Y’all, let’s talk about American healthcare and Wall Street. Yes, insurance executives are monsters, but...the wolves of Wall Street are their masters: their relentless profit demands, their growing entanglement in the health care sector is a large factor in our pain.

The ACA required health plans to spend at least 80% to 85% of premiums insurers take in on enrollees’ care, known as the medical loss ratio. But insurers figured out if they also become health care providers — by buying physician practices, clinics, and pharmacy benefit managers — they can meet that threshold by paying themselves and avoiding payment for their customers’ care.

Hundreds of acquisitions later, UnitedHealth is now the fourth largest U.S. company — just behind Walmart, Amazon, and Apple. And traded companies care more about shareholders than patients.

statnews.com/2024/12/11/wall-s…

#uhc #unitedhealthcare #cigna #wallstreet #MakeGuillotinesGreatAgain #KillHedgeFunds

Don’t overlook Wall Street’s role in health insurance greed | STAT

As the former VP of corporate communications at Cigna, I used to protect the health insurance business. Today's public conversation is missing something.

^{Wendell Potter (STAT)}

#Cigna tracks every minute that its staff #doctors spend deciding whether to pay for health care.

Dr. Debby Day said her bosses cared more about being fast than being right: “Deny, deny, deny. That's how you hit your numbers,” Day said.

#News #Healthcare #Health #Insurance #Patients

propub.li/4fMv9lg

Cigna Pressured Her to Review Patients’ Cases Too Quickly, Says Former Cigna Medical Director

Cigna tracks every minute that its staff doctors spend deciding whether to pay for health care. Dr. Debby Day said her bosses cared more about being fast than being right: “Deny, deny, deny. That’s how you hit your numbers,” Day said.

^ProPublica