There are only a few moral absolutes that we all agree on. And now that I type this, I’m wondering if I can even come up with a few. This world has gotten so binary and so polarized, that you’re either on one side or another. Red over blue. Coke over Pepsi. Yankees over Mets.
But I think up close to the top of the list would be that murder is bad. In whatever way you want to define that, one person taking another life is bad. There was a murder last week in New York. Unfortunately, there are a lot of murders in New York and in other cities. But this one has seemed to capture the attention of the nation.
This is, of course, the murder of the CEO of the medical insurance company UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson. It looks like the murder was done by someone in a premeditated manner and it seems to ring all of the bells that the zeitgeist of the country loves to argue about. National healthcare? True crime stories? Politics? Check, Check, Check.
Not surprisingly, I’m in the anti-murder camp on this one. Easy, right? But what I think doesn’t matter. And, sorry to say, what you think doesn’t matter either. It’s not going to bring Brian Thompson back to his family.
As is the case when any person leaves this earth, the ones left behind are responsible to learn, grieve, and move forward. For a death that has captured the national attention, it means we are left to discuss their legacy, which, for him, was very much politics and healthcare. Brian Thompson’s professional legacy is of one who ran an insurance company that we are left to examine due to the actions of the murderer. I don’t feel great about it, but here we are. United Healthcare, and most healthcare companies, frankly, are out for one thing and one thing only – money. They paint it under the facade of helping those who are sick. But listen, we all know the score here.
Just this week, Anthem Insurance had to be bullied out of putting a rule into place in Missouri that would limit your insurance coverage if the medical providers needed to keep you under anesthesia. Basically, if your surgery goes longer than planned, Anthem suggested they wouldn’t have to pay. This isn’t even something that you can control. I sort of understand limiting payouts for obesity or lifestyle. But if your doctor needs to keep you under an extra hour, that’s got nothing to do with you. You’re unconscious. I see crap like this all the time with my healthcare company, my parents’ healthcare company and the rest of my friends and families.
This type of shenanigans is exactly what the national dialogue is about. It’s a shame that it is over the pall of a murder. That’s truly regrettable. But that doesn’t change the fact that these insurance companies aren’t helping sick people offset some healthcare costs. They’re part of a completely broken healthcare system that has stopped worrying about sick people and started worrying about watching the clock and padding the wallet.
Now’s not the time to complain. Probably. But what is the best time to complain? I guess it was the day before he was murdered, but in lieu of that, I guess it’s now.
We look at everything on a sliding scale. I wish nothing but long life and health to everyone on this planet. But now that a CEO has died and national healthcare is in the news, I’m sorry if I am not going to shed a tear. Unfortunately, this ended in a murder. But it just goes to signify a moment we can add to the national discourse. I don’t wish anyone to get murdered. But I do wish these fat cats get really bad papercuts or stub their toes or step on a Lego in the middle of the night. I guess all I can really hope for is that my surgery ends on time and they bring me out of anesthesia before the meter starts running.
(Chris Kamler can be found on Twitter, don’t call it X, as @chriskamler)
