Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some input to the insurance companies bad vs insurance companies good debate:
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-often-do-health-insurers-deny-patients-claims
In 2010, federal regulators were granted expansive authority through the Affordable Care Act to require that insurers provide information on their denials. This data could have meant a sea change in transparency for consumers. But more than a decade later, the federal government has collected only a fraction of what it’s entitled to. And what information it has released, experts say, is so crude, inconsistent and confusing that it’s essentially meaningless.

https://acdis.org/articles/news-aha-report-suggests-ma-denials-increased-557-between-2022-2023
A new report released by the American Hospital Association (AHA) catalogues “staggering” administrative costs imposed on hospital operating margins.
The report—“Skyrocketing hospital administrative costs, burdensome commercial insurer policies are impacting patient care”—suggests that “excessive regulatory and insurer requirements” account for “more than 40% of total expenses hospitals incur in delivering care to patients.”
The authors of the report highlighted the growing trend in denials over the past few years, observing that care denials occurring between 2022 and 2023 increased a whopping average of 20.2% for commercial claims and 55.7% for Medicare Advantage claims, respectively.
--I assume this is hospital claims so we don't know what is happening in outpatient care

Because the govt is not getting this data, there's a lot we don't know. There may have also been some degree of Covid effect (otoh non-emergency surgeries and other care were being delayed during Covid), but a 57% year to year increase for MA denials??

Huge criticism on r/medicine about the Vox article claiming BCBS was not doing what they were actually doing re: anesthesia (even if it's a bit more complicated). It does sound like Vox and BCBS spun much harder than the ASA did.

So, is it violence when a corporation's practices lead to otherwise avoidable deaths (whether an insurance company, an international agribusiness, wood products, textile, energy, or mining company)? Was what Purdue did violence? Enron?

If "corporations are people" then when they commit violence via the ways they do business rather than 3-d printing a gun and shooting is there the same culpability?

UHC stock is coming back up, and in the end the same will happen for other insurers--because they also hold society hostage. In murder prosecutions, that's an aggravating factor.

This has to be one of the best analyses I’ve ever read on DCUM! Thank you for posting!! <3

Don’t get Medicare Advantage!

How hard is it to switch back to regular Medicare from Medicare Advantage? My parents fell for it and now I'm trying to get them to switch back.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the two big contributors here are going to turn out to be weed (I bet he already used a lot in his frat in college, then it got worse with the back pain, and I’m sure there was free flowing weed in his commune in Hawaii) and playing first person shooter games. Weed absolutely precipitates psychotic illness in kids this age (see here for example: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33617756/). And growing up playing a lot of shooter games (it said several places that he was into them and at one point his goal was to develop his own) inured him to real life repercussions of shooting someone.

Yes, maybe to the weed, no to the video games. You probably don’t have college kids. They are frustrated with this country. People aren’t ready to kill, but there was so much attention on him because the environment is sh-t, there are people being needlessly killed across the globe, mental health isn’t funded (see UHC on this), and their quality of life will be worse than their parents (GenX). I’ve heard several kids say they don’t want to “bring kids into this world.” They didn’t want to vote (“feels pointless, it’s all theater”). Everything is so freaking expensive. We have a lot of problems in society that aren’t being addressed by either party because they’re so entrenched on drawing party lines. The millennials are about to have the biggest wealth transfer in history. GenZ is already, and knows they soon, bear the brunt of all of this.

On a micro level, this kid seemed to have a better quality of life than his parents. He lived in Hawaii, working remotely, surfing, and hanging with friends in this co-working/co-living community. He had the benefit of their wealth, no student debt despite a very expensive education. I don't really feel you can blame this on a generational frustration with income inequality or lack of opportunity because he is one of the lucky ones from his generation. Other Gen Zers definitely feel that way and rightfully so, but I don't see why he would.

I think this was more a case of someone with fragile mental health being radicalized online after a few IRL setbacks. He didn't lack for healthcare (had access to good care and the funds to pay for it), he wasn't struggling to buy a home (his parents bought him one), wasn't struggling finding stable work in the "gig economy" (had a good job in a solid field thanks to an expensive BS and MS from Penn, also paid for by his parents). He was very, very fortunate. Yet he became a killer. I think it was just buying into the online rage machine and perhaps being too disconnected from family, combined with underlying and untreated mental illness.

This will sound callous and I don't mean it that way because I feel for Thompson's family, but at least he just killed one guy. He'll go to prison for most of the rest of his life. Situations like this are often much, much worse.

All very true.

Dangers of social media and the internet + unstable Gen Zs + radicalization

Actually, some have theorized that his untreated mental illness is schizophrenia, which commonly hits at age 26 or thereabouts.

