im not justifying his murder, but you replied to "he was basically a mass murderer" with "any definitive proof". yes, there is, he's the head of an organization that is culpable for the deaths of tens or hundreds of thousands of people, and in an industry known for that his company stood out as especially bad. and not just his company, but his tenure. he ushered in an era of increased denial of claims with pure profit motivation.
as to how to fix the issue, well.... murder wont do it, we agree, but im not seeing many other options either. the only real option is pure socialist healthcare, because the legislature will never draft an anti insurance checks and balances bill.
I'm not sure if I can take your word for the bolded claim. For instance, the vast majority of critical surgeries take place in very sick individuals, many of which are bound to die within the next couple of years anyway, and the surgery and treatment is only about how long they can stave off their inevitable demise. Think stuff like a Whipple procedure for patients with pancreatic cancer. So even if United Healthcare denied hundreds of thousands of claims, this is not the same as them having denied hundreds of thousands of one-off treatments after which the patient in question could have lived a long and healthy life.
And then there's the stats Goom mentioned about them not having notably higher profit margins than other insurers, which casts further shade on the claim that they were ruthlessly sacrificing their vulnerable clients for profit. But enough with the hair-splitting, I see your broader point.
the system can of course be improved a lot by fiddling with the knobs, but who can we trust to turn them correctly? maybe a cap on some care procedures is a good idea, but will they act with restraint or push good doctors out because they cap way too much?
honestly its all pretty moot with such an unhealthy population, america cant really socialize healthcare while its addicted to the foods that make its costs untenable.
Maybe the US could look at the way other first world countries are organizing their healthcare industry. The NHS in the UK, as the textbook example for a single payer healthcare system, has a ton of issues, but you could look to Germany or the Netherlands. Both countries have private insurers, but with very tight regulations on their operations to ensure that everyone will be covered and costs can be kept somewhat in check. Yes, we have problems with runaway healthcare costs as well, but not to the same extent. And our problems mostly come down to external factors like a stagnant economy, an aging population and a massive influx of refugees who receive more benefits than they pay in premiums.
And yes, doctors in Western Europe are well paid, but the bulk of them not excessively. The average annual income is in the ballpark of €140-200k, which seems fair for a highly qualified and prestigious job with excessively long and selective training.
Its like we're in an inflatable liferaft 30 days at sea with no fresh water and half the survivors are demanding we keep throwing the last of our food to the sharks following in our wake to keep them fed.
