Profit Over What?
The transcript scrolls itself. Just listen, and read along if you like.
If this is your first time here, I suggest trying the play button above for an interesting and often helpful way to read articles.
This is a story about the human cost of prioritizing profit over patience, people, and purpose, and what happens when we stop demanding accountability.
If you've met me in person, or met me in the comment sections of LinkedIn this year, you should have an idea that my definition of short when it comes to typed prose is unlike most.
grab a beverage of your choice, settle in, and know that I appreciate you reading. As someone
who has managed a call center, led teams across various sales and service industries, and written company policy to respect both the customer and the company's interests, I'm here to tell you it
does not have to be this way. What is advertised as customer service is often an endless phone tree,
humans misrouting you to dead ends or voicemails, or an AI that either doesn't understand simple requests or has no way to transfer you to a human, and is seemingly designed to ask so many questions
that it wears you down to the point of wanting to quit trying to reach someone. Just this year,
while trying to stay afloat on medical leave, regain stable sleep, and recertify my disability leave income, I have been met with staggering bureaucratic resistance and delays, causing
financial hardships numerous times this year that were eventually rectified with a re-approval of a that had been approved months and months in a row.
Each recertification came with greater demands for documentation,
even though the previous examiners or managers felt that enough had been provided.
This is intentional. Trust me.
During a call a week ago regarding an insurance claim,
I was hung up on simply for pointing out that my file clearly requested all communication be in writing through my patient advocate someone I hired to help with this process who emailed this person over three times in three weeks with zero replies
This was the third department at the same company I have had to explain this to since June.
Even when I am able to get in touch with someone, it is difficult to get a straight answer or keep them on the line long enough to understand my complex case.
Calls drop, calls are hung up on, messages go unanswered, emails seemingly go into the void,
and I am left wondering how any of this is called customer service,
or how it can be sold as serving the customer that pays into the benefits every check.
My patient advocate has been communicating with this company since March.
We were told it typically takes one to two days to set up a case.
Instead, we have had to follow up weekly due to continuous silence.
That silence has been blamed on everything from unexpected leave with no coverage,
undelivered emails, the sudden separation of my claims manager and their manager,
to vacations with no backup, and zero accountability for any of it.
I have paid for almost as many appointments to fill out recertification paperwork as I have for actual medical care most months of this year.
I've had providers deny recertification that would have helped my case,
and I've had to find secondary and tertiary providers just to meet ever-increasing paperwork demands.
I even had to have a provider write a 12-page letter explaining to two insurance companies that the extent of the information they were demanding actually breaches HIPA privacy regulations.
That letter took many weeks to obtain due to provider scheduling, and the whole exercise placed an undue burden on my care team to defend my HIPA rights while further denting
my emptying pockets for paperwork only Plain and simple it never should have been needed While it did unlock six weeks of back pay which helped the very next department to pick up my claim demanded those exact same documents all over again ignoring the privacy HIPAA guarantees yet again Instead of
addressing the breakdown, the standard response defaults to deflection. I didn't know that was a law. Not my problem. Or not my department. If you persist, these systems treat you as defensive or
difficult. If you cite laws and mention lawyers, their defenses go up and service somehow gets worse. They will gladly find a way to get out of their responsibility whenever possible,
under the guise of sticking to standard operating procedures, policies they cannot read verbatim or find on their portals when asked for the wording or a copy, or by throwing you into an
endless loop of automation or deflection hell that requires you to endure further frustration before it lasts long enough for you to give up or just get disconnected after 14 minutes on hold,
which happened to me recently too.
Let me know if you find a way that works to speak with a helpful human or escalate to a manager at any of these insurance companies.
In my experience, every manager is on another call, out on leave,
or will call back when they can, which is conveniently never.
Their direct emails and extensions are protected like gold in Fort Knox,
and good luck getting a straight answer from anyone at any level.
The constant need to repeat your story, provide documentation they already have,
and fight for basic services you've paid for creates exhaustion that impacts your health and well-being.
I've experienced this twice in my life now while requiring a medical leave for insomnia leading to exhaustion and worsening chronic pain that worsens the insomnia and then you in a fun loop like insurance carriers phone trees Both times the companies covering my disability insurance made
the process so difficult, arduous, and paperwork-heavy that they were directly contributing to worsening conditions for the sake of policy and profit, plainly put. The burdens placed on
me as the patient, which could easily be handled by a single internal email, are glaringly obvious to both me and anyone I discuss these issues with, who has experience on the customer or
service side. Yet these companies continue to deflect and avoid any sort of internal accountability while stuffing their shareholders' profits. This is systemic. Bureaucracy is
consistently prioritized over customer service and patient care. This is what happens when we accept profit over patient, profit over people, and profit over purpose, without
demanding better and holding companies accountable. If you have experienced anything like this,
know that you are not alone. It is time for a far more humane, accountable approach to customer service in business and healthcare. Hi, I'm Chase Hunter Richardson, and I'm a huge advocate for
direct, honest communication and for bringing humanity back to the center of the customer experience in healthcare systems. I've worked in management and leadership positions across various
industries, and I've always believed that companies have a responsibility to their customers, employees, and partners.
It's time we hold them accountable to that responsibility.
I'll be writing short and long form more often starting today.
I'm hoping to build a community of like-minded individuals who are passionate about creating a better future for our customers, employees, and communities.
I welcome new followers, commenters, and connections if any of this resonates with you.
Let's have conversations and work together to create a better future.
