• iAvicenna@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    63
    ·
    2 days ago

    wow he really said this?

    “Participants in the system,” he said, derive benefit from high health care costs. While lower prices and improved services can be good for consumers and patients, Witty said, they can “threaten revenue streams for organizations that depend on charging more for care.”

    Yes this basic human right could be cheap or even free, but then how would shareholders make more money exploiting it?

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      16
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 days ago

      He’s also just straight up lying. I’m a participant in the system with chronic health issues. I would have benefited more from never going to see a doctor and kept my family out of debt than what I ended up doing.

      • postmateDumbass@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        24 hours ago

        Healing patients would “threaten revenue streams for organizations that depend on charging more for care.”

        They prefer the endless treatment model.

        So by extension, creating sick people is akin to opening a new account. (Aside: A good task for other parts of the institutional investors portfollio) And nobody wants to close a customer account.

    • nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      2 days ago

      His entire business model is based on reducing the efficiency of health care spending and he is directly incentivized to maximize profits by minimizing health care spending efficiency.

      • MothmanDelorian@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        2 days ago

        US health insurers literally offer zero social benefit. They should not exist as the entire industry in harmful rent seeking.

        • nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          2 days ago

          The concept of insurance makes sense - pooling risk so that everyone can share a little pain all the time, so that unlikely but catastrophic events don’t wipe individuals out. Making this arrangement for-profit is asinine.

          • ajoebyanyothername@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 day ago

            Insurance generally, yes. But health insurance, no, especially when it could be funded by taxes like in other countries and still have that same element of shared risk, but without the perverse incentive to let people die just to create a little more profit for the precious shareholders.

            Which I appreciate is what you said, but I thought it bore repeating. Other forms of insurance I suspect would be harder to nationalise, but in theory there’s no reason they couldn’t.

            • nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              1 day ago

              Directly government-funded healthcare and government-run single payer insurance are essentially the same thing. There’s some rationale for keeping the government-run single payer system (whether you call it insurance or not) at arm’s length from the sitting government to prevent too much political chaotic nonsense each time another government takes power, but they achieve the same things in terms of health care delivery and risk management.

    • jj4211@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      2 days ago

      Sounds like he’s trying to cast everyone else but the insurance companies as the bad organizations, and that they will be taking measures to make that more clear to the people.

      In short “don’t shoot us, shoot these other guys if you have to shoot someone!”

  • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    12
    ·
    2 days ago

    UnitedHealth CEO says U.S. health system ‘needs to function better’

    UnitedHealth CEO says U.S. health system needs to bend in such a way that UHC makes more money by the government making sure they get more money and that it’s everyone else’s fault the HC system sucks because they need to make more money. Everything will be better when they make more money.

    • insomniac_lemon@lemmy.cafe
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      97
      ·
      3 days ago

      Not really, he’s doubling down:

      “Many of you knew Brian … he devoted his time to help make the health system work better for all of the people we’re privileged to serve.”

        • Iceman@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          15
          ·
          2 days ago

          So it’s a true statement in the sense that they made the healthcare system better at extracting profit from their costumers to serve the shareholders. Death and suffering is just a method. Andrew Witty, what a soulless shit.

        • tburkhol@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          37
          ·
          3 days ago

          “The insurance companies are the good guys, fighting against outrageous hospital charges, doctors fraudulently demanding excessive tests and care, and odious government regulations.”

      • orclev@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        28
        ·
        3 days ago

        for all of the people we’re privileged to serve

        This is Corporate America slight of hand, they think the people they serve are the shareholders, not their customers. Their customers are an operating cost to them and they’ll do what they can to keep that cost down so they can maximize their profits.

      • Rooskie91@discuss.online
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        2 days ago

        Many of you knew Brian … he devoted his time to help make the health system work better for all of the privileged we serve.”

        Fixed it.

      • jj4211@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        2 days ago

        Nah, he’s trying to promote a narrative of “there are bad guys in the system, but not us, look at those drug company CEOs over there please… they are the ones really screwing you…”

  • leaky_shower_thought@feddit.nl
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    74
    ·
    3 days ago

    While lower prices and improved services can be good for consumers and patients, Witty said, they can “threaten revenue streams for organizations that depend on charging more for care.”

    are they a health insurance or a revenue stream insurance?

    • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      45
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      2 days ago

      are they a health insurance or a revenue stream insurance?

      Come now, I think we already have that answer.

      • Lesrid@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        2 days ago

        In other words, productivity gains increase poverty. Congratulations on owning your most powerful smart phone yet, but now a bean and rice burrito from a fast food place is over 6 USD.

    • Larry13@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      2 days ago

      That has to be one of the most tone deaf and evil (the banal greedy kind) of things I’ve ever heard.

      While law enforcement can be good for citizens and society, Capone said, they can “threaten revenue streams for organizations that depend on doing crime.”

      Same vibe right?

    • Manifish_Destiny@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      2 days ago

      You have your answer under capitalism. Unfortunately good healthcare and late capitalism seem to not be too compatible.

  • dustyb0tt0mz@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    15
    ·
    2 days ago

    you’re going to get lip service and faux sympathy, but at least you got them talking about it. this is a clear example of how the only thing the american people have left to create change is violence.

      • rumba@lemmy.zip
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        arrow-down
        5
        ·
        3 days ago

        There is actually a shred of truth in that.

        The insurance company is supposed to watch dog and make sure that the doctor’s office is doing the right thing.

        Since the average patient doesn’t know what the hell the doctor’s supposed to be doing anyway, capitalism makes for some pretty shitty health practices. Like the $60 tylenols.

        To eliminate private insurance you also need to create oversight and limits on the healthcare side of things too.

        I worked in IT in health insurance years ago, those mom and pop doctor’s offices would submit the same bill six or seven times back to back. Our system at the time had no ability to de-doop so they just kept getting payday after payday until we caught on.

        Not all health care providers are good people either.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          2 days ago

          The insurance company is supposed to watch dog and make sure that the doctor’s office is doing the right thing.

          I’m trying to think of the name of something we could call an alternative option to that… maybe something like The Blederal Blovernment.

          • rumba@lemmy.zip
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            2 days ago

            Absolutely, many governments in many countries do an absolutely adequate job at managing healthcare soup to nuts.

        • Lemminary@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          2 days ago

          Would patients fall that much into debt if regular doctors were setting the prices, though? The invoices are quite outrageous across the board in the US as it is. After all, the blame lies on the MBAs who are the experts at juicing the system and not the MDs who inevitably get dragged into. I’d argue the great majority of MDs actually sympathize with patients since they are the ones who signed up to help people in the first place and I’ve befriended a handful of them who I can point to as examples.

          At least where I live, this balance is somewhat managed by the competition between the public vs private sectors. If the public one is failing you, you can always opt for a private one or vice-versa. I’ve done both and each has its benefits and shortcomings. But, mind you, this is a system without insurance at its core as a consequence of the universal care that we have.

          • rumba@lemmy.zip
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            3
            ·
            2 days ago

            The problem is that the whole health care can’t be run by the doctors. You need the might of a corporation or a government with a tax stream income to be able to afford the equipment. Well outfitted hospitals are mind-bogglingly expensive. So the problem becomes how to not attach the greed to the healthcare, But still process the billions of dollars required to set up and maintain institutions.

  • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    15
    ·
    2 days ago

    It needs to function without a layer of parasites between doctors and patients.