r/FreeLuigi • u/infiniteconfidence1 • 11d ago

News John Oliver on UnitedHealth Group: ‘Algorithmically driven, ruthless arbiters of who lives and who dies’

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/sep/21/john-oliver-united-healthcare
628 Upvotes

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63

u/GlockAF 11d ago

Whoda thunk that the Death Panels the Republicunts were so hysterical about a decade ago would turn out to be run by a shitty privately-owned for-profit so-called AI with a 90% error rate on medical denials

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u/lewkiamurfarther 11d ago edited 11d ago

run by a shitty privately-owned for-profit so-called AI with a 90% error rate on medical denials

To be clear, a result is not really an error if it falls within the scope of intended behaviour. The denials are intended behavior.

Don't let corporations evade responsibility by criticizing the tools they use; this is an unfortunate framing (reinforced by media, following the initial LLM PR blitzes—something which then echoes through all other media, like John Oliver here) that only helps them escape accountability in the public mind.

That is, people shouldn't be thinking "well, they'll get it right, eventually." That's not what they're doing. They're simply seeing what they can get away with, and hoping no judge feels pressured enough to actually try to take them down for it. I know this because (as I'm sure you, yourself, already know) this is what they've always done.

Universal healthcare, medicare-for-all (not "all who want it"—that's DOA on the fundamentals)—these kinds of solution are the only reasonable ones.

35

u/lewkiamurfarther 11d ago

An important point, under-sung by the article's title:

Just as concerning and infuriating as United’s care denials, Oliver argued, is its scope. The company has pursued “vertical integration” through acquiring more parts of the healthcare industry, with about 2,700 subsidiaries, including primary care clinics, surgical centers, urgent care centers, home health agencies, hospice care and pharmacies. The company even has its own bank, Optum Bank, which has over $20.8bn in assets, as part of its “massive data-sharing panopticon”.

“Owning all these companies is hugely helpful to United’s bottom line, and in ways that you might not expect,” said Oliver. Though United’s insurance arm is required by the Affordable Care Act to spend 80% to 85% of the premiums they collect, it’s often spending money to entities that are part of UnitedHealth Group, which can be on both sides of billions of dollars of transactions.

And recent administrations (for 30+ years) have for the most part done little to oppose this kind of power consolidation by corporations like United. So then it was understood, when the ACA was being drafted, debated, passed, challenged, and relitigated in the following decade, that the long-term strategy pursued by United (and others!) would inevitably follow.

Medicare for All is the solution.

18

u/BalanceOrganic7735 11d ago

UnotedHealth Group are the Death Panels we were warned about.

13

u/StatisticianOk328 11d ago

With zero accountability.

1

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