The current news has me thinking that, while the death of any human is not something I actively relish, most people feel a certain satisfaction, relief or, at least, less sad when someone like Osama Bin Laden dies, because they were responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people.
Which got me wondering, have studies been done estimating how many legitimate insurance cases are rejected, delayed or otherwise mishandled, and how many of those result in deaths? I guess other industries are also responsible for some pretty measurable risk factors (e.g. air pollution). It would interesting to see some rough numbers of how many deaths the CEOs who choose to continue running these companies in harmful ways account for. Obviously, they are only indirectly responsible, but the same could be said about Bin Laden, he didn’t fly the planes himself, he delegated.
“Death panels”. Yeah, I remember when that was the talking point some 15 years ago and I wondered how that didn’t apply to insurance companies. It made me glad I lived in Glen Becks definition of “socialist hellscape” - Scandinavia.
It’s bonkers, too, with how much we know and knew pharmaceutical companies were and are doing the same thing. Look at the price gouging for insulin! Look at the opioid industry and pandemic! But, just like those, the oil, cigarette, and even alcohol industries… they’re protected. It’s ok if it’s capitalism! Up until someone finally brings out the guillotine for a CEO.
Every old person was terrified of the government determining who would live or die. So instead they decided to keep paying for the privilege of letting a for-profit insurance company to do the same thing instead