United Healthcare CEO killed

[Luv2play]

27 minutes ago, augustus said:

The comments somehow justifying the murder of Mr Thompson are beyond horrible.  Wishing harm on anyone is a descent into barbarism and inhumanity.  Albert Einstein was spot-on when he said, "Violence always attracts men of low morality."

People need look no further than the bankrupt socialist system in Canada, where it takes approximately 6 months (if you're lucky) for a knee or hip replacement and often longer.  

This case has brought out many stories of people in the United States waiting months to get insurance company approvals for their needed surgeries only to be turned down. 
There was a young man interviewed in Florida who injured his nose last year in a sporting accident and he is still waiting to have his nose fixed properly. His insurance would only cover a partial fix. 

Edited December 7, 2024 by Luv2play

[Luv2play]

8 minutes ago, marylander1940 said:

I couldn't agree with you more! 

We have rule of law for a reason, murder is never justified!

 

 

Murder is murder but assassinations are a different thing. If the motive was political, then this was an assassination.

[Luv2play]

Millions of people are saying what the health insurance companies are doing is wrong as well.

[Vin Marco]

[+ augustus]

6 hours ago, Luv2play said:

Millions of people are saying what the health insurance companies are doing is wrong as well.

Waiting 6 months or more in Canada for a hip or knee replacement is very painful.  Being assigned a PCP can take years.

Edit: No political reference 

 

[marylander1940]

13 minutes ago, Luv2play said:

Millions of people are saying what the health insurance companies are doing is wrong as well.

without a doubt but we shouldn't shoot each other and deal with issues in a civilized way

 

[+ ApexNomad]

Our country is founded on the rule of law, ensuring justice is pursued through lawful means, not violence. The systemic failures in healthcare are real, and what’s happening is wrong. The justice system and other institutions don’t always get it right, but violence is never the answer. The stark alternative to pushing for reform and accountability through lawful means is chaos, where no one is safe, and justice becomes a matter of might, not right.

[samhexum]

49 minutes ago, Luv2play said:

There was a young man interviewed in Florida who injured his nose last year in a sporting accident and he is still waiting to have his nose fixed properly. His insurance would only cover a partial fix. 

right nostril, or left?

46 minutes ago, Luv2play said:

Murder is murder but assassinations are a different thing. If the motive was political, then this was an assassination.

43 minutes ago, marylander1940 said:

Call it whatever you want but it's wrong...

tomato/tomahto, potato/potahto

[Lotus-eater]

1 hour ago, augustus said:

The comments somehow justifying the murder of Mr Thompson are beyond horrible.  Wishing harm on anyone is a descent into barbarism and inhumanity.  Albert Einstein was spot-on when he said, "Violence always attracts men of low morality."

People need look no further than the bankrupt socialist system in Canada, where it takes approximately 6 months (if you're lucky) for a knee or hip replacement and often longer.  

Agreed. All health care systems--whether public or private--have to control costs. Government-run systems also ration care by denying or delaying access to procedures and drugs and usually do more of it, which is why their wait times are frequently longer. E.g., in the UK, the average wait time for cancer treatment is much longer than in the U.S. and the elderly have the longest waiting times (only 2% of those aged 85+ receive chemotherapy within NHS's target of 62 days) because the NHS in effect doesn't view treating them as cost-effective.

Edited December 7, 2024 by Lotus-eater

[+ JamesB]

[Lotus-eater]

1 hour ago, Luv2play said:

Murder is murder but assassinations are a different thing. If the motive was political, then this was an assassination.

A political motive makes his action worse. It makes it more akin to terrorism.

[MikeBiDude]

3 hours ago, augustus said:

The comments somehow justifying the murder of Mr Thompson are beyond horrible.  Wishing harm on anyone is a descent into barbarism and inhumanity

In fact our guidelines have a specific rule about this:

4.     Hateful speech is not allowed. Members are not permitted to use hate speech, call names, or label people/groups of people. Wishing death upon and/or celebrating the death of individuals or groups is considered a form of hate speech.

[Simon Suraci]

Violence is never the answer, never justified.

I wonder, however, how profoundly our current systems have failed us that assassinations prove to be more productive in drawing attention to important issues.

[+ Jamie21]

He doesn’t seem to be getting much sympathy. I think it would be better if he’d survived the shooting but injured…. and had his insurer refuse to pay for his treatment. 

Our healthcare in UK is rationed. There’s effectively unlimited demand and limited resources. Wait lists ration the treatment and work to reduce demand (people die waiting). If you don’t like to wait for treatment free at the point of use then you can buy treatment outside of the NHS either via insurance or pay directly. All the debate is about how effective the state provision is.
In any system, private or state, the government needs to regulate the market.  Whether it’s a state market or private market there will be incentives by the actors to use their power against the best interests of the customers. That could be profiteering, cartels, union power abuses. All the kinds of things that governments are supposed to prevent happening through good legislation and governance. This is a failure of government. 
 

