Anonymous wrote:My son has an MS in a tech field. Smart 1580 SAT kid, gifted, tons of friends, never misbehaved even as a toddler. Around age 27 he started saying his co-workers were laughing at his ideas during meetings (I didn't believe it). He took his passport on a day trip to DC. Why? In case he needed to flee to Canada on short notice (paranoia).

He also started doing a lot of book reading and posting philosophical stuff on SM that sounded similar to Luigi in that it was "deep", but to me, unintelligible. I'm a retired engineer, but had no idea what he was saying.

Then he went radio silent on me for almost a year. Out of the blue he called, very manic and excited that he had the secret to world peace, blah blah.

I finally called my ex and he hopped on a plane. By the time he got there, our son was in a full on psychotic episode where he thought he was in a different dimension.

Thank goodness his roommate knew to call police trained in mental issues. He told the police his dad was really an imposter.

They took him to the psych hospital in Staunton. Wonderful place where he stayed for a month.

His roommates told us our son and a friend had been smoking a lot of pot. The psychiatrist dx him with some combo name of schizophrenia/bipolar and said the exact dx didn't matter, same meds.

She believed there is a link between pot and Schiz onset. Either they turn to pot to handle Sz symptoms, or possible pot usage can bring out Sz, which was lurking below the surface.

I was so grateful he didn't do something to get arrested during his psychotic episode, which had probably been brewing for a year.

Of course he went off the psych meds within 6 months. While he hasn't had a repeat episode in 6 years, I think he isn't smoking pot regularly. However, he is now very under-employed, working part-time as an admin. He lives with his dad, so no pressure to pay bills.

I'm grateful he's "stable". But boy, this story sounded a little too familiar to me. This type of thing was my biggest fear. I can't imagine how Luigi's parents and friends feel.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He is a jail house hottie

Him being attractive and well educated is doing him a lot of favors in the court of public opinion.

And young
And tall
And well read (but mostly newer books out, not classics).

Don’t forget rich. None of his peers have came out and can come up with a negative thing to say about him either and from the outside seems perfectly nice. He would be a perfect boyfriend to the Gen Z girls if he wasn’t a killer.

We can save him!

They’re not super rich. Their funeral homes cost $2m and most of the siblings work there.

And as we all know, in Balto you have to go private or parochial. He did exceptionally well academically and broke out to attend an Ivy. Not sure his parents were college grads or not nor where.

They all seem hard working, family oriented and humble.

This is all a real shame.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He is a jail house hottie

Him being attractive and well educated is doing him a lot of favors in the court of public opinion.

And young
And tall
And well read (but mostly newer books out, not classics).

Don’t forget rich. None of his peers have came out and can come up with a negative thing to say about him either and from the outside seems perfectly nice. He would be a perfect boyfriend to the Gen Z girls if he wasn’t a killer.

His peers are saying nice things about him because he was a nice, smart young man.

Something happened after that.

He went through a period of growth, journey, and dislocation; a transformation, whether for good or bad.

Lots of people go through this type of transformation and convert, become activists, and commit to a different path. Most of them do not tip over into violence, let alone cold-blooded murder.

Whether some kind of mental illness made that additional step possible, I don't know.

He may have come to view the CEO as simply one-dimensional, similar to a character in a video game or in a movie, or as a collection of numbers (salary, number of denials, etc.) tied to a position, but not the living and breathing person. In some ways, this is similar to what UHC leadership does, as well as its staff: insurance participants are just a collection of numbers (age, premium, coverage limits, costs, medical codes, etc.). UHC staff and leadership make decisions about who lives and dies, too. They just don't pull the trigger.

And you know, that post about Governor Shapiro writing messages on those bombs has really stayed with me.

Anyway, Luigi murdered a man. He will do his time. There is no way he won't go to prison.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He is a jail house hottie

Him being attractive and well educated is doing him a lot of favors in the court of public opinion.

And young
And tall
And well read (but mostly newer books out, not classics).

Don’t forget rich. None of his peers have came out and can come up with a negative thing to say about him either and from the outside seems perfectly nice. He would be a perfect boyfriend to the Gen Z girls if he wasn’t a killer.

His peers are saying nice things about him because he was a nice, smart young man.

Something happened after that.

He went through a period of growth, journey, and dislocation; a transformation, whether for good or bad. Lots of people go through this type of transformation and convert, become activists, and commit to a different path. Most of them do not tip over into violence, let alone cold-blooded murder. Whether some kind of mental illness made that additional step possible, I don't know. He may have come to view the CEO as simply one-dimensional, similar to a character in a video game or in a movie, or as a collection of numbers (salary, number of denials, etc.) tied to a position, but not the living and breathing person. In some ways, this is similar to what UHC leadership does, as well as its staff: insurance participants are just a collection of numbers (age, premium, coverage limits, costs, medical codes, etc.). UHC staff and leadership make decisions about who lives and dies, too. They just don't pull the trigger.

