The health insurer horror stories haven’t stopped coming in the two weeks since UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed by alleged murderer-turned-folk hero Luigi Mangione. And the ruling class is not having it! Elected officials, corporate CEOs, and the mainstream media with the power to change or buck the system are hell bent on protecting it, at the expense of many more lives.

This week, Katelyn and Christine discuss the sudden, ongoing suppression of free speech, sharing each of their experiences with health insurance, censorship be damned. Their conversation spans UHC’s denials and demands for Christine’s mental health records in 2024 to Kate’s gender-affirming surgeries, which she crammed into one year to meet her deductible under one of the various insurance plans that Americans will have in their lifetime. Thirsty Internet assassin boyfriend memes, of course, rise to the top. And Kate asks Christine to name the greater Italian American—Christopher Columbus, or Luigi Mangione? Tune in for her answer!

Links:

• Katelyn Burns: “Among Us” skeet via Bluesky
• Annie Waldman for ProPublica: How UnitedHealth’s Playbook for Limiting Mental Health Coverage Puts Countless Americans’ Treatment at Risk
• Jeanne Pinder for Clear Health Costs: UnitedHealthcare delays mental health payments, causing outrage
• Independent journalist Marisa Kabas’ Mangione family Bluesky skeet censored
• Independent journalist Ken Klippenstein: New Crisis Hotline for CEOs?
• Taylor Ardrey for USA Today: 'Delay, Deny, Depose': Florida woman arrested, accused of threatening insurance company
• Reductress: Luigi Mangione meme
• Samantha Irby: Luigi Mangione meme via Instagram
• r/WhitePeopleTwitter (and Bluesky): Luigi Mangione versus Kyle Rittenhouse meme

Your Ombudsmon's Corner: Marisa Kabas skeet critiquing Semafor Editor in Chief Ben Smith defending Bluesky’s apparent welcome to transphobes and trolls

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