 

 

[Luv2play]

7 hours ago, MikeBiDude said:

In fact our guidelines have a specific rule about this:

4.     Hateful speech is not allowed. Members are not permitted to use hate speech, call names, or label people/groups of people. Wishing death upon and/or celebrating the death of individuals or groups is considered a form of hate speech.

As the NYT is reporting, the killing of the nation’s largest health insurance provider’s chief executive is provoking an avalanche of hatred expressed about the business. It is inevitable that the individual who is the face of the industry would be the focus of the hatred. 
Hate speech directed to an individual is to be condemned but when the individual is tied to a hated institution then it becomes problematic to ban the speech. An institution that is widely hated by the general public needs to be held accountable. 
It is the role of government to address the situation because public health is a government responsibility.

[marylander1940]

His murderer is no anti-hero! No matter his motives were personal or financial he's nothing but a thug and deserves to go to jail!

One more thing, when it comes to online hatred always remember:

 

 

Many folks on here who have "justified" this horrendous cold-blooded crime of a stranger they never met and possibly didn't even know his name... would never dare to praise a murderer in front of family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, etc. but on here things are different and they can sound tough and mean!

 

[Vin Marco]

11 hours ago, marylander1940 said:

Call it whatever you want but it's wrong...

I agree about murder and violence being wrong ..  this CEO that was murdered in broad daylight has become a scapegoat for millions of angry and frustrated people that's caused what appears to be some sort of glee on the internet among many people ( no one can deny that ) . I sympathize with people that insurance companies have failed but I don't condone killing or violence, not even capital punishment. 

Edited December 7, 2024 by Vin Marco

[+ ApexNomad]

5 hours ago, Simon Suraci said:

Violence is never the answer, never justified.

I wonder, however, how profoundly our current systems have failed us that assassinations prove to be more productive in drawing attention to important issues.

It’s true that violence shocks us into paying attention because it plays into our primal instincts for survival and fear. But if we accept that as a default, we risk normalizing it and reinforcing cycles of harm. The challenge—and the necessity—is to reject that reflex and instead operate with intention and principle, proving that meaningful change can arise from strength in restraint, creativity, and compassion. A system built on violence cannot sustain justice; only an ethic of care can do that.

[Ali Gator]

On 12/4/2024 at 2:06 PM, augustus said:

Saw on the news that the wife was called up and asked to comment.  The wife's first reaction is not hanging up the phone in grieving disbelief when called for comment, but mentioning a possible motive. “Basically, I don’t know, a lack of coverage?” she said.  Who does an interview with the press 2 hours after their spouse was murdered?   Doesn't pass the sniff test.

I've been saying this at work (I work in a behavioral health facility) 'around the water-cooler' for the past few days. There's something 'not right' with her and her reactions. The husband was fifty, worth millions and probably worth even more dead when she cashes in his life insurance policy. 

[+ BOZO T CLOWN]

On 12/5/2024 at 2:34 PM, azdr0710 said:

now where is that other thread about people we're embarrassed to admit are good-looking??!!......

Just updated the thread on sexy bad boys.. it's now on page one.
Feel free to add his pic.

BTC

[CuriousByNature]

13 hours ago, augustus said:

The comments somehow justifying the murder of Mr Thompson are beyond horrible.  Wishing harm on anyone is a descent into barbarism and inhumanity.  Albert Einstein was spot-on when he said, "Violence always attracts men of low morality."

People need look no further than the bankrupt socialist system in Canada, where it takes approximately 6 months (if you're lucky) for a knee or hip replacement and often longer.  

We may have 'universal' health care here in Canada, but it's unfortunately universally deficient.

[samhexum]

13 minutes ago, CuriousByNature said:

We may have 'universal' health care here in Canada, but it's unfortunately universally deficient.

I guess the only choice is to do what I have done... stay eternally youthful, healthy, and beautiful so others will pay my way through life.  I highly recommend this option, btw.

[caliguy]

1 hour ago, CuriousByNature said:

We may have 'universal' health care here in Canada, but it's unfortunately universally deficient.

Almost all Canadians still support Universal Healthcare though. 

[caliguy]

4 hours ago, Luv2play said:

As the NYT is reporting, the killing of the nation’s largest health insurance provider’s chief executive is provoking an avalanche of hatred expressed about the business. It is inevitable that the individual who is the face of the industry would be the focus of the hatred. 
Hate speech directed to an individual is to be condemned but when the individual is tied to a hated institution then it becomes problematic to ban the speech. An institution that is widely hated by the general public needs to be held accountable. 
It is the role of government to address the situation because public health is a government responsibility.

He still was a shady character though. A very wealthy guy thanks to insider trading and a top of the record insurance denials. Maybe the message should be... don't hate the player. Hate the game. 

[Luv2play]

1 hour ago, CuriousByNature said:

We may have 'universal' health care here in Canada, but it's unfortunately universally deficient.

That goes against my own personal experience and that of my entire family and friends and acquaintances. While I read about instances of failures in the system, overall Canadians are attached to our system of public ally funded health care and want to improve it, not dispose of it. 
In the US, only Bernie Sanders has advocated a system such as ours at the highest level of government.