But it definitely falls into the Public Shame file.
I think it is sad that insurance is a for-profit endeavor and if you invest in it, you should understand exactly what motivates you to do so, and what the ramifications are of reinforcing such actions that were, are, and will be done in the name of profit.
I’m a capitalist, I approve of performing services and providing goods for profit… great profit, it keeps innovation going, it keeps food on the table. But when it equates spending on saving a life [and counter to expert counsel] then you have to take a step back and do some soul searching.
Who: Blue Shield
What: PublicShame.com
Where: Reddit
EDIT:
Perhaps Blue Shield should review some of the latest material on cost effectiveness of GKRS versus WBRS. I submit this study: Outcomes and cost-effectiveness of gamma knife radiosurgery and whole brain radiotherapy for multiple metastatic brain tumors. I’m not brain surgeon, but it looks to be more cost effective to spend money on a client who will return to work and continue to make policy payments than to let one die, and create a whole host of bad publicity.
From the Abstract:
We aimed to analyze the outcomes and cost-effectiveness of gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) and whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) for multiple metastatic brain tumors. Over a period of 5 years, 156 patients with multiple metastatic brain tumors were enrolled and freely assigned by the referring doctors to either gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS, Group A, n = 56), or to whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT, Group B, n = 100).
They found that GKRS is more cost effective by the treatment, and I suspect the long term outcome and good will created by a living client is much better than the early death and termination of ongoing health insurance payments. I don’t know, color me convinced. I don’t want a company deciding the effectiveness based on their ROI of insurance payments. Insurance is there to prevent me from dying if a treatment is available… hence… INSUR-ANCE.
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