My Baby and AOL’s Bottom Line: "Some Asshole Got Cancer So You All Get A Wage Cut"

[kpete]

My Baby and AOL’s Bottom Line
That “distressed baby” who Tim Armstrong blamed for benefit cuts? She’s my daughter.
By Deanna

Fei


............

For the record: It was me. I don’t work for AOL; my husband does. One of those “distressed babies” was our daughter. We pay our premiums for a family health plan through AOL, which is why we had coverage on the morning I woke up in acute pain, only five months into what had been a completely smooth pregnancy.

Late Saturday, Armstrong finally issued an apology in an email to employees: “On a personal note, I made a mistake and I apologize for my comments last week at the town hall when I mentioned specific healthcare examples.” He also announced that he would restore the old retirement savings plan. This is commendable, but the damage to my family had already been done.

Here is how we supposedly became a drain on AOL’s coffers. On Oct. 9, 2012, when I woke up in pain, my husband was at the airport about to board a flight for a work trip. I was home alone with our 1-year-old son and barely able to comprehend that I could be in labor. By the time I arrived at the hospital, my husband a few minutes behind, I was fully dilated and my baby’s heartbeat was slowing. Within 20 minutes, my daughter was delivered via emergency cesarean, resuscitated, and placed in the neonatal intensive care unit.

She weighed 1 pound, 9 ounces. Her skin was reddish-purple, bloody and bruised all over. One doctor, visibly shaken, described it as “gelatinous.” I couldn’t hold my daughter or nurse her or hear her cries, which were silenced by the ventilator. Without it, she couldn’t breathe.


.........

much more: http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2014/02/tim_armstrong_blames_distressed_babies_for_aol_benefit_cuts_he_s_talking.html

[Springslips]

1. If Armstrong soooo f'n concern about...

Medical cost effecting his bottom line ( if it really does) then why doesn't he join us and call for single payer?

[Fantastic Anarchist]

35. ^^^^This^^^^^

[uponit7771]

36. +1

[KamaAina]

39. What's good for General Motors is good for the country

GM does a lot of manufacturing for the U.S. market at its Canadian plants, because -- you guessed it -- thanks to single-payer, they don't have legacy health care costs up there.

[Stargazer09]

2. Armstrong is a prick

This just highlights his stupidity and general level of asshole-ness for all the world to see.

[Nay]

43. Agreed - just the fact that he said what he said brands him a complete

asshole, and no number of apologies will ever erase that because no decent person would have said it in the first place. It would never have occurred to a decent person.

[TheBlackAdder]

3. Greed (Well, that and shafting the employees in the process... but probably just greed.)

This has very little to do with employee retention at the end of the year.

Most people don't get full-time permanent positions in December, or even November.
Companies will wait until the new benefits year to hire a new staffer.


AOL main objectives appear to be:


1) They can fire someone's ass on December 24th, giving them a nice Christmas present, knowing the employee won't even be able to tap into their 401(k) money in the event of an emergency. This also saves money at the end-of-the-year.


2) AOL might be able to save that 1.25% interest on the money they would have lost by paying gradually through the year.


3) BONUS POOL. They can decide who to fire in December to free up money to pay out in bonuses. If the returns aren't that favorable... fire a few more staffers and that 'saved' 401(k) money can be used to fund the bonuses for executives.

[riderinthestorm]

4. Armstrong's dangerously close to violating HIPAA laws if you ask me by "outing" them like that

and talk about toxifying the workplace for that poor guy whose got to still go on working with everyone around him. Now everyone in the whole company knows exactly who to "blame" for losing out on their 401k benefits.

Pretty shitty all around...

[magical thyme]

5. based on my understanding of HIPAA, once anybody was able to identify the patient from Armstrong's

description, he wasn't close to violating HIPAA, he *was* in violation.

The line is drawn over whether somebody can identify the patient based on the information given. The family's co-workers immediately recognized them. Therefore, he violated HIPAA with his statement about them.

Of course, as we all know, HIPAA laws are intended to protect celebrities and the elite, not little people. And they're enforced against health care delivery people, not CEOs.