And you know, that post about Governor Shapiro writing messages on those bombs has really stayed with me.

Anyway, Luigi murdered a man. He will do his time. There is no way he won't go to prison.

What post about Shapiro?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He is a jail house hottie

Him being attractive and well educated is doing him a lot of favors in the court of public opinion.

And young
And tall
And well read (but mostly newer books out, not classics).

Don’t forget rich. None of his peers have came out and can come up with a negative thing to say about him either and from the outside seems perfectly nice. He would be a perfect boyfriend to the Gen Z girls if he wasn’t a killer.

His peers are saying nice things about him because he was a nice, smart young man.

Something happened after that.

He went through a period of growth, journey, and dislocation; a transformation, whether for good or bad. Lots of people go through this type of transformation and convert, become activists, and commit to a different path. Most of them do not tip over into violence, let alone cold-blooded murder. Whether some kind of mental illness made that additional step possible, I don't know. He may have come to view the CEO as simply one-dimensional, similar to a character in a video game or in a movie, or as a collection of numbers (salary, number of denials, etc.) tied to a position, but not the living and breathing person. In some ways, this is similar to what UHC leadership does, as well as its staff: insurance participants are just a collection of numbers (age, premium, coverage limits, costs, medical codes, etc.). UHC staff and leadership make decisions about who lives and dies, too. They just don't pull the trigger.

And you know, that post about Governor Shapiro writing messages on those bombs has really stayed with me.

Anyway, Luigi murdered a man. He will do his time. There is no way he won't go to prison.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone read the CNN article about health insurance denials? On a personal level, they are all terrible stories … but on an economic/policy level, I’m not so sure.

The 70 year old woman from Worcester complains that she pays hundreds of dollars a month but her insurer would not cover more than 6 weeks in a post-acute rehab center after her surgery, although it appears that center cost about 5K a week…..the economics just don’t add up. Most elderly people will have multiple health issues and surgeries are not uncommon. If the insurer is charging hundreds in premiums, yet paying out tens of thousands in provider charges, how can this make sense? It used to be that these large costs were rare so the premiums paid by healthy people covered the costs of the unlucky, but now it seems like almost everyone has some health condition or needs a surgery to improve quality of life. Post-acute in patient care is great but that wasn’t even really a thing 20-30 years ago—you just had to have family that would stay with you to help you post-surgery.

And the young girl with cancer probably picked a cheaper plan with a higher co-pay, figuring she was young and healthy. Should insurance companies not be permitted to offer those types of plans? I really don’t know. The problem is that most health care consumers don’t really adequately assess their potential risks and everyone is operating with insufficient information about what their health needs might be, and what things actually cost.

As far as the paramedic and his MRI….that seems ridiculous and he probably has a good appeal.


https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/12/business/us-health-care-insurance-frustrations/index.html

5% of the population accounts for 50% of healthcare spending. There are a lot of people like me who rarely visit doctors and have no prescriptions. I do screenings, blood work, etc., as recommended, but I'm a healthy 47 yo F who pays about $5K a year in premiums.

Are we talking about the same 5% of people year after year? If not, I'm not sure this is particularly helpful information; it just means that in a given year, 5% of the population gets really sick.

It seems like a small share of the US population have long-term illnesses that require expensive treatment, and those people should definitely get all the help they need. But a good chunk of the expensive patients are just people who like to get the latest tests and treatments for every small health issue, expecting miracles and without doing any of the hard work it takes to stay healthy. For example, for most (not all) people, exercise will resolve back pain, but some people refuse to exercise and just want $$$ surgeries and painkillers. I know someone who goes to the ER (or takes her kids there) many times each year, because she has untreated anxiety and refuses to see a therapist or take anxiety meds. And before you tell me I'm lucky that I'm not seriously ill -- I have a chronic condition that I manage cheaply with drastic changes in diet and exercise, while I know some people spending tens of thousands on medication that allows them to live symptom-free without any adjustment to their diet or exercise. I'm not immortal and I'm sure some day I'll need some expensive round of cancer treatment, but getting expensive treatments when absolutely necessary in old age is not the same as expecting them as a routine matter starting in childhood.

Why should one group "definitely" get expensive on going treatment and another be denied some tests?

In order to ensure a baseline of health for the whole population. If you want every headache test to be paid for, at the expense of not having money left for cancer treatments, you will end up with a society where minor conditions are over treated and life-threatening ones are fatal.

Tell us which age group sucks up most of the resources and how that benefits the whole population.

Oh I agree 100%, the ridiculous life-extending care for the oldest cohorts are out of control in this country. Paying $30,000 a month for intensive nursing care for a very sick 90-year old so he can live to 91, all by himself strapped into a bed with a feeding tube.