Agree.
Am a trauma psychologist and some good reads out on it are Six Schizophrenic Brothers and the book The Best Minds.
Murder is unf, not unheard of for those types.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some input to the insurance companies bad vs insurance companies good debate:
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-often-do-health-insurers-deny-patients-claims
In 2010, federal regulators were granted expansive authority through the Affordable Care Act to require that insurers provide information on their denials. This data could have meant a sea change in transparency for consumers. But more than a decade later, the federal government has collected only a fraction of what it’s entitled to. And what information it has released, experts say, is so crude, inconsistent and confusing that it’s essentially meaningless.

https://acdis.org/articles/news-aha-report-suggests-ma-denials-increased-557-between-2022-2023
A new report released by the American Hospital Association (AHA) catalogues “staggering” administrative costs imposed on hospital operating margins.
The report—“Skyrocketing hospital administrative costs, burdensome commercial insurer policies are impacting patient care”—suggests that “excessive regulatory and insurer requirements” account for “more than 40% of total expenses hospitals incur in delivering care to patients.”
The authors of the report highlighted the growing trend in denials over the past few years, observing that care denials occurring between 2022 and 2023 increased a whopping average of 20.2% for commercial claims and 55.7% for Medicare Advantage claims, respectively.
--I assume this is hospital claims so we don't know what is happening in outpatient care

Because the govt is not getting this data, there's a lot we don't know. There may have also been some degree of Covid effect (otoh non-emergency surgeries and other care were being delayed during Covid), but a 57% year to year increase for MA denials??

Huge criticism on r/medicine about the Vox article claiming BCBS was not doing what they were actually doing re: anesthesia (even if it's a bit more complicated). It does sound like Vox and BCBS spun much harder than the ASA did.

So, is it violence when a corporation's practices lead to otherwise avoidable deaths (whether an insurance company, an international agribusiness, wood products, textile, energy, or mining company)? Was what Purdue did violence? Enron?

If "corporations are people" then when they commit violence via the ways they do business rather than 3-d printing a gun and shooting is there the same culpability?

UHC stock is coming back up, and in the end the same will happen for other insurers--because they also hold society hostage. In murder prosecutions, that's an aggravating factor.

This has to be one of the best analyses I’ve ever read on DCUM! Thank you for posting!! <3

Don’t get Medicare Advantage!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The manifesto doesn't show any indication of mania or psychosis. Bipolar manic speech/writing is long, rambling, disorganized and inarticulate. The speaker/writer will jump between subjects in a bizarre way.

None of that is present here. The manifesto was a few paragraphs long, well-written, and easy to understand.

there's SO much new stuff today on X.
A lot of ppl who think he was set up?

“To the Feds, I'll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn't working with anyone. This was fairly trivial: some elementary social engineering, basic CAD, a lot of patience. The spiral notebook, if present, has some straggling notes and To Do lists that illuminate the gist of it. My tech is pretty locked down because I work in engineering so probably not much info there. I do apologize for any strife of traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming. A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy. United is the [indecipherable] largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has grown and grown, but as our life expectancy? No the reality is, these [indecipherable] have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allwed them to get away with it. Obviously the problem is more complex, but I do not have space, and frankly I do not pretend to be the most qualified person to lay out the full argument. But many have illuminated the corruption and greed (e.g.: Rosenthal, Moore), decades ago and the problems simply remain. It is not an issue of awareness at this point, but clearly power games at play. Evidently I am the first to face it with such brutal honesty.”

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had a family member with severe chronic back pain (who passed away of something unrelated). It was so debilitating.

That being said…this seems a bit short sighted. Does he thinking a jail will provide him better medical accommodation? Lol.

Luigi isn’t moving around like he is in debilitating pain. He’s surfing, hiking, doing yoga, jumping off and on subways, buses and taxis, walking all over the place, jumping out of police cars, slamming against walls, etc. NOTHING about his movements suggest he’s in debilitating pain.

I’ve been there, with scoliosis, 2 herniated discs and pinched nerves. I’m not buying it for one second. pain, sure, debilitating, nope.

I can believe he was in pain but overall I agree with you-that’s not how someone in unremitting severe pain moves. He commented angrily on Reddit about convincing reluctant doctors to operate (when they apparently didn’t think surgery was indicated) by feigning symptoms. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a legit back issue along with a host of other psych issues. Also, those abs aren’t from casual gym going-that’s someone who devotes an absolute ton of hours to his physique, wouldn’t be surprised if there was some body dysmorphia.

Those abs are probably a few years old. He looks much smaller now.

