• NeuromancerOPM
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    2 months ago

    Why are so focused on ceo pay when it’s a drop in the bucket. The first cite has nothing to do with profits.

    2nd cite I pay walled.

    • BobaFuttbucker@reddthat.com
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      2 months ago

      I focused on CEO pay to refute your argument that IS Healthcare is so overpriced because of staffing.

      If that were true the CEO wouldn’t be making roughly 200 times the salary of their average employee and could easily mitigate the problem with less bonus/stock options (which are typically the bulk of their compensation).

      Not sure why you’re having issues with the second article. I can get to it just fine with an adblocker and reader mode but you can still get the code argument from the URL and title themselves:

      UnitedHealth Group reported $22 billion in 2023 profits including $5.5 billion in the fourth quarter as its portfolio of health insurance and provider services grew by double-digit percentages.

      • NeuromancerOPM
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        2 months ago

        It doesn’t refute that at all. CEO pay is a fraction of total cost. It isn’t the reason why cost are going up and it’s illogical to come to that conciliation. United health group is an insurance provider. You’re confusing health insurance with medical care. Health insurance does not provide care. They pay the bills.

        Their revenue was 370 billion. 22 billion is about 8% profit which is slim.

        • BobaFuttbucker@reddthat.com
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          2 months ago

          I’m not confusing one for another, this entire exchange I’ve been talking about the industry at large. CEO pay was one focus, healthcare wages are another, insurance company profits are something else. It’s all part of the same system that exorbitantly overpriced and very ineffective for the cost.

          $370B = $370B from health expenses……paid by the insured (us).

          8% profit is still $22B. It may be slim compared to revenue but that’s $22B in profit made from citizens who often aren’t even getting the care they’re paying for.

          https://penncapital-star.com/uncategorized/americans-suffer-when-health-insurers-place-profits-over-people/

          Quantifying a qualitative product inevitably leads to a deterioration of the quality of the product.

          • NeuromancerOPM
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            2 months ago

            And what is your solution ? You just want to eliminate health insurance ?

            • BobaFuttbucker@reddthat.com
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              2 months ago

              No, I think we should limit the cost of drugs based solely on cost to manufacture and distribute, and pay those operational costs.

              I think we should expect to receive healthcare from medical professionals and pay them for their time and operational costs.

              I think private health insurance existing as an optional, supplemental option is a step in the correct direction.

              I think profiting off such a system is parasitic to our wellbeing and detrimental to the betterment of society.

              Ultimately we need to look at healthcare and education as an investment in our country’s well-being.

              A population that is healthy, educated and safe is a population that is happier, can fight off threats better and innovate more. A country that fails to produce an effective population is not a successful country for long.

              • NeuromancerOPM
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                2 months ago

                No, I think we should limit the cost of drugs based solely on cost to manufacture and distribute, and pay those operational costs

                If we payed for the research. I agree. Otherwise companies will just spend less on research. I don’t mind capping margins unless they don’t enforce the patent.

                • BobaFuttbucker@reddthat.com
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                  2 months ago

                  Yeah research is part of the cost to manufacture cause you first need to know what you’re making hahaha.

                  Margin-capping isn’t even something to consider when you don’t run it for profit. with wages for workers included in the cost to manufacture and distribute there’s no need to profit further.

                  I think the people should own the means of production where it makes sense. Healthcare is an obvious example because it’s a service directly for us.

                  People getting rich and making millions off the suffering of an unhealthy population is morally wrong.

                  • NeuromancerOPM
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                    2 months ago

                    If there is no profit, then nobody would make it.

                    think the people should own the means of production where it makes sense.

                    It never makes sense. You can do that now, but nobody does because it doesn’t make sense.