If there is one thing that brings all Americans together, it’s our collective hatred of the ridiculous cost of healthcare. Americans from across the aisle, people who never agree on much of anything, collectively come together to slightly incriminate themselves online.
With the recent shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brain Tompson, many, (and I mean many) Americans are speaking out about the injustice that is the American healthcare system. The shooter, Luigi Manigone, suffered from a debilitating rare back condition, despite having spinal surgery a year ago.
Luigi Manigone was a rich kid. He was private and Ivy-educated, yet he still suffered at the hands of our for-profit system. Despite his family’s wealth, many insurance companies require 6 to 12 weeks of physical therapy before approving coverage for surgery or imaging tests to diagnose spondylolisthesis. Manigone spoke on Reddit about how devastating waiting was and how he couldn’t work or have meaningful relationships. This obviously drove him to a state of desperation in which he saw no out.
“I’ve seen people post online about the shooting.” Said Paris Crooks, a senior. “Most people are talking about their experiences with the healthcare system.’’
There are many people like Manigone. Healthcare debt is the leading case of bankruptcy in the US and the US had the highest rate of avoidable deaths among first-world countries. American healthcare is expensive, but that is not the main problem. Luigi Manigone was insured, he or his family was actively paying for health insurance. Most people, 92% or 305.2 million, had health insurance, either for some or all of the year.
The problem is your health insurance has the right to deny you the healthcare you are paying for. They have the right to raise prices on what you need to live and they have the right to deny you coverage of your life-saving medication entirely. United Healthcare denies more claims than other insurers and was also the 3rd richest American company last year.
“I’ve seen a lot of confusion online.” Said Justina Winchester, a senior. “A lot of theories. People are really uncertain.”
However, the main topic of conversation by many mainstream news outlets is the response this killing has gotten online. The overwhelming response has not been pro-murder, but many people are extremely resentful of healthcare companies and are using the shooting of Brain Tompson to vent online.
This reaction has sparked a pearl-clutching of the out-of-touch mainstream news, both right and left. Titles beg for you to feel bad for the CEOs and billionaires who are feeling a bit spooked or ask you to turn your blame from the billionaire companies back to your neighbors. These media conglomerates are supposed to have differing opinions, yet they seem to be running the same script.
Each day 12 children die from gun violence in America. Guns are the leading cause of death among American children and teens. Yet week-long manhunts, bridge closings, and bag ID searches seem to be the response only given by the police to the death of a current class.
Political violence is a sign that the country’s system of checks and balances is not working. I am not here to justify the murder of anyone. I am simply here to ask you why are you letting these people tell you your anger is unjustified. Why are you letting politicians who are often funded, both left and right, by these companies revert your eyes to whatever cultural issue they have made up to keep you busy as they rob your pockets?
