Cognitive Dissonance

It's been over a week since Brian Thompson, CEO of United HealthCare was shot in the back while walking on a city sidewalk. I'm still unable to figure out how to react to it all . The surveillance footage of the event was grim in it's brevity. Thompson was walking down the street and mere seconds later he's motionless, slumped against a building, gone forever. It was tragic- he was barely middle-aged, successful, he was a father, he was human, and he didn't deserve to die. Later in the day, I went online and saw the public's reaction to his murder and I was shocked at how callous everyone was being about such an awful tragedy. Then it dawned on me why they would react this way.

Brian Thompson may have been a good man in his day to day life, but his career success is directly linked to the emotional devastation and financial ruin of American citizens - many, many citizens. The more claims he was able to deny, the more money he saved UHC - in turn, the more money he saved UHC, the larger his bonus grew. He was probably a hard worker who took pride in his accomplishments and the legacy he built on his rise to CEO. Maybe his career path started innocently enough, but once greed takes hold, it quickly becomes the sole motivator, then it's no longer about doing what's right, it's only about knowing how to push boundaries to secure bigger profits. Thompson's trajectory was never sustainable - there was no honor, no dignity, no prestige along the way - his path to the top was paved with suffering people who died waiting to find out if their procedure would be covered, it was paved with the pain and agony of those who had treatable, but policy-excluded, illnesses, it was funded by bankruptcies, debt, and the financial devastation of policy holders. His success was hinged on finding clever ways to defer, deny, defend legitimate claims. That's why the public acted so callously, because he wasn't a noble man who died in pursuit of something good. He died in pursuit of UHC's bottom line. This is why people are laughing at his death - he was an American villain. His greed and the time he devoted to his career can be viewed as shallow, glib, and destructive, making it difficult for many to feel sympathy for his murder.

As we learn more about the motives of the shooter, I can't help but think of how many Americans have suffered, or know of someone, that suffered unduly due to limitations in their health coverage . One of the most tragic things about this whole thing is that this is strictly an American problem. All other developed nations offer their citizens universal basic health care. In America, healthcare is an industry, and a robust one, at that. UHC is even traded on the public stock market. Anyone can purchase shares and earn dividends. People always need health coverage, so it's a lucrative business that does fairly well, even in the bleakest of market conditions. The more claims that are denied, the more dividends paid out. The industry is a huge money-maker, and until society rejects it, universal health won't be considered an option in America. The health insurance industry is corrupt from the ground up. Employees are incentivized to maximize growth and profit, not health and wellness. For five years I worked in case management for an insurance brokerage. A brokerage that trains droves of agents each year on how to squeeze the most from each and every opportunity. They run unscrupulous contests to see who can sell the most supplemental plans to win an expensive prize. Supplemental plans are the real money makers for sales agents. People always call brokerages to enroll in major medical plans to satisfy their need for health insurance. There's no real challenge to sell the policies, so commissions, if any, are minimal on these plans. The real money comes from upselling - dental, vision, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, disability, and so forth. If you've ever contacted a brokerage to get a health plan and left with more coverage than you thought you needed, you were likely sold a bundle. Agents tell clients that the only way to enroll in a major medical health plan is to get it as part of a 'bundle' of coverage, usually it consists of the health plan they want, plus separate vision and dental plans. This deceptive practice is why most of the top performers at these brokerages are the top performers. Management allows it to happen because they also receive bonuses when their agents oversell. To see other ways that brokerages engage in deceptive practices, check out this lawsuit that was filed against Velapoint Insurance by the state of Oregon. I'm sure there are loads of other legal cases regarding similar practices, this is just the one I'm familiar with.

Every day, Americans are oversold insurance policies by brokerages, only to be enrolled in coverage so riddled with loop holes, exclusions, and stipulations that they could be denied coverage when they need it. This industry has taken a lot from many people - including me. My time in case management ended with diagnoses of PTSD and Major Depressive Disorder. I'm treating the mental health conditions, but the guilt I feel from working there will probably never subside. I've reached out to the brokerage, and it's parent company, to tell them my story. Naively, I thought they would care, but all of my attempts have been ignored. When people are suffering from mental, or physical pain, that pain can become the solitary driver of every waking moment. It eats away at relationships, it disrupts careers, and it erodes overall quality of life. If we can point a finger at someone, or something, as the source of that devastation, then we will. Determining the source is how we start to process our trauma. Pain can be dehumanizing and everyone reacts to it differently. Some folks break inward, and some break outward. I broke inward. I became a turtle - I tucked myself away from the world until I didn't feel so raw and vulnerable. I wallowed in my own misery and succumbed to a severe depression. Alternatively, those that break outward want others to feel their pain, to hurt as they hurt, and feel the frustration that they feel when nobody acknowledges their anguish . Instead of becoming a turtle they become a predator - they seek revenge, they hurt people- sometimes many people. In a misguided attempt to reallocate some of their own suffering they sometimes lash out and wreak havoc on society. Ironically, a lot of health insurance policies only offer the minimum coverage when it comes to mental health. I don't think anyone should take their anger out on people working in the health insurance industry, but they're sometimes the ones blocking access to thorough mental health treatments. It's kind of a monster of their own making.

Writing this out has helped me come to terms with two things being true at the same time. Brian Thompson didn't deserve to be killed, but I don't disagree with anyone saying that he didn't deserve to live. I hope we can learn from Thompson's death and allow his tragic end to help reshape the way health insurance is regulated in America, or just ditch it all together.