Double Dipping at United Health?

Chris delves into the recent fraud investigation involving UnitedHealth, highlighting the questionable practices in the Medicare Advantage system that incentivize misdiagnosis for profit. He further critiques the impact of Obamacare on the healthcare landscape, discussing the challenges faced by doctors and patients alike. Chris also contemplates the potential need for a single payer system in the U.S. while expressing skepticism about the repeal of Obamacare and the role of insurance companies in the current healthcare crisis. www.watchdogonwallstreet.com

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it will have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Double bit in a United Health a.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
New fraud investigation basically looking at the company's practices for
recording various different diagnosies that triggered extra payments to its
Medicare advantage plans HM.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
This also included physician groups that again this insurance company owns.
Again I for the life of me, For the life
of me, I have no idea how they ever allowed that.
You want to talk about a conflict of interest, and
I know conflict of interest wealth because we've covered all

(01:00):
the conflicts of interest on Wall Street And oh there's
a Chinese wall between investment banking and the centain bull shit. Okay,
I don't know how this was allowed, but they did.
There was a series of articles last year that showed

(01:21):
that Medicare paid United Health billions of dollars for questionable diagnosis.
Attorneys with the Justice Department as recently as January thirty
first interviewed medical providers named in the articles. In the
Medicare advantage system, insurers get lump some payments from the

(01:41):
federal government to oversee enrollees Medicare benefits. When patients have
certain diagnoses, the payments go up, creating an incentive to
diagnose more diseases, kind of like everybody's got COVID.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
Yeah, oh, everybody's got COVID, and you know that's why
you're in the hind Again, they made a lot more
money based upon that.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Again, this is the largest US health insurer. They also
have doctor practices, a large pharmacy benefit manager, and data
and tech operating. I don't know what's going to come
of it, but again United Health came out swinging, criticizing
the people that are looking into this. Would I be

(02:33):
the slightest bit surprised that nefarious crap's going on now? Now, Listen,
we used to have I get healthcare in this country.
I was great, well, I mean it had any issues.
We had our issues prior to Obamacare. But Obamacare really

(02:55):
f to everything up, really did. And again we've talked
about just a lack of doctors in certain areas. It's
possible it's really difficult for them to get ahead or
make any money, talked about some of the conversations I've
had with doctors. I'm going to have a go a
concierge's service here where I am. It's where you have

(03:20):
to go. The amount of money that I spend for
my family family of five, insane, insane with with you know,
the HSA. Throw that in there as well, what we
pay over the course her HSA plus insurance. And again
this is you know, pretty good size deductible as well.

(03:43):
You know, well over thirty something thousand dollars a year.
We did it. We we we wrecked it. But it
was by design. It was by design. And you know
that's Obama knew this. I've you know, I've actually, you know,
basically come to grips with the fact that, yeah, we

(04:07):
might have to have a single payer system here in
the United States, if and only if they allow they
allow for people to have private insurance, if you want out,
if you don't want to be a part of it.
I don't see anither way because again there's no way,

(04:28):
there's no way they're going to repeal Obamacare. I don't
know how they would be able to pull that off.
You take a look at the type of money that's
that's being made off this, both Democrats and Republicans, all
of these companies. Again, you're allowing you're allowing insurance companies
to have physicians. I mean, it's moronic, you know, it's funny.

(04:52):
I thought about it the other day. There was the uh,
the First installment with Eddie Murphy Doctor Doolittle there, you know,
he could talk to the animals and in Doctor the First,
Doctor Dolittle with Eddie Murphy, I remember, I remember it
was he and his partner were being approached to buy

(05:14):
their veterinary practice and having it rolled in with some
major corporation, and he was gonna do it, and then
I try to remember exactly, but then he kind of
figured out what he was doing with that, he changed
his mind, and we did this to ourselves. Watchdog on

(05:34):
Wall Street dot com