Episode

4/19 A Big Reason Why Health Insurance Is Garbage; Musicians On Strike w/ Patrick Rucker & Andy Blanco

April 19, 2023

It’s Hump Day! Sam hosts Patrick Rucker, finance reporter for The Capitol Forum and contributor at ProPublica, to discuss his recent piece entitled “How Cigna Saves Millions by Having Its Doctors Reject Claims Without Reading Them”. Then, he’s joined by percussionist Andy Blanco with the Musician’s Union Local 802, to discuss their recent organizing efforts against Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY). First, Sam runs through updates on Fox settling their dominion case, the Supreme Court’s response to the Mifepristone hold, Canadian labor action, Clarence Thomas’ corruption, DeSantis’ visit to Washington, and Iowa advancing children’s right to work, before diving into coverage of Fox’s settlement, and the extant cases they still face. Patrick Rucker then dives right into his discovery of Cigna’s scam, walking through the statistics of the inhumane pace at which their doctors would reject insurance claims, and the outrageous quantity of rejections that this has led to, with no substantive reason behind a vast majority of said rejections. After tackling the parallels with the banking sector’s Robo-signing scandal and the breadth of the impact of this brand of corruption, Sam and Patrick wrap up by discussing the “legality” of Cigna’s malpractice, how to push back against it, and whether the other insurance companies have already jumped on board with their tactics. Andy Blanco and Sam then parse through Local 802’s role in the New York concert world and the exploitation they face, before looking at the impact of COVID on their labor situation, and how DCINY forced them into filing unfair labor practice claims. Wrapping up, they tackle the union’s demands, and how we can help them in their fight.

And in the Fun Half: Sam discusses the GOP’s insistence on making Hunter Biden’s D*ck Pics a story, Oscar from Compton discusses local disputes with firefighters, Michelle in Brooklyn tackles the exportation of labor overseas, and John from Indiana calls in about last week’s Twitter drama. Sam and Bradley also touch on Floridian politics, with parents fighting back against theocratic rule while DeSantis goes to war with Disney, Ethan Schmidt makes a fool of himself, and Jasmin from Texas dives into corrupt election legislation, plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out Patrick’s piece here: https://www.propublica.org/article/cigna-pxdx-medical-health-insurance-rejection-claims

Find more info about Local 802’s strike efforts here: https://www.local802afm.org/

Help out Happy Rock Coffee Shop here: https://www.savehappyrock.com/

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Sunset Lake CBD: sunsetlakecbd is a majority employee owned farm in Vermont, producing 100% pesticide free CBD products. Starting today, all CBD products will be 30% off with coupon code “420”. Orders over $150 will get one FREE 20-count jar of gummies-Sour bears, good vibe gummies, or sleep gummies! 5% of all proceeds will be donated to the Last Prisoner Project-and The Majority Report will match those donations! Also, use code Leftisbest and get 20% off when you shop at http://www.sunsetlakecbd.com.

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Seder’s Seeds!: Sam tried to grow some cannabis last year, didn’t know what he was doing, but now has some great cannabis seeds! Use code “420” and you’ll get a free pack of “Trainwreck” seeds (enter Trainwreck manually in your cart)! Go to http://www.sedersseeds.com and MajorityReporters will get an automatic 15% off. Enter coupon code “SEEDS” for free shipping!

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