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)}