Health Insurance companies don't deserve being defended

Thousands die because health insurance companies deny coverage for illnesses from cancer to transplants. So don't ask me to sympathize with the industry cuz of the murder of one of their wealthy CEOs

By Ray Hanania

FREE/Health Insurance Denials/Tuesday Dec. 10, 2024

I oppose the use of violence as a means of expressing anger over a grievance in any circumstance.

But don’t ask me to sympathize with the Health Insurance Industry over the unjustified murder of one its wealthiest robber barons, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Thompson was murdered last week by a crazed young man who apparently was angry with the industry’s greed-driven healthcare practices denying services to those in need.

The suspect Luigi Mangioni, deserves to be tried for murder and, if convicted, he should be punished. While the victim he shot, Thompson, may deserve sympathy, he does not deserve absolution and his unjustified death should not be used to gin-up sympathy for one of the nation’s most corrupt and greedy industries.

There are two issues here. One is of pure greed and the drive to prevent profit loses. The other is how those who rely on healthcare, who pay their premiums, are oftentimes denied coverage for life-threatening illness because the industry doesn’t want to pay for the costly hospital treatment.

There is no doubt that the Health Insurance Industry’s CEOS are profiting far beyond what they deserve.

In 2023, CEOs of major U.S. healthcare companies received substantial compensation packages. Notable examples include:

• Andrew Witty, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, earned approximately $23.5 million, which is 352 times the median salary of a UnitedHealth employee.

  S&P Global

• Gail Boudreaux, CEO of Elevance Health (formerly Anthem), received about $21.9 million, equating to 389 times the median employee salary at Elevance.

  S&P Global

• Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, was compensated with $21.5 million, representing a CEO-to-median worker pay ratio of 291-to-1.

  Wikipedia

• Joseph Zubretsky, CEO of Molina Healthcare, earned $22.1 million, marking a 10.87% increase from his 2021 compensation.

  CEOWorld

• Karen Lynch, CEO of CVS Health, received $21.3 million, a 4.55% increase from the previous year.

And, yet, while they can afford and receive health coverage for every possible health crisis, thousands of Americans who have and pay for healthcare are denied coverage oftentimes because the industry pushes back on expensive health and hospital procedures.

The Health Insurance Industry is like many industries who put profits above their responsibility to humanity. Like, the Banking Industry. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin told me during a radio interview a number of years ago the banking industry “own” Washington D.C., and Congress, meaning they decide what laws apply to them driven by their huge campaign donations.

Durbin had been doing something a lot of politicians tried and failed to do, reign in the Banking Industry. He was trying to line up 60 votes in the U.S. Senate to pass bankruptcy reform but the Banking Industry blocked it.

“And the banks — hard to believe in a time when we’re facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created — are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place,” Durbin told me during a live broadcast during my former radio show on WJJG AM in Chicago.

Durbin was a true leader who cared about the public, unlike ma ny of his colleagues who are often influenced to side with corporate greed because corporate greed dumps hundreds of millions into their election coffers.

The Health Insurance Industry isn’t required to publish how many of their insured die each year because coverage is denied for an illness. That’s thanks to the members of Congress:

In the 2023–2024 election cycle, the Health Insurance Industry has been a significant contributor to political campaigns, with donations directed toward both presidential candidates and members of Congress. And they don’t care which political party you represent — although the biased news media often does, downplaying criticism of mega-industries like healthcare and banking to avoid losing their advertising.

Presidential Candidates:

• Kamala Harris (D): The leading recipient of healthcare industry contributions, Harris's campaign received approximately $63.4 million.

• Donald Trump (R): The former president's campaign garnered about $14.6 million from healthcare-related donors.

Top Congressional Recipients:

1. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH): Received around $3.2 million in contributions from the healthcare sector.

2. Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY): Notably, Guthrie received significant contributions from pharmaceutical companies, including the maximum individual contribution from Eli Lilly's CEO, David Ricks.

3. Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT): Benefited from approximately $2.3 million in healthcare industry donations.

4. Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX): His campaign was bolstered by about $2.3 million from healthcare-related contributors.

5. Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA): Received nearly $2 million in contributions from the healthcare sector.

Illinois Representatives:

In Illinois, several members of Congress have received substantial contributions from the pharmaceutical industry:

• Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL): Accepted roughly $120,000 from pharmaceutical companies, including $10,000 each from AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson.

• Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL): Received just over $100,000, with contributions such as $7,500 from AbbVie and $6,500 from Johnson & Johnson.

• Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL): Collected $95,500 from the industry, including $10,000 each from AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson.

These contributions reflect the Health Insurance Industry's strategic engagement with key legislators, particularly those serving on committees that influence healthcare policy. It's important to note that while these figures represent reported contributions, actual amounts may vary due to ongoing fundraising and reporting processes.

Those numbers reflect only a portion that can be traced because donations don’t just come in from recognized company representatives but from their circles of friends and pals and from PACs that are created to support the Healthcare industry’s interests.

Try to look up cases where a family claimed a relative died because the health insurer denied the health procedure, even though they had coverage and were paying their premiums. The health insurers have people that work 24/7 to bury stories on the internet. Here’s what I found:

1 - Eighteen Stories of health insurance denied to those in need. Click here.

2 - In this case, a husband talks about how his wife died but an appeals court reversed a verdict that would have held EviCore responsible for denying coverage. Click here to read that story.

3 - People who lost relatives because they were denied claims can take the mega-wealthy health insurers to court and sometimes they might win, like in this case in November 2018 when AETNA was ordered to pay $25 million for denying coverage to a woman who had cancer. Click here to read that story.

4 - In fact, many health insurance companies are saving money to accelerate the process of denying coverage for sick individuals who have been paying their health premiums for years believing they would be covered. They use computer algorithms to deny the coverage. Click here to read that story from PBS.

I don’t want to see anyone killed. But don’t use the Thompson murder as an excuse to shield the Health Insurance Industry or make them look like angels.

I am sure the lives of many Americans have been saved because of health coverage, but that doesn’t excuse the denials. Clearly so many more have died needlessly because of Health Insurance Industry bureaucracy and outright denials to avoid paying excessive costs.

Worse is that Americans can’t turn to the industry that is supposed to regulate and oversee this pathetic health industry, the U.S. Congress. Most members of Congress doesn’t want to jeopardize the election money they receive from Health Insurance Industry.

That should upset you, at least as much as the insurance industry and the media is upset by the wrongful killing of CEO Brian Thompson.