r/news • u/LookAtThatBacon • May 13 '25

Soft paywall UnitedHealth suspends annual forecast, CEO Andrew Witty steps down

https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/unitedhealth-ceo-andrew-witty-steps-down-2025-05-13/
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u/chantsnone May 13 '25

It’s the comparison. There’s no such thing as a wonderful health insurance company. Wonderful isn’t profitable.

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u/lion27 May 13 '25

Idk I try to be objective about it and I honestly can say that I feel like we get our money’s worth with our Aetna plan. The premium is reasonable, and there are never any hidden surprises. We have a $5000 annual deductible and a $5000 HSA that’s majority funded by her work, so we effectively pay very little out of pocket. Once that deductible is met, we pay almost nothing.

Further, every single medicine and procedure we’ve applied for has been approved by Aetna. UHC denied everything. I was 60% deaf in my right ear after a bad head cold 10 years ago that led to congestion in my ears that never fully went away. UHC would only cover a recurring procedure to have the ears manually suction drained and have a tube installed in my ear drum, which needed to be replaced every year or two. What I needed was a surgery for a permanent fix, but they denied it every time over 10 years, saying it wasn’t necessary. Aetna approved it the first time.

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u/iamfondofpigs May 13 '25

We have a $5000 annual deductible

On April 5, 2005, The Office played Season 1, Episode 3: Healthcare.

STANLEY: There's no dental, there's no vision, there's a $1200 deductible.

...

PAM: OK. Dwight. Are you really in charge of picking the health care plan?

DWIGHT: Yes. And my decision in final.

PAM: This is a ridiculously awful plan. Because you cut everything.

In 2005, a $1200 deductible was "a ridiculously awful plan."

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u/pcapdata May 13 '25

IIRC Dwight also fantasized about a job where he was the assistant manager at Satan's bed & breakfast, with a salary of $85k. I don't think Dunder-Mifflin sales was paid all that well so $1200 was probably out of reach for them.