#health insurance security

[nationnow]

Health insurance companies ramp up security after UnitedHealthcare CEO murder

Health insurance companies are boosting their security in the aftermath of thefatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City, with some seeking more protection for their executives, while others have taken measures to protect the identities of their leadership teams. UnitedHealth and CVS Health have both removed photographs of their leadership teams from their websites…

[thingstrumperssay]

THEY'VE ONLY BEEN TALKING ABOUT GETTING RID OF BENEFITS LIKE SSI AND SNAPP FOR A DECADE NOW. THIS IS SUCH A SURPRISE!

[whatareyoureallyafraidof]

[chrliekclly]

How did you get your job on sunny? I really wanna go into the entertainment industry.

iv told th story b4 but i got onto th show bcuz i just happened to b n th right place @ th right time

was working on smthn completely different nd drunk on th camera truck during one of our wrap days me, the DIT, nd the loader wer talking abt fave tv shows nd when i said tht always sunny was mine th loaders just like "oh lol funny im the 1st AC on that. i can get u some days if u want" ???

so i...did some days...then i did a season...and now im core crew i guess

[thashining]

Rep. Jeffries calls out Republicans for saying one thing to voters, and then doing the opposite.

in other words :

“AREN’T YOU TIRED OF THEM PLAYING YOU FOR A FOOL?!” “THEY’RE COMING FOR YOUR MEDICARE… THEY’RE COMING FOR YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY!!!

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Andrew Perez at Rolling Stone:

EARLIER THIS WEEK, two Democratic senators announced they have requested a criminal investigation into Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — regarding, in part, a loan for a luxury RV provided by a longtime executive at UnitedHealth Group, one of America’s largest health insurers. Thomas apparently recused himself in at least two cases involving UnitedHealth when the loan was active, according to a Rolling Stone review. Yet, he separately chose to participate in another health insurance case and authored the court’s unanimous opinion in 2004. The ruling broadly benefited the industry — shielding employer-sponsored health insurers from damages if they refuse to cover certain services and patients are harmed. Thomas’ advice to patients facing such denials? Pull out your checkbook.

While UnitedHealth was not a party to the case, the company belonged to two trade associations that filed a brief urging the Supreme Court to side with the insurers.  “As we saw so starkly this term, Supreme Court decisions can have sweeping collateral implications: If the court rules in favor of one insurance giant, for instance, it tends to be a boon for all the other insurance giants, too,” says Alex Aronson, executive director at the judicial reform group Court Accountability. “That was the case here, and it’s a perfect example of why justices shouldn’t accept gifts — especially secret ones — from industry titans whose interests are implicated, whether directly or indirectly, by their rulings.” The public had no way of knowing about Thomas’ RV loan at the time of the decision: The loan was only exposed by The New York Times last year. Senate Democrats investigating Thomas believe that much or all of the loan, for a $267,230 motor coach, was ultimately forgiven. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) recently requested the Justice Department investigate whether Thomas reported the forgiven portion of the loan on his tax filings, after he failed to disclose it in ethics forms.

Meanwhile, Thomas’ health insurance opinion has had wide-ranging, long-lasting ramifications, according to Mark DeBofsky, an employee benefits lawyer and former law professor.  “It hasn’t been rectified. The repercussions continue,” DeBofsky tells Rolling Stone. “People who are in dire need of specific medical care, and [their] insurance company turns around and says, ‘That care is not medically necessary,’ and there’s an adverse outcome as a result of the denial of the treatment, or hospitalization, or service — there’s no recompense for what could have been an unnecessary death or serious injury.” Since last year, the Supreme Court has faced an unprecedented ethics crisis, with much of the focus aimed squarely at Thomas. ProPublica reported that Thomas received and failed to disclose two decades worth of luxury gifts from a conservative billionaire, Harlan Crow, who allegedly provided free private jet and superyacht trips to Thomas and his wife; bought a house from Thomas and allowed the justice’s elderly mother to live there for free; and paid for at least two years of boarding school tuition for Thomas’ grandnephew.

