain workers. Employer-sponsored health insurance became common in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. Tax benefitsIn 1954, the IRS ruled that health insurance premiums were tax deductible, which made them a popular employee benefit. Between 1940 and 1950, the number of Americans with employer-provided health insurance grew from 21 million to 142 million. And by now, the law of unintended consequences again prevails over common sense.
A large segment of the population is saying “Good!” in response to a Health Insurance executive being murdered. You would think that might make these guys wonder if they’re pushing it too far. But no. They’ve surrounded themselves with a pile of money so high they can’t see over it.
If you can’t win, cheat. If you can’t cheat, change the rules. Insurance company’s don’t cheat; they just lobby politicians to change the rules.
To quote Ted Cruz, part-time Senator from Texas, full-time shill for Trump, worshiper of Tucker Carlson and Cancun vacationer, “To America’s watch-me-woke-it-up CEOs I say: When the time comes that you need help with a tax break or a regulatory change, I hope the Democrats take your calls, because we may not.”
A bit off topic but FYI, my Medicare statement listing 2025 deductions shows them taking nearly $100/month too much for Part D (prescription plan). They told me there was a glitch and people will be getting refunds for any such overcharges.
This constant (and misleading) reference to health insurance as health care makes any conversation about reforming the health insurance market blown up under Obamacare difficult, if not impossible.
Like to throw my tuppence into the conversation….the rich don’t have health insurance, they don’t need it.
Does that explain, why we are, where we are?
Now, for something completely different…how many people think donny duck will be in court for “sentencing” or will he phone it in? Can we hope to see the orange blob have a fit?
I find solace in these awful times by repeating my mantra:
And this U S Steel funny business. U S Steel says they will have to close old plants for lack of business. Nippon says they will help with an infusion of capital. Grandpa Biden thinks it’s 1941 and says “No Way”.
Anybody want to buy a steel mill? I can get it for you cheap.
Full disclosure; I am a Biden supporter, but, this was a bonehead move on Joe’s part.
Right after the UHC CEO was killed and there were a lot of people piling on with “serves him right” on FB, someone posted something to the effect of “Hang on people, let’s not celebrate the murder of someone. It’s not our place to say who lives or dies. That’s the job of the insurance company’s AI algorithm.”
It’s going to get to a point where people demand national health care. My far right buddy was shocked when we went through Canada and everyone he asked said they were happy with the healthcare there. For profit health care is not what’s best for the people.
I quibble with the phrase “health-care system”. It’s misleading. In the 1st place, it’s not a system. A system is something that’s designed to achieve a particular end, in a coordinated way, usually as efficiently as possible. (Think computers or automobiles.) In the 2nd place, it’s not about care, it’s about capitalism.
What we have in lieu of a true health-care system (you know, the kind that every other industrialized democracy on the planet has and loves) is a haphazard scattering of profit centers concentrated in areas where the money is, with vast swaths of the nation under- or un-served. By contrast, the US Postal Service and the public schools are true systems that serve every square centimetre of the country. (And yes, the metric system too is a true system, well and intentionally designed, not like ACHU, the Accidental Collection of Heterogeneous Units that the US alone in the world still clings to.)
So I recommend using the phrase “health-insurance industry”, because it’s more accurate.
Judging by the hateful tangents some are going off on here,I’d say WE’RE NEVER GONNA GET POLITICAL COMMENTS BACK AGAIN Keep it up,people,until ALL our rights and privileges are gone………
I have Blue Cross and I have never been denied needed meds or service. I’m not disputing others have a different experience, but I don’t want anyone messing with my plan.
What’s new about this? The Republicans were railing about “death panels” when debating the ACA. Health insurance companies ARE the death panels, they’ve always existed. The pay, benefits and perks of these CEO’s is obscene. You can bet they don’t have to fight their insurance company to get the best care out there.
Put another way,employees went from being assets to becoming liabilities. Whenever possible, I patronize “employee owned” businesses be it a majority or total share.
I once got a letter from my health insurance co denying doctor-prescribed care. The letter said (in “insurance-speak”): “it doesn’t matter that your doctor has determined this care to be vital. We’re not paying for it. Go ahead and die.” I still have the letter.
Do you REALLY want all claims approved and all requested services available? Do you therefore want no limits on how high your premiums can go to pay for it all? You want national health care provided by the govt as the single payer? We have a U.S. model for what that would be like – the govt operates the VA health care system (which I worked in for 20 yrs) – with all of its easily discovered pluses and minuses (some of which have been touched on in these comments), and my English relatives keep me well abreast of their NHS woes, so I know the Canada / England systems are not the panacea wished for by rose colored glasses wearers.
