UnitedHealth's New "I Feel Your Pain" PR Blitz
Leaked internal memo says the system "isn't perfect"
In the wake of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder last week and grassroots outrage at the healthcare industry, the company is undertaking an empathy offensive. “We know the health care system isn’t perfect,” says an internal company memo sent from UnitedHealthcare’s Executive Council today, which I obtained. “There is more work we can do and must do,” the message continues.
This “I feel your pain” routine is also appearing in public-facing communications. “We know the health system does not work as well as it should, and we understand people’s frustrations with it,” UnitedHealth Group (UnitedHealthcare’s parent company) CEO Andrew Witty wrote in a New York Times op-ed published this morning. Ironically, Witty last week told his employees, “There is no value in engaging with the media” in an internal video call I published here. The comment section of the Times op-ed predictably became dominated by angry comments before the newspaper disabled the comments section.
Witty used the Times’ platform to further convey to the public that in terms of a better healthcare system, “we are not there yet.” You see, he gets it.
“Our mission is to help make it work better. We are willing to partner with anyone, as we always have — health care providers, employers, patients, pharmaceutical companies, governments and others — to find ways to deliver high-quality care and lower costs.
Clearly, we are not there yet. We understand and share the desire to build a health care system that works better for everyone. That is the purpose of our organization.”
The idea that Witty, who earned $23.5 million last year alone and is a Brit literally knighted by the UK, would “understand” the struggle of any ordinary person is of course laughable. But the kinder, gentler tone they’re adopting is interesting and maybe even hopeful because it suggests that even they cannot ignore how angry the public is. The memo even goes on to describe the murdered CEO Brian Thompson’s work on something called the “Save a Life” program, which it says was designed to help patients access care. I don’t think they’d be going into these kinds of specifics if they didn’t see loud and clear the pain, despair and anger Americans have about the healthcare system that Thompson personified.
While there’s no reason to expect that change will come from these corporations whose only real goal is maximizing shareholder value, there are some signs that the politicians are starting to take notice. Bipartisan legislation introduced recently would break up these health insurance companies. Like UnitedHealth, these politicians are merely responding to public pressure, which only seems to be growing. And that, whatever the elite types at The New York Times might think, is a good thing.
To borrow from a recent post by ACT UP NY, “A notable aspect of private health insurance is the absence of any reason for it to exist. It does not contain costs, expand coverage, or expedite care - it makes those all worse. Its sole function is to profit as a rent-seeking middleman between patients and providers.” It’s working exactly as it’s supposed to work, the *it* is the problem. Thanks, Ken, as always for punching up and exposing ghoulishness.
As we eat cake, we feel the lack of bread you experience, and we will work with anyone to find a better solution.