SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Aetna claimed this summer that it was pulling out of all but four of the 15 states where it was providing Obamacare individual insurance because of a business decision — it was simply losing too much money on the Obamacare exchanges.
Now a federal judge has ruled that that was a rank falsehood. In fact, says Judge John D. Bates, Aetna made its decision at least partially in response to a federal antitrust lawsuit blocking its proposed $37-billion merger with Humana. Aetna threatened federal officials with the pullout before the lawsuit was filed, and followed through on its threat once it was filed. Bates made the observations in the course of a ruling he issued Monday blocking the merger.
Aetna executives had moved heaven and earth to conceal their decision-making process from the court, in part by discussing the matter on the phone rather than in emails, and by shielding what did get put in writing with the cloak of attorney-client privilege, a practice Bates found came close to "malfeasance."
Source:
http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-aetna-obamacare-20170123-story.html
At what point does arbitrarily screwing with the healthcare of millions of people rise to the level of criminality?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 24 2017, @12:26PM
Here's the thing: If Aetna was making money in those markets, then their withdrawl would punish Aetna, not the abstract merger approval/denial process.
As a made up example: maybe they made 10M$ in those markets, but with the merger they were hoping to make 100M$. Betting 10M to earn 100M isn't that bad, so they started playing the poker/blackmail/whatever dance with the government; knowing both had a losing hand, but were hoping the other side would back down first.
If they already did a bunch of things to boost their bluff, it's very possible they crossed the point where they couldn't back down any more.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday January 24 2017, @12:39PM
Nah, people are quite adept at saying something and then backing down. How many US celebrities have moved to Canada this year, for instance?
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Tuesday January 24 2017, @02:07PM
How's Hillary's cell?
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday January 24 2017, @03:51PM
See below [soylentnews.org].
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by https on Tuesday January 24 2017, @02:37PM
How many said they would?
Offended and laughing about it.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday January 24 2017, @03:47PM
Oh, a dozen or so at least last I checked. I didn't commit their names to long term memory though. It wasn't important information.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Touché) by https on Tuesday January 24 2017, @06:38PM
Bollocks. You admit checking more than once, and if they were celebrities their names were already in long term memory.
Lighten up. I won't think the less of you for saying "I make shit up because it makes my personal narrative seem plausible."
Offended and laughing about it.
(Score: 3, Informative) by requerdanos on Tuesday January 24 2017, @07:13PM
Below please find a list of 18 celebrities who said they would leave the US if President Trump was elected:
http://www.ibtimes.com/if-donald-trump-wins-presidency-these-18-celebrities-will-leave-us-will-canada-be-2440762 [ibtimes.com] (Recommendation: Block Flash to avoid video.)
FWIW, I didn't remember who any of them were, either. Popular destinations seem to have been claimed as Canada, Spain, Mexico, New Zealand, and Australia.
Even discounting those who said that they would move to a different planet (the singer Cher chose Jupiter), there's still a dozen or so in the public eye that were talking about leaving the USA and taking up residence in some other country.
I have been keeping an eye on the news, but haven't seen the reports of any of them moving yet, though of course it could still happen. But sorry, celebrities declaring they'd move--some specifically to Canada--if the president got elected is something that actually happened, not something that was made up.
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Tuesday January 24 2017, @08:09PM
I have heard the immigration process takes up to 3 years. Watch for news in 2020 or so.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday January 24 2017, @02:41PM
Prediction: one thing you will never hear from the Donald's lips: I was wrong.
Anything he says, he will stand behind it forever. Double down even. Admitting he might be wrong about something (like most people are from time to time) would be a sign of weakness and mean he is "a looser". (in his own mind)
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday January 24 2017, @03:48PM
You're probably right. Offtopic but correct.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 24 2017, @04:20PM
Offtopic but correct.
The person who lead the thread off-topic is now complaining that the responses are off-topic.
Geesus fucking kryst get a load of yourself.
(Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Tuesday January 24 2017, @05:06PM
Agree that he won't say he was wrong.
But that's a different thing from "standing behind it forever." Or did you miss all those times in the campaign where he said one outrageous thing in the morning, but by the afternoon when the media came back and asked him, he'd claim he was misunderstood, or the media doesn't understand sarcasm, or even just blatantly claim he never said what he had previously said?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 25 2017, @07:08PM
Two from just the last week:
I would have won the popular vote if it wasn't for the millions of fraudulent ballots cast.
The numbers of people at his inauguration as compared to other presidents.
You see him EVER changing his tune on either of those?
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 24 2017, @07:18PM
He is "a not as tight" in his own mind?
Seriously, "looser" [oxforddictionaries.com]?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday January 24 2017, @09:26PM
Good catch! And I know better, but did it unthinkingly.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 24 2017, @05:20PM
How many US celebrities have moved to Canada this year, for instance?
I dunno, how many said they would?
But guess what, the week after Trump won, there were over 13,000 applications by Americans to move to New Zealand. [nzherald.co.nz]
That's 17x times the normal rate.
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Tuesday January 24 2017, @08:13PM
The Canadian immigration website went down on election night due to the unexpected load:
U.S. visitors flooded immigration website prior to election night crash, department confirms [www.cbc.ca]
(Score: 2) by Nobuddy on Tuesday January 24 2017, @11:36PM
They are politely waiting their turns. Limbaugh, Beck, and Hannity have been holding up the line since 2008.
(Score: 2) by dry on Wednesday January 25 2017, @02:38AM
Radio just mentioned that according to Royal LePage, property searches from America are up 326%. Of course it is not that easy to immigrate with a couple of years queue and how many can actually afford to buy property...
I have heard of quite a few Canadians and holders of dual citizenship coming back. Though there is still the problem of finding a job and somewhere to live. It is amazingly cheap to live in America.