I fail to see how that person "definitely" needs their care but a younger able bodied person should be shamed and denied for seeking out answers or tests for an issue they are having. Since apparently we have to pick and choose what benefits society as a whole, according to that PP.

You're not reading right. Extending life for the oldest people who are not able to sustain themselves is a waste of money and makes it harder for younger, healthier people to get the care that can actually help them go back to living a normal life.

Well advocate for assisted suicide/euthanasia

+1 I have zero desire to be over 80 and be sick to the point where I’m sitting around waiting to die and all of my family has to sit and watch me whither away and having to tolerate pain. Let the elderly decide after the age of 80 and let people over 65 decide if they have something terminal.

Nurse here. And this is why Advanced Directives and having the conversation with loved ones are so important. We see so much intervention at the end of life that honestly sometimes just looks like torture. And often it is family driven.
I can understand when it’s a young person and there is a hope that person will pull through and make it. But 80-something year old nana with dementia and no quality of life? It happens more often than people realize.

That’s funny because every time one of the older people in my family have entered the hospital, we have been pressured to “let them go”. Even when they were simply dehydrated and needed IV fluids. You aren’t the person to make the decision about whether someone has “quality of life”.

A nurse decided it was time to kill my dad, who had dementia, and gave a lethal dose of morphine.

The nurse didn’t inform anyone in advance that she planned to do this.

Pretty sick.

I don’t believe you. That would be a crime. The amount of morphine is tracked.

Okay. Don’t believe me.

I’m not sure why you think tracking morphine would prevent a nurse from administering morphine to a hospice patient and leaving them alone to die. She did call to say “it won’t be long now.”
But we were hours away.

After the ambulance arrived, narcan was administered.

I hope you never have to be on hospice and that no nurse tries to kill you because you seem unable to believe sick hospice nurses exist in the world.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He is a jail house hottie

Him being attractive and well educated is doing him a lot of favors in the court of public opinion.

And young
And tall
And well read (but mostly newer books out, not classics).

Don’t forget rich. None of his peers have came out and can come up with a negative thing to say about him either and from the outside seems perfectly nice. He would be a perfect boyfriend to the Gen Z girls if he wasn’t a killer.

His peers are saying nice things about him because he was a nice, smart young man.

Something happened after that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone read the CNN article about health insurance denials? On a personal level, they are all terrible stories … but on an economic/policy level, I’m not so sure.

The 70 year old woman from Worcester complains that she pays hundreds of dollars a month but her insurer would not cover more than 6 weeks in a post-acute rehab center after her surgery, although it appears that center cost about 5K a week…..the economics just don’t add up. Most elderly people will have multiple health issues and surgeries are not uncommon. If the insurer is charging hundreds in premiums, yet paying out tens of thousands in provider charges, how can this make sense? It used to be that these large costs were rare so the premiums paid by healthy people covered the costs of the unlucky, but now it seems like almost everyone has some health condition or needs a surgery to improve quality of life. Post-acute in patient care is great but that wasn’t even really a thing 20-30 years ago—you just had to have family that would stay with you to help you post-surgery.

And the young girl with cancer probably picked a cheaper plan with a higher co-pay, figuring she was young and healthy. Should insurance companies not be permitted to offer those types of plans? I really don’t know. The problem is that most health care consumers don’t really adequately assess their potential risks and everyone is operating with insufficient information about what their health needs might be, and what things actually cost.

As far as the paramedic and his MRI….that seems ridiculous and he probably has a good appeal.


https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/12/business/us-health-care-insurance-frustrations/index.html

5% of the population accounts for 50% of healthcare spending. There are a lot of people like me who rarely visit doctors and have no prescriptions. I do screenings, blood work, etc., as recommended, but I'm a healthy 47 yo F who pays about $5K a year in premiums.

Are we talking about the same 5% of people year after year? If not, I'm not sure this is particularly helpful information; it just means that in a given year, 5% of the population gets really sick.

It seems like a small share of the US population have long-term illnesses that require expensive treatment, and those people should definitely get all the help they need. But a good chunk of the expensive patients are just people who like to get the latest tests and treatments for every small health issue, expecting miracles and without doing any of the hard work it takes to stay healthy. For example, for most (not all) people, exercise will resolve back pain, but some people refuse to exercise and just want $$$ surgeries and painkillers. I know someone who goes to the ER (or takes her kids there) many times each year, because she has untreated anxiety and refuses to see a therapist or take anxiety meds. And before you tell me I'm lucky that I'm not seriously ill -- I have a chronic condition that I manage cheaply with drastic changes in diet and exercise, while I know some people spending tens of thousands on medication that allows them to live symptom-free without any adjustment to their diet or exercise. I'm not immortal and I'm sure some day I'll need some expensive round of cancer treatment, but getting expensive treatments when absolutely necessary in old age is not the same as expecting them as a routine matter starting in childhood.

