20 Comments

This AARP kickback is mind blowing to me. My mother also signed up for UnitedHealthcare via AARP. I feel like this should be leading the news. I can't articulate why, but this is especially maddening to me....

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"We’re Not Celebrating Mangione"

This came to me yesterday, while listening to a Mangione-Penni comparison.

Some preface:

As we all know "corporations are people". They have "arms", they leave "footprints", but they're not alive. So effectively, they're zombies.

My "argument" is that Luigi Mangione didn't assassinate Brian Thompson, he tried to kill UnitedHealthcare like you would a zombie: by shooting it in the head.

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I didn’t know about the AARP connection! Now that I’m AARP eligible I’ll continue to avoid them.

And this piece about other ways that what we pay in healthcare premiums goes round and round to sell us on the illusion of good coverage.

https://www.statnews.com/2024/12/11/wall-street-unitedhealthcare-ceo-shooting-brian-thompson/

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Great article! Thanks for posting a link.

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I knew about the kickback AARP receives from UHC...I think it was an article in The Lever. I actually wrote AARP (which I'm a member of) to tell them to stop sending me mail asking for donations in addition to my annual membership fee. Every time I see AARP advertising for UHC, I scream. I've been screaming about this absurd healthcare system for over 10 years now.

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I'm curious why VP Harris didn't break the tie immediately instead of allowing time/the opportunity for Manchun to magically appear. I know she didn't plan it that way. I just thought she'd be standing by for such an important vote.

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I'm pretty sure the tie-breaking power doesn't kick in until the vote-counting ends.

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I see. So they had to wait the full 90 minutes (I think that's what the article said...) before she would've been able to do so?

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Yellen's statement makes no sense, as I read it.

"Not for" ... "Not for" ... etc.

Should be "For not" shouldn't it have been?

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Fuck.

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I did read about Sinema and Manchin and the NLRB yesterday, but I forgot on which site.

Also, my mother was a member of AARP and got her supplemental Medicare insurance from United Healthcare. It even said so on her policy. I didn't know about the kickback scheme until just now. I have been over 55 for a long time and I refused to join AARP for other reasons. I'm sure glad I refused after reading your important revelation.

Thanks much!

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They both during the last 4 years have consistently thwarted any kind of progressive agenda. Arizona democrats threatened to primary her out and then she went independent. I dont know why she didn’t run again but her and Manchin , who also decided not to run again won’t be back. Not that it makes a hill of beans difference.

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Is there any video-based “progressive” outlet doing that kind of thing?

Thom Hartmann is on youtube everyday and something called Free Speech TV, which I'm assuming is a cable channel? I cut the cord years ago so I watch him on youtube every once in a while.

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Thank you! As I was reading that for the podcast version, Majority Report occurred to me. I had searched for video coverage of it and didn't find anything from the big outlets, so I should've been more precise and I'll tweak that language in the web edition. Thanks.

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Thanks Jonathan, the UHC-AARP kickback scheme was new TFN to me!

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TFN FTW as always!!

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I read somewhere that AARP was, in fact, created by United Healthcare in the first place.

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The history section in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AARP is interesting (I DO NOT claim it is 100% accurate). The need for health care for retired teachers living on $40/mo pension apparently led to one living in a chicken coop. Like Blue Cross with origins as a company benefit, AARP/Health care seems to have a similar origin story. When private industry sets up a program, sees a business opportunity to spin off their idea and 'grow the market', we have what we have today. Those who can't afford it, lose their insurance, change jobs, fucking etc...well it evolves into what we have today, a mash up of a private-government program. We all want the BEST care NOW for ANYTHING and would really like to not pay for it. Understandable! And there are lots of things wrong with what we have but I will stop here since others can speak rationally and more completely than I can though I am learning...(Peter Attia & Saum Sutaria, MD's for example). I am one of the fortunate ones who has never really needed a lot of 'health care' for myself or my family (YET!). I support everyone having access to decent health care w/o out the fucking over.

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Fur realz? Good God.

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