As we all know, Brian Thompson, the chief executive of United Healthcare was recently gunned down in Manhattan by a still unidentified gun man. In a grisly display of how brutal our modern discourse has become, the shooter, who actually wrote words on his bullet shell casings that seemed to hint at some kind of motive about refused healthcare coverage, has become something of a folk hero to people on social media. Things got so bad that a news report on the shooting on Facebook had to be removed because so many people were responding to it with a smiley face emoji!
As a progressive who opposes the death penalty, I am offended that people would ever celebrate the shooting in the back of an unarmed, unthreatening man. Killing anyone like that is a despicable act, period. And, since one thing we have seen of the shooter is his face, a fair question that arises is this: would this man be considered by some to some kind of folk hero if he weren't white? I don't think so.
But the outpouring of dark jokes on social media after the shooting reveal a harsh truth about this country: our healthcare system is broken. After the shooting, several articles have pointed out that the company that the wealthy Thompson was chief executive for, was infamous for denying clients healthcare coverage. If the killer is captured, we will probably hear a story from the killer about a friend or family member being turned down by United Healthcare and perhaps dying because of it.
This situation highlights the essential problem with the American healthcare system: although national healthcare exists for the poor, the elderly and veterans through government programs, the rest of us have to rely on private, profit driven companies for our care. And those companies obviously profit more from denying healthcare than providing it. Even when that denial results in a person dying.
So it sounds like Thompson really was an amoral, profit driven person. But I still don't think that he deserved to be shot because of it. After all, if we're going to say that executives who have done morally despicable but legal things should be shot, there would be a long list of potential victims! From tobacco companies lying about their product to chemical companies dumping dangerous chemicals into our drinking water, the excesses of capitalism have lead to some pretty terrible things.
Instead of supporting a killer, I wish people in this country would turn their anger over our health care system in a positive way, towards America having a national healthcare system. Every other industrialized nation in the world has national health care, and the results are clear: numerous studies have shown that Americans pay on average twice as much for their health care, without any better outcomes in overall health and happiness. A 2008 study by Families USA suggested that more than 26,260 Americans aged 25 to 64 died in 2006 because they lacked health insurance. It's also the number one cause of bankruptcy, with around half a million Americans falling into bankruptcy because of medical bills every year. Plus, on average about one million Americans every year travel to Mexico to get medial care that they can't afford here. Given all of that, it's clear that our system is broken.
Let's face it, the free market is just fine for some things, like setting the price for TVs, cars and computers. But when you're talking about health as a commodity, you are literally putting a price tag on a person's health, well being, and perhaps their life. But beyond that, our current health care system is a bureaucratic mess for doctors, who have to constantly check on what procedures and tests are covered for each client, depending on which company they have health care with and what level of coverage they have. It's a lousy system and a dangerous one.
What I'm saying is that I wish the rage over our health care system results in the support of what Senator Bernie Sanders calls Medicare care for all instead of just empty venting on social media. America can and should have the same kind of health care found in every other industrialized nation. There's no good reason against it.
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