To the editor: Don’t kill insurance CEOs. Kill the medical insurance “industry” that has weaseled its way between doctors and patients. This fake industry is unnecessary, parasitical and massively harmful. (“Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggles, shouts while entering courthouse,” Dec. 10)
Many civilized nations don’t even have private medical insurance, except at the margins and mainly for the rich. Socialized medicine and single-payer systems provide far better care at far less cost. My family can personally attest to the superiority of universal systems.
In 2013, while on vacation in Paris, our teenage daughter complained of pain in her abdomen, so we took her to the nearest hospital. They examined her and told us she needed an emergency appendectomy, which they scheduled for that evening. They kept her for three days (in a private room, no less).
When they were ready to release her, they said apologetically, “Since you are not French citizens, when you come back in three days to have the stitches removed, you will need to meet with our financial officer to arrange payment.”
That was the first time anyone mentioned money or insurance. The hospital billed us 6,000 Euros for the surgery and hospitalization. Our New York doctor told us the bill here would have been at least $35,000. The French have healthcare, not profit care.
What America needs do is abolish the entire parasitical medical insurance “industry” and replace it with Medicare for all.
Richard Smith, New York
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To the editor: The recent killing of the UnitedHealthcare chief executive is drawing comparisons between our “private” system and countries that have “universal” healthcare. For anyone who thinks their systems are superior, I suggest a five-year stay for the citizen’s experience.
First and foremost, healthcare is not free anywhere. In countries that have universal healthcare, the cost is paid by everyone through taxes. If you think our taxes are high, theirs are higher to pay for all of those “free” services.
Lower-income people benefit the most, the wealthy don’t care, and the middle gets shafted — that’s socialism.
Also, it may come as a shock to many that hospitals typically operate with a profit margin of 5%. Most successful businesses operate with much higher profit margins, so they’re not in it to make fortunes.
Finally, Luigi Mangione allegedly tossed his future away by killing a man who had nothing to do with his particular grievance (treatment of a back injury). That’s idiotic. Could it be that simple?
Arthur Saginian, Santa Clarita
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To the editor: If anyone questions the veracity of Mangione’s written statements about America’s expensive healthcare system and lower life expectancy, please review data presented in graphs and written summaries in the Commonwealth Fund’s report, “Mirror, Mirror 2024: A Portrait of the Failing U.S. Health System.”
In the United States in 2023, healthcare spending as a percentage of our gross domestic product was 16.5%, with the nine other wealthy countries to which we were compared showing percentages ranging from 11.9% in France to 9.8% in Australia. Life expectancy was more than four years below the 10-country average, with the U.S. ranking last.
Americans pay insurance premiums, deductibles, co-insurance and copays. When coverage is denied, many of us have medical debt and bankruptcy.
Insurance companies are ripping us off as shown by our health outcomes not reflecting the costs we pay.
Carol Fodera, La Crescenta
