TOO CLOSE TO HOME

WOW…and Trump isn’t even president yet….United Health Care is my connection, as well as CareMark. Slipping under my feet, with no suspicions. Will the investigations be dropped under our new president?

I’m referring to news items about…

Earlier this year, a Senate committee investigated Medicare Advantage plans denying nursing care to patients who were recovering from falls and strokes. It concluded that three major companies — UnitedHealthcare, Humana and CVS, which owns Aetna — were intentionally denying claims for this expensive care to increase profits. UnitedHealthcare, the report noted, denied requests for such nursing stays three times more often than it did for other services. (Humana had an even higher figure, denying at a rate 16 times higher.) /unitedhealthcare-ceo-brian-thompson

I didn’t bite on Medicare Advantage because it advertised so much.

No one knows how often private insurers like UnitedHealthcare deny claims because they are generally not required to publish that data. People who bought coverage under Obamacare, a government-funded plan, had 17 percent of their care denied in 2021, according to KFF, a health policy group. Other surveys have found that denials are more prevalent among those with private insurance than those who carried government coverage.

UnitedHealthcare, part of the giant conglomerate UnitedHealth Group, reported more than $16 billion in operating profits last year and employed roughly 140,000 people. The company is a frequent lightning rod for criticism over how it handles claims.

Oxycontin misbehavior: This week I read about so much illegal conniving that I got a little depressed, especially about one that detailed oxycontin illegal manipulation in the pharmacy/medical illegal activities. I guess I asked for it–read digitaldefynd.com’s 60 biggest Business Scandals in History for a jolt or

Fraud
2020 National Health Care Fraud and Opioid Takedown

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I GUESS I’M NAIVE –If all conditions are satisfied and the non-monetary terms – which still need to be determined – are finalized, CVS Health has agreed it will pay approximately $5 billion ($4.9 billion to states and political subdivisions and approximately $130 million to tribes) over the next ten years beginning in 2023, depending on the number of governmental entities that agree to join the settlement. (Re the oxycontin scandal).

The agreement would fully resolve claims dating back a decade or more and is not an admission of any liability or wrongdoing. 5 billion for no wrongdoing?

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I REGRET SO MANY suspicions, before Trump is even in office. But, when I read a UnitedHealthcare representative made humanizing remarks about their late CEO, including the statement that

“While the health system is not perfect, every corner of it is filled with people who try to do their best for those they serve.” Who are those they serve? The Stockholders? Grrr, as another blogger said.

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When I read that so many wealthy outfits are cozying up to Trump, my blood runs cold.

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I didn’t know there were so many school shootings: This year, nine shooting suspects were female compared with 249 who were male, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database.

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