The devastation of the world's water supply is due not only to climate change but in large part to the amount of water it takes to bring a calf to market weight: the same amount a family of five consumes in a year! Think about this next time your city issues a no car washing edict. Think about it the next time you order from the dollar menu.
I am not a community organizer or a crusader but my own unpleasant experience with my long term disability insurance carrier has motivated me to speak out.
Those of you who believe you have coverage in the event of an unexpected catastrophic illness because you have paid premiums on a LTD policy, need to know that there is an excellent chance that your claim will be denied and you'll never receive the benefits you paid for. If your claim is denied you can appeal but this is an extremely cumbersome process that requires an attorney. Attorneys that handle these cases often do not work on contingency as the likelihood of winning is slim. Therefore at the worst possible time when you have no income you need to lay out the cash for an attorney. Most people can't and the insurance companies know this so of course the deck is stacked against us. Even if by some miracle you manage to come up with the cash and win your appeal, the insurance company is liable only for the benefits you were originally entitled to. There is no legislated accountability or punitive damages in these cases. CIGNA is a LTD insurance provider so I know you understand the dilemma Mr. Potter and how much of this process I've actually left out because to include all the detail would require pages not paragraphs. Usually by the time your benefits are reinstated, the disabled claimant is so far in debt or has left the debt to the family that survives - people have actually died before their claims were approved. Good Morning America did an excellent expose on these insurance companies and the lives they've destroyed by arbitrarily denying claims. In many cases these companies have written protocols to ensure a fair and impartial review, but in many cases they don't follow their own protocols because they know that their policy holders rarely challenge them and if they do and win, no big deal because the companies are only obligated to pay the benefits they would have paid had the claim been approved from the outset.
Start legislating consequences like punitive damages for these companies and maybe these unethical practices will stop.
If there's an area of healthcare in need of reform this is it! Please help. Thank you.
As a health care provider, I have followed the Hippocratic Oath from the beginning. It is my duty to serve. The Health Insurance Industry is not bound by the same oath. To refer to Mr. Potters advocacy on "your" and my behalf as making a political point, is abhorrent. Yes, I make money, but to refer to this in the manner you did, minimizes the abhorrent greed that has run Wall Street and is running the Heath Care Industry. To attack Mr. Potter in this way for what you perceive as currying favor is banal and obtuse at best. It is also clear in your comments that you as a Health Industry employee are a guardian for this giant sloth. There are many guardians of this sloth, including our legislators, that eats and eats and eats and never gets full. What do you fear? Think, really think about what you fear my friend before you speak or run the risk of having your mind co-opted by that huge system that may have hypnotized you.
Mr. Potter, I challenge your post. I too worked as an insurance executive, at one of the two companies you mentioned and two other health insurance companies.
What I consistently saw in my career were tireless groups of professionals who worked to get the best health care for our insureds, working within the confines of state mandates and employer choices.
Recently someone said to me, "No one should be able to make money on the backs of sick people." Oh really? No pharmacies, nurses, doctors, or hospitals would operate without making money.
Your political views are apparent and it is abhorrent that you weild them in an attempt to curry favor.
In the UK many supermarkets have price tickets on the shelf that show price per 100g of the product (or price per litre). It's written smaller than the headline price, but it's clearly legible. Makes getting away with packet shrinkage much harder. It also shows any saving you might get from buying a bigger packet rather than smaller ones..
In the UK many supermarkets have price tickets on the shelf that show price per 100g of the product (or price per litre). It's written smaller than the headline price, but it's clearly legible. Makes getting away with packet shrinkage much harder. It also shows any saving you might get from buying a bigger packet rather than smaller ones..
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