When Senate Democrats and the accompanying RINOs balked at RFK Jr.'s appointment, we all knew why. When one senator after another vomited the same talking points, and Elizabeth Warren's head spun 360 degrees as she sprayed the chamber with pea soup, we all knew why. It was not about "vaccinations," "safety," or "the children." There's money in them thar health hills.
As the Romans used to say, "Cui bono?"
The parents of 22-year-old Wisconsin resident Cole Schmidtknecht have filed lawsuits against Walgreens Pharmacy and United Health Group’s OptumRx. According to the New York Post, Cole suffered from chronic asthma since infancy. He used a corticosteroid inhaler to manage his sickness. Cole had a self-insured plan with United Healthcare through his employer. Under his plan, Cole's cost through OptumRx would be between $35 and $66.86 for his inhaler during the deductible period.
On Jan. 10, 2023, Cole went to his local Walgreens for a new inhaler. He was informed that it was no longer covered and he would need to pay $513.19. Since Cole did not have the money, he decided to use his emergency rescue inhaler to get by. Faced with paying the rent or buying an inhaler, Cole opted to pay the rent. On January 15, he was taken to the emergency room because an asthma attack had asphyxiated him. He lapsed into a coma, and his parents took him off life support on January 21.
The family is seeking damages from Walgreens and OptumRx. The Post reported:
In the fall of 2023, OptumRx allegedly changed the list of drugs it would cover in 2024, with Advair Diskus being excluded from the covered medication.
The pharmacy care business is accused of not relaying its formulary of covered drugs to its customers, an alleged violation of Wisconsin law that requires such businesses to notify patients at least 30 days before coverage runs out.
The suit claims United Health Group is one of the three pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the country, overseeing more than 79 percent of the fulfillment of drug prescriptions.
The Schmidtknechts accuse PBMs of artificially driving up healthcare costs in several ways, including forcing customers to choose the more expensive medication when there is a cheaper alternative on the market.
The heartbroken parents claim Walgreens and its employees didn’t take the necessary steps to help Schmidtknecht find medication for his asthma.
They also attacked OptumRx for taking the inhaler and its generic counterpart off its formulary list, knowing the patient would leave without the “necessary asthma medication his physician prescribed.”
As noted earlier, United Healthcare owns Optum. Those with United's insurance purchase their prescriptions through another subsidiary, the aforementioned Optum Rx.
United is bigger than most people think. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission, United Healthgroup, Inc. has 317 subsidiaries in the United States and abroad. You can see that list here.
Speaking of Optum, the website Brands Owned By reports that under United, there is not just Optum and OptumRx:
Optum is a leading subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, operating as a comprehensive health services platform. It is divided into three major segments—OptumHealth, OptumRx, and OptumInsight.
OptumHealth focuses on delivering care directly to patients, OptumRx specializes in pharmacy services, and OptumInsight provides data and analytics solutions for healthcare systems.
Then, there is Optum Bank, which handles health savings accounts and payment needs.
Quite the little market United has cornered there.
As part of my research, I reached out to several health professional acquaintances. One of them used to work in wound care. That nurse told me that when they would visit nursing homes or long-term care facilities, they would be asked to tend to the needs of one patient or another. However, if the patient in question had United Healthcare insurance, they could only be seen by a nurse who was affiliated with a company called Woundtech. Woundtech is a Hollywood, Fla., wound care company.
Since the nurse I talked to worked for another company, the patient and his wound would have to wait until a Woundtech provider could see him. I was not able to determine if Woundtech is owned wholly or in part by United; corporations are skilled at hiding that kind of information. But it is clear that there is some sort of exclusive agreement in place.
You wouldn't know it, but I am hearing impaired. And yes, it started long before I began approaching the "Golden Years." As a result, I wear hearing aids. When I got them, our insurance was through United, so I could only be evaluated by a United Healthcare employee, and I could only buy hearing aids offered by United if I planned on using my insurance. We no longer use United, so if I need a spare earpiece or if one of the hearing aids has to be replaced, I can go elsewhere or pay out of pocket to United. For me, the situation is aggravating and inconvenient as hell. For Cole Schmidtknecht, the monopoly was deadly.
If RFK Jr. does nothing else during his tenure as HHS Secretary than dismantle the U.S. health cartels and bring those who enable and profit from them to heel, it will be time well spent.
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