A Guardian investigation finds insurer quietly paid facilities that helped it gain Medicare enrollees and reduce hospitalizations. Whistleblowers allege harm to residents
UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest healthcare conglomerate, has secretly paid nursing homes thousands in bonuses to help slash hospital transfers for ailing residents – part of a series of cost-cutting tactics that has saved the company millions, but at times risked residents’ health, a Guardian investigation has found.
Those secret bonuses have been paid out as part of a UnitedHealth program that stations the company’s own medical teams in nursing homes and pushes them to cut care expenses for residents covered by the insurance giant.
In several cases identified by the Guardian, nursing home residents who needed immediate hospital care under the program failed to receive it, after interventions from UnitedHealth staffers. At least one lived with permanent brain damage following his delayed transfer, according to a confidential nursing home incident log, recordings and photo evidence.
All current and pensioned government employees should have the same healthcare.
No government employee should be allowed to pay for private insurance.
No government employee should be allowed to pay cash for health care.
Three rules that have no direction towards private businesses (freedom!), that if applied, would ensure immediate care for all.
When a former president can’t get treatment, the situation changes.
The issue is that the president and congress already get government-provided healthcare, and it is far above what Medicare provides. We should just require all elected officials to use Medicare with no extra private insurance, and Medicare will get fixed real fucking quick.
You are all saying what I meant, glad to hear I’m not the only one.
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Presidents and former presidents already don’t pay for healthcare. They get free government subsidized healthcare for life. The same goes for members of Congress.
We should just get rid of all private insurance and enroll every person in Medicare.
Make it that all elected officials have to go with the worst-rated insurance provided in any given year, with points 2 and 3. Let’s see how long it takes them to get those plans sorted out.