If you don't want to read all of this, click this button to copy Chase's pre-prompt and this story to see what AI thinks. Add at the end the tone of voice or style you'd like to receive it in for best experience.
If this is your first time here, I suggest trying the play button above for an interesting and often helpful way to read articles!
This is a story about the human cost of prioritizing profit over patients, people, and purpose, and what happens when we stop demanding accountability. If you've met me in person, or met me in the comments sections of LinkedIn this year, you should have an idea that my definition of "short" when it comes to typed prose is unlike most. Grab a beverage of your choice, settle in, and know that I appreciate you reading.
As someone who has managed a call center, led teams across various sales and service industries, and written company policy to respect both the customer and the company's interests, I'm here to tell you it does not have to be this way.
What is advertised as "customer service" is often an endless phone tree, humans misrouting you to dead ends or voicemails, or an AI that either doesn't understand simple requests or has no way to transfer you to a human, and is seemingly designed to ask so many questions that it wears you down to the point of wanting to quit trying to reach someone.
Just this year, while trying to stay afloat on medical leave, regain stable sleep, and recertify my disability leave income, I have been met with staggering bureaucratic resistance and delays, causing financial hardships numerous times this year that were eventually rectified with a re-approval of a condition that'd been approved months and months in a row. Each recertification came with greater demands for documentation, even though the previous examiners or managers felt that enough had been provided. This is intentional, trust me.
During a call a week ago regarding an insurance claim, I was hung up on simply for pointing out that my file clearly requested all communication be in writing through my patient advocate, someone I hired to help with this process, who emailed this person over 3 times in 3 weeks with zero replies.
This was the third department at the same company I have had to explain this to since June. Even when I am able to get in touch with someone, it is difficult to get a straight answer or keep them on the line long enough to understand my complex case. Calls drop, calls are hung up on, messages go unanswered, emails seemingly go into the void, and I am left wondering how any of this is called "customer service" or how it can be sold as serving the customer that pays into the benefits every check.
My patient advocate has been communicating with this company since March. We were told it typically takes 1 to 2 days to set up a case; instead, we have had to follow up weekly due to continuous silence. That silence has been blamed on everything from unexpected leave with no coverage, undelivered emails, the sudden separation of my claims manager and their manager, to vacations with no backup, and zero accountability for any of it.
I have paid for almost as many appointments to fill out recertification paperwork as I have for actual medical care most months of this year. I've had providers deny recertification that would've helped my case, and I've had to find secondary and tertiary providers just to meet ever-increasing paperwork demands.
I even had to have a provider write a 12-page letter explaining to two insurance companies that the extent of the information they were demanding actually breaches HIPAA privacy regulations. That letter took many weeks to obtain due to provider scheduling, and the whole exercise placed an undue burden on my care team to defend my HIPAA rights while further denting my emptying pockets for paperwork only.
Plain and simple, it never should have been needed. While it did unlock six weeks of back pay, which helped, the very next department to pick up my claim demanded those exact same documents all over again, ignoring the privacy HIPAA guarantees, yet again.
Instead of addressing the breakdown, the standard response defaults to deflection: "I didn't know that was a law," "Not my problem," or "Not my department." If you persist, these systems treat you as defensive or difficult. If you cite laws and mention lawyers, their defenses go up, and service somehow gets worse!
They will gladly find a way to get out of their responsibility whenever possible under the guise of sticking to standard operating procedures, policies they cannot read verbatim or find on their portals when asked for the wording or a copy, or by throwing you into an endless loop of automation or deflection hell that requires you to endure further frustration before it lasts long enough for you to give up, or just get disconnected after 14 minutes on hold, which happened to me recently, too.
Let me know if you find a way that works to speak with a helpful human or escalate to a manager at any of these insurance companies. In my experience, every manager is on another call, out on leave, or will "call back when they can," which is conveniently never.
Their direct emails and extensions are protected like gold in Fort Knox, and good luck getting a straight answer from anyone at any level. The constant need to repeat your story, provide documentation they already have, and fight for basic services you've paid for creates exhaustion that impacts your health and well-being.
I've experienced this twice in my life now while requiring a medical leave for insomnia leading to exhaustion and worsening chronic pain that worsens the insomnia, and then you're in a fun loop like insurance carriers' phone trees! Both times the companies covering my disability insurance made the process so difficult, arduous, and paperwork-heavy that they were directly contributing to worsening conditions for the sake of policy and profit, plainly put.
The burdens placed on me as the patient, which could easily be handled by a single internal email, are glaringly obvious to both me and anyone I discuss these issues with who has experience on the customer or service side. Yet these companies continue to deflect and avoid any sort of internal accountability while stuffing their shareholders' profits.
This is systemic. Bureaucracy is consistently prioritized over customer service and patient care.
This is what happens when we accept "profit over patient," "profit over people," and "profit over purpose" without demanding better and holding companies accountable.
If you have experienced anything like this, know that you are not alone. It is time for a far more humane, accountable approach to customer service in business and healthcare.
Hi, I'm Chase Hunter Richardson, and I'm a huge advocate for direct, honest communication and for bringing humanity back to the center of the customer experience and healthcare systems. I've worked in management and leadership positions across various industries, and I've always believed that companies have a responsibility to their customers, employees, and partners.
It's time we hold them accountable to that responsibility.
I'll be writing short and long-form more often starting today. I'm hoping to build a community of like-minded individuals who are passionate about creating a better future for our customers, employees, and communities.
I welcome new followers, commenters, and connections if any of this resonates with you. Let's have conversations and work together to create a better future.