Denied, Delayed, Dead: How Health Insurance Became America’s Biggest Killer

From denied claims to AI-powered rejection systems, the privatization of healthcare isn’t just bankrupting Americans—it’s killing them.

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1. The Murder That Exposed a Rotten System

• On December 4, 2024, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed outside the New York Hilton Midtown while attending an investors’ meeting. The suspect, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, was arrested days later and charged with first-degree murder and terrorism (AP News).

• But the most shocking part? People celebrated.

• Thousands on social media cheered the assassination, calling it “karma” and “justice”—a reaction that, while disturbing, signals deep public rage at the U.S. healthcare system.

• Moral implications: Is this just misplaced anger, or a sign of something deeper?

• The bigger picture: This isn’t just about one CEO—it’s about a system that is killing people every day through denied care and medical bankruptcies.

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2. The Brutal Cost of American Healthcare

• A real-life case: A $6,000 bill for a basic, uncomplicated birth—a perfect example of the outrageous cost of healthcare, even with insurance.

• The numbers don’t lie:

• $4 trillion spent on healthcare annually (The Times).

• 66.5% of bankruptcies are tied to medical issues (PMC).

• One-third of all GoFundMe campaigns are just Americans begging for help with medical expenses (Health System Tracker).

• The paradox: We have high insurance coverage rates, yet people still go bankrupt—why? Because insurance doesn’t actually cover enough.

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3. The Denial Machine: How Insurance Companies Kill for Profit

• The Numbers:

• Cigna denied over 300,000 claims in two months, averaging a decision every 1.2 seconds (The Guardian).

• UnitedHealthcare faces a class-action lawsuit alleging misuse of AI to deny claims (WBUR).

• How the scam works:

• AI systems auto-deny claims, assuming patients won’t appeal.

• If they appeal, the system delays payments until they give up.

• If they persist, insurance companies fight them in court, bankrupting them further.

• Real-world consequences:

• How many die because of denied care?

• The unseen death toll: lack of coverage, unaffordable prescriptions, delayed treatments.

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4. The McKinsey Playbook: How Wall Street Engineered the System to Fail

• The 1990s shift: Insurance wasn’t always this bad—what changed?

• The Role of Hurricane Andrew (1992):

• Hurricane Andrew caused over $16 billion in insured losses, leading to mass bankruptcies in the insurance industry.

• However, it wasn’t the sole reason for the shift to for-profit models—it accelerated an already underway trend caused by Wall Street pressure and the 1988-2000 soft market cycle.

• McKinsey’s Influence:

• Colossus AI was the prototype for today’s automated claim denials—first used for auto insurance, then expanded to healthcare.

• McKinsey trained insurers to use “delay, deny, defend” as a profit-maximizing strategy.

• Mergers and Acquisitions:

• The rise of the oligopoly: Fewer choices, worse coverage.

• Corporate consolidation killed competition, locking Americans into a system designed to bleed them dry.

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5. The Global Perspective: No Other Country Lives Like This

• Medical bankruptcy doesn’t exist anywhere else (PMC).

• Wait times are NOT worse in other countries (debunking the common myth).

• Direct comparisons:

• 4% of Americans wait 4+ months for surgery vs. 0% in Germany/France.

• Doctors in Sweden/Australia report half the patient struggles compared to US doctors.

• The U.S. has worse life expectancy than many poorer countries, including Cuba (The Times).

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6. The “Fixes” That Weren’t: Why Obamacare Didn’t Solve the Problem

• The ACA helped, but it was designed to keep private profits intact.

• Medicare Advantage became a way for private insurers to milk public funds while offering worse coverage.

• Both parties take massive insurance industry donations, ensuring the system never changes.

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7. A Better System Is Possible

• Medicare for All:

• $450 billion saved annually if we cut out private profits (PMC).

• Tens of thousands of lives saved.

• Lower premiums, reduced costs, fewer bankruptcies.

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8. The Real Violence: Not a Murder, But the System Itself

• The outrage over Brian Thompson’s murder is misplaced.

• Millions suffer & die unnoticed—the real “violence” is hospitals turning away patients, insurance denials, and medical bankruptcies.

• Capitalism’s brutality isn’t a glitch—it’s the system working as intended.

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9. The Fight for a Future Without Medical Debt and Denied Care

The health insurance industry isn’t invincible—it’s just deeply entrenched. But all systems that put profit over people eventually collapse. The question is:

How much longer are we willing to wait?

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What Can You Do?

✔ Join healthcare advocacy groups – Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) and National Nurses United (NNU) are leading the fight for change.

✔ Support labor strikes and union actions – Unions are some of the strongest forces pushing for better healthcare access.

✔ Vote accordingly – Follow the money. If a candidate is bankrolled by the insurance industry, they are not on your side.

It’s time to demand a system that puts patients over profits