Sorry we can’t approve you dying. That is not covered under you current plan, also you cannot terminate or change plan til the open season or life changing event and must be done in writing with your Notarized original signature.
I had to change insurance companies because it took at least three tries for them to find a specialist in my area. They assigned me a primary care physician in the next county, who never actually saw me. Then his office stopped responding to messages, even those about renewing prescriptions. I had to sign up with Teledoc just to get my blood pressure medication renewed. It is impossible to contact anyone in management, although I did have the CEOs address for real emergencies, like trying to find an urgent care facility that would take their insurance, when it was a holiday and their offices were closed. He found me one 45 miles away. Fortunately, it was not terribly “urgent”, just a broken toe. There seems to be no responsible agency to which I can report this problems under Medicare Advantage. New Year – new insurance company.
There are many who have fallen on financial ruin to stay alive – non est mea culpa say the insurance companies. As sad as to what happened to the CEO of United Healthcare, business practices by healthcare insurance needs a much closer look and definitely an accounting of their business practices and fiduciary responsibilities.
What is the main concern? “Why should I pay for someone else’s medical treatment?” Wait until you are on the surgical list – then see how you feel. It’s what insurance is all about! We went through all this in Britain and (god wot) Australia. Down here the conservatives still don’t like it, despite being recipients of it all.
No one has been harmed by insurance denying a claim. Insurance is NOT healthcare. People are only harmed when healthcare providers focus on payment before patient. I work with too many doctors/nurses/more that provide charitable healthcare – it can be done. Take care of the patient, then worry about payment, unless it really is not that critical…
Need coffee 4 days ago
Too soon?
DD Wiz 4 days ago
For-profit medical insurance corporations are often referred to as “healthcare providers.” THEY ARE NOT PROVIDERS. Healthcare providers are doctors, nurses, therapists and other medical and healthcare delivery professionals.
For-profit medical insurance corporations are NOT providers. They do not provide health care, they obstruct health care. They are middlemen who stand in the way of medical providers. They add nothing to actual health care except that they suck value out of and cause worse health care outcomes.
They practice medicine without a license, diagnosing patients they have not personally examined, by overruling professional medical decisions of actual licensed medical professionals.
Their entire business model is to charge as much money, while providing nothing of actual medical care, while paying out as little money as possible to actual health care providers.
“Claim denied” is the new “Let them eat cake.”
At some point, the peasants revolt.
The dude from FL Premium Member 4 days ago
I deal mainly with the VA (and they can be a pain sometimes) But when I use my Medicare Plus provider, I’ve never had a problem
Godfreydaniel 4 days ago
The insurance companies are the ultimate in bait-and-switch, because any conceivable condition turns out to be “pre-existing”…..
braindead Premium Member 4 days ago
Isn’t this cartoon kind of last week or something?
My understanding is that the bulk of claims are now denied by AI.
.
In any case, welcome to the consolidation of the oligarchy — just like you wanted.
.
Oh, and will any magats understand this cartoon?
einarbt 4 days ago
How many does the insurance system murder using policies and procedure per year in the US empire? Just wondering. Oh, sorry, I guess it is not murder if it is legal and underwritten by greed.
cseligman 4 days ago
That’s Kaiser’s go-to. Kills a lot of patients, but actually treating them would reduce the bosses’ bonuses.
Theseus2 3 days ago
Wouldn’t it be awfull, if someone left a sign outside that office that reads: Free for all Wiley bear buffet.
bdpoltergeist Premium Member 3 days ago
ah, the trumplican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act/ObamaCae
Dani Rice 3 days ago
Honestly, I worked for Blue Cross for ten years – left in 1983 – but what they are saying is not true. Things may have changed since then, but we approved nearly everything that came in. And if it was originally rejected, most of the time it could be reprocessed.
mourdac Premium Member 3 days ago
Maybe one day the U.S. will actually consider good health to be a necessary objective for citizens and ensure all have low/no cost coverage. But not in the next 4 years.
CountOlaf2.0 Premium Member 3 days ago
Looks like Helen Waite had gender reassignment surgery paid for by Social Security and FEMA funds intended for those in real need.
