Readers Write: Shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO, 4-day school week, cartoons

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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In the coverage of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killing I have noticed that much of the commentary so far has been about how to protect health care executives (“Companies rethinking security for top execs,” front page, Dec. 7). I may have missed some reporting, but I do not recall seeing stories about the health care insurance industry, and in particular UnitedHealthcare, planning to take a hard look at how fairly they process claims and how they can better serve their customers. The business model for some — not all — of these companies seems focused on how to deny coverage to people who faithfully pay their premiums with the expectation that their expenses will be covered should they be injured or become ill. The recent account of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield’s plan to cut back on reimbursing anesthesia costs is a perfect example (“UHC CEO’s murder incites anger, but not at the killer,” Dec. 6). Thankfully, that plan was withdrawn following Thompson’s death.

The drive for larger profits has seriously affected how regular premium payers receive care. The idea that insurers exist for the benefit of their members is laughable. Like so many industries and businesses these days, paying executives and shareholders huge sums of money is what matters.

The insurance industry should be revisiting its purpose and corporate mission and seeing how far it has strayed from meeting clients’ health care needs. Executives should think about the reason that Thompson was targeted and the frustration that is evident across the country by people who have suffered or lost loved ones due to insufficient reimbursement.

Greed and entitlement have erased the values of compassion, integrity and fairness that so many citizens value. Health care insurers can, and must, do better.

Katherine Jursik, Plymouth

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Like everyone else, I found the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Thompson shocking. I also find these words shocking: “These tensions [coverage denials and searches for ways to get out of paying for needed care] are well-known within health care. Even so, some industry officials have expressed surprise and dismay this week at the degree of animosity displayed online” (“UnitedHealth mourns as manhunt continues,” front page, Dec. 7). Could someone please provide these executives with a reality check? Earning tens of millions of dollars annually has insulated them from the real world of the other 90% of Americans. Either that, or they do not care.

U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips is right. The rules need to be changed. Unlike the health care industry escaping regulation because of Congress’ inaction, property and casualty insurance companies are regulated by the states. People don’t like paying for home, auto or business insurance, but they don’t go bankrupt trying to pay for coverage. The rates must be justified by losses documented by actuaries, and those rates may only include a reasonable load for company profit. I’d like to see the numerical proof that justifies an annual net of more than $100 billion a year at health care companies. I’d also like to see written documentation including sworn statements by CEOs answering these questions: Does your compensation plan incentivize denials of claims? What percentage of claims are covered versus denied by the retired doctors that you employ?

To those who believe Thompson’s death is not the time to discuss the immorality of UnitedHealthcare (and others) employing thousands of retired doctors to sit at desks all day denying coverage to sick people that they never examined, I say this is the perfect time. UnitedHealthcare policyholders go bankrupt every day — or at the very least develop ulcers and high blood pressure trying to fight UnitedHealthcare for coverage payments.

Brenda Machacek, Mendota Heights

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The killing of Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, is a tragedy. Since his killing, UnitedHealthcare has been front and center in the news. One piece of news floating around for the last couple of days regarding UnitedHealthcare is a lawsuit filed last year alleging the company uses artificial intelligence to deny coverage to some elderly patients who are on a Medicare Advantage plan. This is despite the company allegedly being aware that the algorithm has a 90% error rate. UnitedHealthcare is the largest Medicare Advantage plan provider in the U.S. Something doesn’t pass the smell test here.

UnitedHealthcare has become the poster child for why the health care industry never should have been privatized. A for-profit company has the right to make a profit. But where and when does it cross the line? When do profits become more important than medical care for a human being? While the family and friends of Thompson mourn the loss of their loved one, one thing has come to the forefront: UnitedHealthcare’s rotten business model is on full display for everyone to see.

Teresa Maki, Minnetonka

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Is it moral for health care insurance executives to make millions off the backs of sick people? How can we sit back and watch this travesty? I work with patients and spend hours begging insurance companies to help them! They sit in their fancy offices and watch us beg for care to be covered.

So many working in health care insurance act like heartless thieves! And now Medicare Advantage has resulted in the government paying insurance companies to disburse Medicare dollars, and all the insurance companies want is to keep that money.

But companies like UnitedHealthcare are seeing record profits. Shame on them getting rich off the backs of people, especially those that need care.

Thompson did not deserve to die — nor anyone else because of how insurance companies operate. This needs to get fixed.

Catherine Statz, St. Paul

I simply won’t be entertaining any discussion about a four-day school week (“Is a 4-day school week right for your district?” Strib Voices, Dec. 6). I’m sure this topic threads some needle between money-conscious conservatives and the teachers union whose members wouldn’t mind an extra day off. But for the parents, students and families that will have to deal with the additional expense and the — impossible to overstate — hassle of trying to coordinate this new normal, we’re not interested. If some rural district is about to become insolvent, then emergency managers will need to take over while that gets corrected. But to the other 99% of school districts: We’re not going to try to unring this bell, because we’re not going to let you ring it in the first place.

Joe Widmer, Stillwater

I see that the Roman poet Juvenal got it right 1900-plus years ago (”L.K. Hanson’s ‘You Don’t Say,’ ” Dec. 9). Juvenal said: “Indeed, revenge is always the pleasure of a paltry, feeble, tiny mind.” If a person’s ego is so fragile that they cannot take any criticism, however minor, or go through a legal process or a congressional inquiry without promising revenge through the courts with the most severe punishment possible, then that person has absolutely no right to hold any leadership position.

Ron Bender, Richfield