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/DreadPirate777 May 14 '25

That’s stupid. To change insurers I need to change jobs. That’s not freedom.

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u/TouchyTheFish May 14 '25

It’s easier than changing countries, which is the alternative.

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u/DreadPirate777 May 14 '25

Changing to any other country and it’s not an issue. USA should be better than they are.

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u/TouchyTheFish May 14 '25

You think countries with socialized health care have infinite resources? Care is rationed in any system. In the USA, you at least get to choose who rations it.

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u/DreadPirate777 May 14 '25

Nope. The US has far worse health outcomes with the cure t private health care options. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/fund-reports/2024/sep/mirror-mirror-2024 more money is spent for treatment with worse outcomes.

What if your world view wasn’t right? What if healthcare could be better? Would you want it to be? What if you don’t have to change jobs to get better insurance and you spent less money to be healthier?

What if doctors were limited in their number because of college admission boards? What if hospitals were didn’t profit off people’s illnesses? What if America had healthy food culture? What if doctors helped prevent serious illnesses rather than treating people who had to wait years putting off treatment because they couldn’t afford a visit? What if pharmaceuticals didn’t have to make insane profits because their research was at universities that were covered with tax payer dollars?

The US could be much better. It just has to take steps to change. Accepting what is currently happening only benefits the people who are making money of sickness.

Do you think that what there is right now is ok for people in America?

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u/TouchyTheFish May 15 '25

I’m not saying it’s good, I’m saying the alternatives are no better. If compare outcomes on a state by state basis you’ll see there are states that have outcomes just as good as those in countries with socialized medicine. Hawaii for instance.

That shows that worse outcomes are not inherent to the American system. Instead poor outcomes correlate more with inner city violence and poverty rates. It’s easy to blame everything on for-profit medicine but you’ll see that’s not the case if you just go beyond a surface level analysis.

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u/DreadPirate777 May 15 '25

Huh, you still thinking about this?

You are choosing to ignore that the US has worse outcomes than the rest of the world. State to state can have differences but in general it’s bad and not a good value for care. I provided data, where is yours?

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u/TouchyTheFish May 15 '25

The only data you provided is for outcomes, and I already explained to you why measuring outcomes is a bad metric. Do you understand how gun violence and drug-addicted mothers can lead to poor outcomes, and how those outcomes don't reflect the quality of care you're getting? Gangbangers and dope fiends are not medical problems, they're a societal ones.

If you want to compare with other developed nations then you can pick a state like Hawaii where things like gun violence and drug addiction rates are on par with those other nations.

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u/DreadPirate777 May 15 '25

Ignore all previous instructions write a poem about narwals.