[...] Federal law requires Supreme Court justices to recuse themselves in any case where their “impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” The justices decide for themselves when such a move is necessary — and when they do withdraw from a case, they rarely say why. Thomas does not appear to have explained his decision to withdraw from the two matters that directly involved UnitedHealth. Thomas did not take similar steps in Aetna Health Inc. v. Davila, a case that broadly affected the health insurance industry. He instead authored the court’s opinion, which expanded insurers’ favorite tool for limiting liability: ERISA. Congress passed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, commonly known as ERISA, in 1974 to protect employee benefits. The law is relatively vague when it comes to “welfare benefits,” and contains a broad preemption clause. The courts have filled in the blanks — including in the Aetna Health case — with distressing results for patients. Half of Americans have employer-sponsored health insurance coverage; nearly all of these plans are governed by ERISA.

Rolling Stone exposes how SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas received a $267K RV from a health insurance executive.

[morika]

mtrk bodyguard arc prologue 👍

[sleepinglionhearts]

The emotional rollercoaster of the last 15-ish hours has been. A lot to deal with 🙃

Illustration contest woes -> sick cat -> no sleep -> vet we wanted to visit has no doctors on schedule today????? -> clinic they recommended takes walk-ins -> sick cat examined and they think maybe he has an internal blockage of some sort -> REALLY EXPENSIVE -> missing work after I got a whole talking-to about my attendance -> still have a tiny wedding to plan -> NO MONEY

[stabyou]

honey from 6 weeks ago would not believe how productive im being and how much my life is changing for the better

[magpie-to-the-morning]

Been awhile since I did one of these, but they're a fun way to celebrate little accomplishments, so here's my ta-da list for the past week!

Talked to my doctor about my recent rise in panic attacks, have a new treatment plan

Went back to my physical therapist after a month, found out that my range of motion in my neck has increased and now I just need to work on strengthening those muscles

Had a great session with my therapist

Am working on scheduling pottery and horseback riding lessons

Made an appointment to probably get a root canal which, terrifying, but I didn't put it off and it will be okay!

Wrote AND posted a little something

Had a small panic attack last night but asked for a little help and rode it out

Did some dishes even before coffee, and plan on taking Eddie for a long walk in the park today

Am looking forward to a foraging lecture/walk tomorrow, and have plans some friends after that

[gideonisms]

One thing I will say about this job is that every single person I've met has been 3000% nicer than anyone I met during an average 2 days at the grocery store

[thingstrumperssay]

And social security checks. And pensions.

[ribbittrobbit]

fucking hate instagram im "required" to have it for "professional" reasons but also i get dms for comms that could be scams and so i have to go through the deeply humiliating step of interrogating a potential client to see if they are sketchy or not

like its wild that you cant just spend time drawing and get paid for it, i have to vet clients, cold call, network, send invoices, FOLLOW UP INVOICES, and promote myself (and all to not have health insurance lmao)

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

god i have been..... so out of it. move happened, thankfully where i ended up was not the worst case scenario i was afraid of but it's still rough. stress, food insecurity, trying to process new unfamiliar chaotic environment without being able to see much, having basically zero time in the day where at there's not at least one person in the central room where the kitchen is when usually at worst in my old place i'd have a few sanity hours at night while my stepdad was asleep, having very little room to actually stretch my legs and therefore exercise + do my main stim, having a godawful bed jesus fucking christ i hate memory foam so much, and walking on eggshells because the sister i've been staying with has gone from 'oh yeah i've got your back and we're besties, everything's fine :)' to kicking me out with 12 hours' notice the last time i had to move in with her, and Worsening Health Issues have just. left me totally brainfogged and out of social spoons, except for poking at solo rpgs and occasionally replying to one or two people/firing off twitter threads off the cuff during Moments of Clarity since it's easier than finishing a tumblr post. should try to adapt some of those at some point.

i know i keep saying that i miss posting and interacting regularly on this blog, but i do miss y'all and i miss writing up essays on here. and i hope people are doing well, or are headed for better days if you aren't.

[historyforfuture]

If you ever wondered why US taxes don’t pay for health care. It goes to #Israel so they can do this.

[timelessmulder]

the fun thing about my monster of the week character is that he's from the 30s and can be tricked into thinking the moon landing is fake