Remember in 2009 during the writing of the ACA when Sarah Palin spun the big lie about “death panels” where faceless bureaucrats would arbitrarily deny coverage to innocent patients?  I certainly do.  During late 2009, this gigantic lie took on a life of its own, scaring the crap out of people using a completely baseless charge about healthcare under the new act.  Even today some media circles still use that lie to oppose people getting medical insurance.

The tragedy of the death panel lies is that death panels do actually exist and have for decades since Nixon converted the national healthcare system from a care system to a for-profit system when he signed the 1973 act forming HMOs.  Since then, actual panels of nurses and doctors are flooded on a daily basis with life and death decisions for their customers, insurance policy holders.  These actual death panels often make the wrong decision, wrecking millions of families’ financial wellbeing and accelerating the deaths of those with deadly diseases.

In a small victory against the insurance industry monopoly, Aetna has just been ordered to pay the family of Orrana Cunningham $25.5 million for “recklessly” disregarding its duty to deal fairly and in good faith when the Aetna death panel denied coverage for her treatment.  She had cancer and the proton beam treatment which could have saved her (and was approved by Medicare) was denied for financial reasons.  The court also ruled that the doctors making these decisions were unqualified and overworked, noting that one doctor had stated that he was expected to review over 80 cases per day, which is impossible for a doctor to properly review cases like these.

Aetna hasn’t decided whether it will appeal the judgement, but a spokesman said the company has “learned some things” during the course of this case.  I’ll bet.

NO solution to healthcare works unless it is a nationalized healthcare for all system.  Every developed country on the planet, with the notable exception of the United States, has figured out this problem.  It’s time we do, too.