Giant Insurer United Healthcare Generously Delays Death Panel Plan Until Pandemic Over

[Nevilledog]

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https://www.wonkette.com/giant-insurer-united-healthcare-generously-delays-death-panel-plan-until-pandemic-over


You might think having health insurance is pretty cool, since if you have a medical emergency, you'll be "covered" and won't be bankrupted by a visit to the hospital. But United Healthcare, the USA's biggest health insurer, is preparing to roll out an exciting innovation in health coverage, or non-coverage: It's going to check all its policy-holders' emergency room visits, and if it decides retroactively that the visit wasn't due to a real emergency, it'll stick the patient with some or all of the bill.

That's sure to keep insurance premiums low by making people think twice before going in for a pricey visit to the ER, or as the pros call it, the "ED" (for emergency department, not bonerbrokeness). And if that means some people die of heart attacks because maybe those chest pains were just heartburn, well, that'll save even more money because United won't have to deal with the costs of treating the heart attack. Those are expensive!

As Ars Technica reports, the proposal didn't sit well with doctors and hospitals, who say it

sets a dangerous precedent of requiring patients to assess their own medical problems before seeking emergency care, which could end up delaying or preventing critical and even lifesaving treatment.

Happily, United Healthcare says that instead of its planned start date of July 1, the new policy won't go into effect until the pandemic is over and the medical state of emergency has officially ended. Thanks, COVID-19! Now UHC customers can have a health emergency field day, at least a little while longer. Maybe not long enough to pass single-payer healthcare, though.

*snip*


This makes me nervous.....the school district is switching over to United because Blue Cross wanted a huge raise in premiums.