Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by lenerdenator 561 days ago
How many people in the claims adjudication call center are making ~5 times the median American male's lifetime earnings each year, every year?
2 comments
allturtles 561 days ago
What's the income threshold for people who are eligible for murder? Surely the whole board and the C-Suite. Senior VPs? VPs?
link
lenerdenator 561 days ago
Cynically, this sounds to me like something that people typically suggest we leave up to markets. Is that insane? Yes, but it's already a business model, and health insurance basically does that.

These people make vast sums of money every year by asking the American people what it's worth to them to not be ruined by a chance illness or injury, then finding ways to make sure they don't have to save people from financial ruin or death. I don't see how that's really so different from a protection racket, except for the fact that most protection rackets were operated with more good faith effort towards the extorted.

link
gruez 561 days ago
>These people make vast sums of money every year by asking the American people what it's worth to them to not be ruined by a chance illness or injury, then finding ways to make sure they don't have to save people from financial ruin or death. I don't see how that's really so different from a protection racket, except for the fact that most protection rackets were operated with more good faith effort towards the extorted.

This definition of a "protection racket" is a bit loose. By similar logic landlords are also a "protection racket" for having a place to hive.

link
lenerdenator 561 days ago
> This definition of a "protection racket" is a bit loose. By similar logic landlords are also a "protection racket" for having a place to hive.

“As soon as the land of any country has all become private property, the landlords, like all other men, love to reap where they never sowed and demand a rent even for its natural produce.” - known Marxist-Leninist Adam Smith

link
gruez 561 days ago
An apartment, or healthcare is hardly "natural produce".
link
chasd00 561 days ago
I was thinking the same thing. Oh and why stay in the healthcare vertical? Surely the CEO and employees of Raytheon deserve to be shot in the back leaving a hotel. What a ridiculous set of conversations…
link
latentcall 561 days ago
Are you being sarcastic here? I just got off work and still have the brain fog.
link
benced 561 days ago
Most of those people are making several multiples the average Indian's lifetime earnings. Should those call center folks pay for the Indians' healthcare?
link
lenerdenator 561 days ago
India already has a multi-payer universal healthcare system.

It's also not an American's business to come in and tell India how to run its healthcare system.

link
benced 561 days ago
That's a cop-out. Just as the CEOs could transfer their higher wealth to average Americans, average Americans could transfer their higher wealth to Indians without changing or giving input on their healthcare system.

(which is absolutely not universal in any OECD-country sense)

link