Why should one group "definitely" get expensive on going treatment and another be denied some tests?

In order to ensure a baseline of health for the whole population. If you want every headache test to be paid for, at the expense of not having money left for cancer treatments, you will end up with a society where minor conditions are over treated and life-threatening ones are fatal.

Tell us which age group sucks up most of the resources and how that benefits the whole population.

Oh I agree 100%, the ridiculous life-extending care for the oldest cohorts are out of control in this country. Paying $30,000 a month for intensive nursing care for a very sick 90-year old so he can live to 91, all by himself strapped into a bed with a feeding tube.

I fail to see how that person "definitely" needs their care but a younger able bodied person should be shamed and denied for seeking out answers or tests for an issue they are having. Since apparently we have to pick and choose what benefits society as a whole, according to that PP.

You're not reading right. Extending life for the oldest people who are not able to sustain themselves is a waste of money and makes it harder for younger, healthier people to get the care that can actually help them go back to living a normal life.

Well advocate for assisted suicide/euthanasia

+1 I have zero desire to be over 80 and be sick to the point where I’m sitting around waiting to die and all of my family has to sit and watch me whither away and having to tolerate pain. Let the elderly decide after the age of 80 and let people over 65 decide if they have something terminal.

Nurse here. And this is why Advanced Directives and having the conversation with loved ones are so important. We see so much intervention at the end of life that honestly sometimes just looks like torture. And often it is family driven.
I can understand when it’s a young person and there is a hope that person will pull through and make it. But 80-something year old nana with dementia and no quality of life? It happens more often than people realize.

That’s funny because every time one of the older people in my family have entered the hospital, we have been pressured to “let them go”. Even when they were simply dehydrated and needed IV fluids. You aren’t the person to make the decision about whether someone has “quality of life”.

A nurse decided it was time to kill my dad, who had dementia, and gave a lethal dose of morphine.

The nurse didn’t inform anyone in advance that she planned to do this.

Pretty sick.

I don’t believe you. That would be a crime. The amount of morphine is tracked.

Okay. Don’t believe me.

I’m not sure why you think tracking morphine would prevent a nurse from administering morphine to a hospice patient and leaving them alone to die. She did call to say “it won’t be long now.”
But we were hours away.

After the ambulance arrived, narcan was administered.

I hope you never have to be on hospice and that no nurse tries to kill you because you seem unable to believe sick hospice nurses exist in the world.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He is a jail house hottie

Him being attractive and well educated is doing him a lot of favors in the court of public opinion.

And young
And tall
And well read (but mostly newer books out, not classics).

Don’t forget rich. None of his peers have came out and can come up with a negative thing to say about him either and from the outside seems perfectly nice. He would be a perfect boyfriend to the Gen Z girls if he wasn’t a killer.

His peers are saying nice things about him because he was a nice, smart young man.

Something happened after that.

Indoctrination complete - OR - Total mental breakdown / disorder

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He is a jail house hottie

Him being attractive and well educated is doing him a lot of favors in the court of public opinion.

And young
And tall
And well read (but mostly newer books out, not classics).

Don’t forget rich. None of his peers have came out and can come up with a negative thing to say about him either and from the outside seems perfectly nice. He would be a perfect boyfriend to the Gen Z girls if he wasn’t a killer.

His peers are saying nice things about him because he was a nice, smart young man.

Something happened after that.

Drug usage and it might sound far fetched but maybe a cult or extremist group. If you look at the timeline he was basically unemployed in San Francisco for a year and stopped talking to family in July. That time period seems to be the most critical here and it doesn’t look like he has any friends from that time coming out to talk about him. It has to be something about that last year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He is a jail house hottie

Him being attractive and well educated is doing him a lot of favors in the court of public opinion.

And young
And tall
And well read (but mostly newer books out, not classics).

Don’t forget rich. None of his peers have came out and can come up with a negative thing to say about him either and from the outside seems perfectly nice. He would be a perfect boyfriend to the Gen Z girls if he wasn’t a killer.

His peers are saying nice things about him because he was a nice, smart young man.

Something happened after that.

Drug usage and it might sound far fetched but maybe a cult or extremist group. If you look at the timeline he was basically unemployed in San Francisco for a year and stopped talking to family in July. That time period seems to be the most critical here and it doesn’t look like he has any friends from that time coming out to talk about him. It has to be something about that last year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He is a jail house hottie

Him being attractive and well educated is doing him a lot of favors in the court of public opinion.

And young
And tall
And well read (but mostly newer books out, not classics).

Don’t forget rich. None of his peers have came out and can come up with a negative thing to say about him either and from the outside seems perfectly nice. He would be a perfect boyfriend to the Gen Z girls if he wasn’t a killer.

His peers are saying nice things about him because he was a nice, smart young man.

Something happened after that.