Since the mid-1990s, insurance companies transformed claims departments from service centers into profit machines through a devastating strategy: delay investigating claims, deny payment, and defend denials in court. Through exclusive whistleblower testimony and internal documents, this episode reveals how UnitedHealthcare's $281 billion empire was built on systematic denial training and aggressive profit strategies. From an Indiana woman waiting three years for $1,500 to doctors watching patients die while awaiting authorizations, we examine how the "delay, deny, defend" playbook became standard practice in American healthcare. Legal scholar Jay Feinman reveals how insurance transformed from a safety net into "a spider's web, sticky and complicated, designed to ensnare as much as to aid." As Senate investigations uncover shocking denial rates and doctors report spending more time fighting insurers than treating patients, this episode exposes the human cost of turning healthcare claims into corporate profit centers.
Episode blog and sources: jonnyllama.com)
Follow Jonny Llama:
X.com @jonnyllama)
YouTube @jonnyllamax)
Keywords: Luigi Mangione, jury nullification, terrorism charges, UnitedHealthcare CEO murder, legal analysis, criminal justice, historical precedents, public support, hung jury, legal defense
