It's a habituated behavior that I really ought to break. I scan Apple's News+ app while I'm eating breakfast. I enjoy my breakfast, because I made it. Two eggs, spinach, mushrooms and black beans, occasionally onions, if Mitzi chopped some, turmeric and black pepper, topped with Siracha. I can enjoy my breakfast and read the "news" at the same time.

Mostly, I skip the political news, and focus on science and technology. But some topics grab my attention, and the UHC thing still seems to have it.

This morning, NPR offered this: UHC murder suspect railed about U.S. health care. Here’s what he missed.

Another piece that pissed me off. Maybe it's the title, they're always click-bait and seldom have much to do with the story.

I realized that I learned more about the "news" industry than the supposed subject of this report. This isn't "reporting," this is "content." They need clicks, so they need content and content needs a hook, so the UHC-thing is the hook.

Shame on me. I should know better.

What irritated me most was how misleading this all was. The killer wasn't angry about US lifespan when compared to other wealthy nations!

What he was angry about was being abused by the system. Kind of like the way NPR is abusing my attention and intelligence with this bullshit and meaningless title.

I have great health insurance. I'm on Medicare and I have Tricare For Life (that's the name of the program). Medicare is the primary payer, Tricare picks up the difference. I seldom pay much of anything out of pocket, and when I do, I couldn't begin to tell you why. I don't understand the first thing about the EOBs. I did call to question one item my provider billed Medicare for, which was a service I didn't receive, and supposedly they amended it. ("Smoking cessation counseling." I'm a lifelong non-smoker and it is never to topic of "counseling" during an office visit.)

Everybody's health insurance should be like that. It's fucked up that it's not. That's not news either.

But I am familiar with the experience of interacting with a faceless corporation, trying to receive the service you're paying for.

In politics, and I suppose in other dimensions of social interactions, we're told that people seldom remember what you said, but they always remember how you made them feel.

(Disclaimer: Nobody can "make" you feel anything. Your feelings are your responsibility. But, yeah, it's basically true.)

And when you're interacting with faceless bureaucratic entities, you're almost always made to feel insignificant, powerless, like a chump for buying their "service," especially when you didn't have a choice. (Looking at you, Comcast/Xfinity. Which is why I'm now on IQ Fiber.)

It begins with the bullshit automated call centers. "Please listen carefully to the following items because our menu has changed." Then the inevitable, "Your call is very important to us," while you're sitting on hold, which is complete and utter bullshit. And I'm convinced that many of these call centers are designed to make callers give up and hang up.

Frankly, it's amazing to me, given the number of guns in this country, that there isn't more violence against corporate CEOs. Or call centers for that matter.

Now, there have been some improvements in call center performance. I like the "call back" feature, so you don't have to sit on hold. Of course, I have to remember to turn off Focus Mode, so my phone will actually ring.

I absolutely hate the "AI" features that seem to be rolling out now. I just repeat "Representative," over and over again.

That's all just to get to a person who may be able to understand what you're calling about, and who may or may not have any authority to resolve your issue, but who will most definitely try to upsell you, change your mind, offer you a reduced rate or anything other than what you're asking for.

I mean, it's been this way for nearly half a century. "I'm a human being God damn it! My life has value!"

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Originally posted at Nice Marmot 08:15 Friday, 13 December 2024