Funniguy 3 days ago
How it all began…
The history of employer-sponsored health insurance can be traced back to the 1920s, when some employers offered “voluntary” programs to specific groups of employees, such as teachers, railroad workers, and postal employees.In 1943, the War Labor Board ruled that health insurance was exempt from wage and price controls, which encouraged employers to offer it as a way to attract and retain workers. Employer-sponsored health insurance became common in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. Tax benefitsIn 1954, the IRS ruled that health insurance premiums were tax deductible, which made them a popular employee benefit. Between 1940 and 1950, the number of Americans with employer-provided health insurance grew from 21 million to 142 million. And by now, the law of unintended consequences again prevails over common sense.
bob666 3 days ago
That’s not new – that is how it is right now
CountOlaf2.0 Premium Member 3 days ago
Fake News The-Sky-Is-Falling Scare Tactic Troll Tune Boogie Man to Scare the Whiney Mushrooms. Working, too.
baskate_2000 3 days ago
This has been the standard for insurance companies since the get go.
Ignatz Premium Member 3 days ago
A large segment of the population is saying “Good!” in response to a Health Insurance executive being murdered. You would think that might make these guys wonder if they’re pushing it too far. But no. They’ve surrounded themselves with a pile of money so high they can’t see over it.
mapguy 3 days ago
Must keep the shareholders happy!
dflak 3 days ago
If you can’t win, cheat. If you can’t cheat, change the rules. Insurance company’s don’t cheat; they just lobby politicians to change the rules.
To quote Ted Cruz, part-time Senator from Texas, full-time shill for Trump, worshiper of Tucker Carlson and Cancun vacationer, “To America’s watch-me-woke-it-up CEOs I say: When the time comes that you need help with a tax break or a regulatory change, I hope the Democrats take your calls, because we may not.”
fencie 3 days ago
A bit off topic but FYI, my Medicare statement listing 2025 deductions shows them taking nearly $100/month too much for Part D (prescription plan). They told me there was a glitch and people will be getting refunds for any such overcharges.
FredBurr 3 days ago
This constant (and misleading) reference to health insurance as health care makes any conversation about reforming the health insurance market blown up under Obamacare difficult, if not impossible.
Redd Panda 3 days ago
Like to throw my tuppence into the conversation….the rich don’t have health insurance, they don’t need it.
Does that explain, why we are, where we are?
Now, for something completely different…how many people think donny duck will be in court for “sentencing” or will he phone it in? Can we hope to see the orange blob have a fit?
I find solace in these awful times by repeating my mantra:
“78 years old and the clock is ticking”
Redd Panda 3 days ago
And this U S Steel funny business. U S Steel says they will have to close old plants for lack of business. Nippon says they will help with an infusion of capital. Grandpa Biden thinks it’s 1941 and says “No Way”.
Anybody want to buy a steel mill? I can get it for you cheap.
Full disclosure; I am a Biden supporter, but, this was a bonehead move on Joe’s part.
6odc2pemgb55 3 days ago
Right after the UHC CEO was killed and there were a lot of people piling on with “serves him right” on FB, someone posted something to the effect of “Hang on people, let’s not celebrate the murder of someone. It’s not our place to say who lives or dies. That’s the job of the insurance company’s AI algorithm.”
sandpiper 3 days ago
Statement of stasis. The more we talk about it, the worse it gets.
rick92040 3 days ago
It’s going to get to a point where people demand national health care. My far right buddy was shocked when we went through Canada and everyone he asked said they were happy with the healthcare there. For profit health care is not what’s best for the people.
DaBump Premium Member 3 days ago
It’s like war, or boxing — every plan sounds great right up until you put it in action.
Richard S Russell Premium Member 3 days ago
I quibble with the phrase “health-care system”. It’s misleading. In the 1st place, it’s not a system. A system is something that’s designed to achieve a particular end, in a coordinated way, usually as efficiently as possible. (Think computers or automobiles.) In the 2nd place, it’s not about care, it’s about capitalism.
What we have in lieu of a true health-care system (you know, the kind that every other industrialized democracy on the planet has and loves) is a haphazard scattering of profit centers concentrated in areas where the money is, with vast swaths of the nation under- or un-served. By contrast, the US Postal Service and the public schools are true systems that serve every square centimetre of the country. (And yes, the metric system too is a true system, well and intentionally designed, not like ACHU, the Accidental Collection of Heterogeneous Units that the US alone in the world still clings to.)
So I recommend using the phrase “health-insurance industry”, because it’s more accurate.
ragsarooni 3 days ago
Judging by the hateful tangents some are going off on here,I’d say WE’RE NEVER GONNA GET POLITICAL COMMENTS BACK AGAIN Keep it up,people,until ALL our rights and privileges are gone………
VKent 3 days ago
I have Blue Cross and I have never been denied needed meds or service. I’m not disputing others have a different experience, but I don’t want anyone messing with my plan.
tuliplover 3 days ago
What’s new about this? The Republicans were railing about “death panels” when debating the ACA. Health insurance companies ARE the death panels, they’ve always existed. The pay, benefits and perks of these CEO’s is obscene. You can bet they don’t have to fight their insurance company to get the best care out there.