Anonymous wrote:Some input to the insurance companies bad vs insurance companies good debate:
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-often-do-health-insurers-deny-patients-claims
In 2010, federal regulators were granted expansive authority through the Affordable Care Act to require that insurers provide information on their denials. This data could have meant a sea change in transparency for consumers. But more than a decade later, the federal government has collected only a fraction of what it’s entitled to. And what information it has released, experts say, is so crude, inconsistent and confusing that it’s essentially meaningless.

https://acdis.org/articles/news-aha-report-suggests-ma-denials-increased-557-between-2022-2023
A new report released by the American Hospital Association (AHA) catalogues “staggering” administrative costs imposed on hospital operating margins.
The report—“Skyrocketing hospital administrative costs, burdensome commercial insurer policies are impacting patient care”—suggests that “excessive regulatory and insurer requirements” account for “more than 40% of total expenses hospitals incur in delivering care to patients.”
The authors of the report highlighted the growing trend in denials over the past few years, observing that care denials occurring between 2022 and 2023 increased a whopping average of 20.2% for commercial claims and 55.7% for Medicare Advantage claims, respectively.
--I assume this is hospital claims so we don't know what is happening in outpatient care

Because the govt is not getting this data, there's a lot we don't know. There may have also been some degree of Covid effect (otoh non-emergency surgeries and other care were being delayed during Covid), but a 57% year to year increase for MA denials??

Huge criticism on r/medicine about the Vox article claiming BCBS was not doing what they were actually doing re: anesthesia (even if it's a bit more complicated). It does sound like Vox and BCBS spun much harder than the ASA did.

So, is it violence when a corporation's practices lead to otherwise avoidable deaths (whether an insurance company, an international agribusiness, wood products, textile, energy, or mining company)? Was what Purdue did violence? Enron?

If "corporations are people" then when they commit violence via the ways they do business rather than 3-d printing a gun and shooting is there the same culpability?

UHC stock is coming back up, and in the end the same will happen for other insurers--because they also hold society hostage. In murder prosecutions, that's an aggravating factor.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In case you are one of those who are morally confused:

Good guy: Daniel Penny
Bad Guy: Luigi Mangione

Disagree. They’re simply divergent species of good guy.

Penny protected his fellow citizens on a micro level. Mangione did so on a macro level. Both saw something that needed doing, and stepped up.

Hard disagree. Penny didn't plan to kill anyone. In fact even in the moment I don't believe he was trying to kill Neely -- I think he used "excessive force" due to adrenaline and the intensity of the moment.

Mangione planned and executed an assassination. Thompson was a really terrible person but that's still murder with prior intent.

What if Mangione had taken his Ivy League degrees, money from his family, and passion regarding a broken healthcare system (including coming from a family that profited off that system) and become an advocate for changing the system? I think it would be as effective as what he's done but without murdering someone on a city street on a Tuesday morning.

And yet, we’ve already real dividends from the UHC incident. Another health insurer was planning to reduce anesthesia benefits, but reversed the day after the UHC crook met his demise.

Anthem was going to roll that back no matter what -- it instantly got a ton of critical press coverage because it's a stupid policy that doesn't make sense. What are they going to do, wake up patients to get them to sign off on the extra anesthesia? The press did its job and covered that nonsense, and people complained, and the policy was going to change no matter what. Mangione didn't make that happen.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had a family member with severe chronic back pain (who passed away of something unrelated). It was so debilitating.

That being said…this seems a bit short sighted. Does he thinking a jail will provide him better medical accommodation? Lol.

Luigi isn’t moving around like he is in debilitating pain. He’s surfing, hiking, doing yoga, jumping off and on subways, buses and taxis, walking all over the place, jumping out of police cars, slamming against walls, etc. NOTHING about his movements suggest he’s in debilitating pain.

I’ve been there, with scoliosis, 2 herniated discs and pinched nerves. I’m not buying it for one second. pain, sure, debilitating, nope.

I can believe he was in pain but overall I agree with you-that’s not how someone in unremitting severe pain moves. He commented angrily on Reddit about convincing reluctant doctors to operate (when they apparently didn’t think surgery was indicated) by feigning symptoms. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a legit back issue along with a host of other psych issues. Also, those abs aren’t from casual gym going-that’s someone who devotes an absolute ton of hours to his physique, wouldn’t be surprised if there was some body dysmorphia.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had a family member with severe chronic back pain (who passed away of something unrelated). It was so debilitating.

That being said…this seems a bit short sighted. Does he thinking a jail will provide him better medical accommodation? Lol.

Luigi isn’t moving around like he is in debilitating pain. He’s surfing, hiking, doing yoga, jumping off and on subways, buses and taxis, walking all over the place, jumping out of police cars, slamming against walls, etc. NOTHING about his movements suggest he’s in debilitating pain.

I’ve been there, with scoliosis, 2 herniated discs and pinched nerves. I’m not buying it for one second. pain, sure, debilitating, nope.