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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday January 24 2017, @09:39AM   Printer-friendly
from the I'm-shocked,-shocked-I-say dept.

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?


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  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday January 24 2017, @12:39PM

    by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday January 24 2017, @12:39PM (#458070) Homepage Journal

    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.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

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  • (Score: 2) by isostatic on Tuesday January 24 2017, @02:07PM

    by isostatic (365) on Tuesday January 24 2017, @02:07PM (#458087) Journal

    How's Hillary's cell?

  • (Score: 2) by https on Tuesday January 24 2017, @02:37PM

    by https (5248) on Tuesday January 24 2017, @02:37PM (#458095) Journal

    How many said they would?

    --
    Offended and laughing about it.
    • (Score: 1, Offtopic) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday January 24 2017, @03:47PM

      by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday January 24 2017, @03:47PM (#458117) Homepage Journal

      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

        by https (5248) on Tuesday January 24 2017, @06:38PM (#458197) Journal

        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

          by requerdanos (5997) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 24 2017, @07:13PM (#458214) Journal

          Bollocks.

          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

            by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Tuesday January 24 2017, @08:09PM (#458236)

            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

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 24 2017, @02:41PM (#458097) Journal

    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

      by The Mighty Buzzard (18) Subscriber Badge <themightybuzzard@proton.me> on Tuesday January 24 2017, @03:48PM (#458118) Homepage Journal

      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

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 24 2017, @04:20PM (#458133)

        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

      by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Tuesday January 24 2017, @05:06PM (#458145) Journal

      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

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 25 2017, @07:08PM (#458597)

        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

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 24 2017, @07:18PM (#458216)

      he is "a looser"

      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

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday January 24 2017, @09:26PM (#458273) Journal

        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

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 24 2017, @05:20PM (#458154)

    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 Nobuddy on Tuesday January 24 2017, @11:36PM

    by Nobuddy (1626) on Tuesday January 24 2017, @11:36PM (#458328)

    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

    by dry (223) on Wednesday January 25 2017, @02:38AM (#458370) Journal

    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.