HOTLOTUS1 3 days ago
Well he tried. It was just a shot in the dark. er I mean…
vics_machine Premium Member 3 days ago
WealthCare.
Well.....drink some of this! Premium Member 3 days ago
Put another way,employees went from being assets to becoming liabilities. Whenever possible, I patronize “employee owned” businesses be it a majority or total share.
IndyW 3 days ago
The same concept for extended home line service insurance. Good luck getting those claims to pay out.
sams1960 Premium Member 3 days ago
Oh Wiley! Adding fuel to the fire.
IWannaBeLerxst 3 days ago
I once got a letter from my health insurance co denying doctor-prescribed care. The letter said (in “insurance-speak”): “it doesn’t matter that your doctor has determined this care to be vital. We’re not paying for it. Go ahead and die.” I still have the letter.
Daltongang Premium Member 3 days ago
Yep, the American Non Health Care System at its finest.
Silence Dogood Premium Member 3 days ago
The Era of Trump…
Holden Awn 3 days ago
Do you REALLY want all claims approved and all requested services available? Do you therefore want no limits on how high your premiums can go to pay for it all? You want national health care provided by the govt as the single payer? We have a U.S. model for what that would be like – the govt operates the VA health care system (which I worked in for 20 yrs) – with all of its easily discovered pluses and minuses (some of which have been touched on in these comments), and my English relatives keep me well abreast of their NHS woes, so I know the Canada / England systems are not the panacea wished for by rose colored glasses wearers.
Robert- 50d99b] 3 days ago
Sorry we can’t approve you dying. That is not covered under you current plan, also you cannot terminate or change plan til the open season or life changing event and must be done in writing with your Notarized original signature.
Will E. Makeit Premium Member 3 days ago
too much of anything gets to be unsustainable especially when the too much includes too many of the unwilling doing too little to do anything…
The Brooklyn Accent Premium Member 3 days ago
What new concept? A certain Wiley Miller made the same point 13 years ago.
www.gocomics.Com/nonsequitur/2012/01/09
mistercatworks 3 days ago
I had to change insurance companies because it took at least three tries for them to find a specialist in my area. They assigned me a primary care physician in the next county, who never actually saw me. Then his office stopped responding to messages, even those about renewing prescriptions. I had to sign up with Teledoc just to get my blood pressure medication renewed. It is impossible to contact anyone in management, although I did have the CEOs address for real emergencies, like trying to find an urgent care facility that would take their insurance, when it was a holiday and their offices were closed. He found me one 45 miles away. Fortunately, it was not terribly “urgent”, just a broken toe. There seems to be no responsible agency to which I can report this problems under Medicare Advantage. New Year – new insurance company.
Smeagol 3 days ago
There are many who have fallen on financial ruin to stay alive – non est mea culpa say the insurance companies. As sad as to what happened to the CEO of United Healthcare, business practices by healthcare insurance needs a much closer look and definitely an accounting of their business practices and fiduciary responsibilities.
marcotte 3 days ago
Too accurate.
6turtle9 3 days ago
The line for an early demise starts here.
Teto85 Premium Member 3 days ago
Must be a third world sh!thole country without national health/single payer. Where’s a Luigi when you need him?
theoldidahofox 3 days ago
We need more Luigis.
willie_mctell 3 days ago
Insurance, in general, is about not paying claims.
pamela welch Premium Member 3 days ago
Wish I could find an ounce of humor in this :-(
Cactus-Pete 3 days ago
Which health-care companies use claims?
sincavage05 3 days ago
Going to get worst!
keenanthelibrarian 3 days ago
What is the main concern? “Why should I pay for someone else’s medical treatment?” Wait until you are on the surgical list – then see how you feel. It’s what insurance is all about! We went through all this in Britain and (god wot) Australia. Down here the conservatives still don’t like it, despite being recipients of it all.
JustaGuy 2 days ago
Considering the normal lead time for cartoons, this seems prescient.
slbolfing about 3 hours ago
No one has been harmed by insurance denying a claim. Insurance is NOT healthcare. People are only harmed when healthcare providers focus on payment before patient. I work with too many doctors/nurses/more that provide charitable healthcare – it can be done. Take care of the patient, then worry about payment, unless it really is not that critical…