[ismnotwasm]

9. Yes he was nt

[BrotherIvan]

10. Then perhaps this family can get a nice big settlement

I thought the same thing, not only was he outing two specific instances, but talking about the costs of their care. These egomaniacs think they can do and say whatever and it would be so nice to teach them they are not gods. God, I am so glad I don't work in corporate America anymore. It gives me PTSD just having flashbacks to those days.

[SheilaT]

11. The HIPAA privacy laws are

aimed at those who work in the health-care environment. Not outsiders.

A doctor, nurse, cleaning lady, cafeteria worker at the hospital, all those are constrained to keep what they know about patients in the hospital to themselves, unless they need to discuss it in the actual conduct of their job.

But if I know stuff about someone else's medical history that I did not get through my job at the hospital? I'm free to broadcast that, even if it might be somewhat unethical to do so.

[okwmember]

20. Not necessarily. If a person in HR at a company has medical information about an employee,

they are also restrained by HIPAA laws from revealing the information. And as Armstrong is the CEO
with access to the information, I would think he would be included in that group of people.

[riderinthestorm]

21. I was just about to post too that AOL is self-insured so its acting as its own administrator

So it would seem to behoove them to monitor the release of medical information of their staff.

Its an awfully close balance imho. I really wonder if Armstrong has overstepped his boundaries as the "insurance carrier" (and the employer).

[BuelahWitch]

38. As a customer service rep for a gov't contractor

I also had to abide by the HIPAA laws. So yeah, I don't see why Armstrong would be exempt.

[uponit7771]

37. True in some sense, it's HOW the CEO got the patient information that's the issue

[jsr]

8. Tim Armstrong is a malignancy on humanity.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

13. talk about cancer. sounds like some radiation and chemotherapy is just what is needed.

[Shoulders of Giants]

6. If we want assholes like Tim Armstrong to quit having a say in healthcare...

We need a true single payer system now. As long as workplaces play a role in healthcare, this will keep happening.

[Dr. Strange]

33. Exactly.

[jsr]

7. Don't forget Tim Armstrong fired an employee in front of 1,000 coworkers

[siligut]

34. Here is the video

Armstrong is an imperialist.

[bkanderson76]

12. Kick Armstrong and His AOL To The Curb....make the statement now

[Cal Carpenter]

14. Laugh/cry. What a brave woman.

Maybe next time that asshole will make sure none of the people he's alluding to are professional writers.

And I second the point made above by Shoulders of Giants: SINGLE PAYER NOW! It is the only real solution. This situation demonstrates how very wrong it is that health care is so tied up with employment.

[obxhead]

15. Very well written.

I almost wish I used AOL, just so I could stop using it.

[Helen Borg]

16. Me too.

Honestly, I did not even know it still existed (does Blockbuster still exist?)

[DonCoquixote]

17. a oh Hell

a major outsource of tech support, as well, because they love India wages.

[DonCoquixote]

18. and let us not forget

These are the people that paid Arianna Huffington almost 100 million for her HuffPo, little to none of which she hared with her writers, who worked for free. Oh well, she supports Clinton, so that will be ok with many.

[Wait Wut]

19. What a tough and amazing woman.

I hope that her article gives strength to the parents of that other million dollar baby. Million dollar? Fuck. These babies are priceless. Can you imagine if this woman had been told that her pregnancy wasn't viable and she decided to terminate? Yes, I know it's a horrible thought when you look at the face of that little girl, but imagine the uproar if her story had gone public. Armstrong wouldn't have had an excuse to punish his employees for a premature baby, but the right would have exploded in a storm of hatred for a woman's heartbreaking choice.

They want it both ways, but scream when they get it.

[Cha]

24. Yes, she is, WW.. I'm wondering if her

husband will be fired over this?

[Wait Wut]

29. Not right away.

They'll need to wait until this is no longer news. Then, they'll find/create some reason to get rid of him.

[AnnieBW]

22. My friend was one of the "assholes" that got cancer.

My friend Kim was one of the top sysadmins in AOL in Reston, VA. She contracted spinal cancer and required a lot of medications. When it came time to lay people off, guess who got her pink slip first?

Oh, and she was one of two people that could delete employee accounts. AOl-Hell laid off both of them.

[Cha]

25. I'm so Sorry for you friend, Kim, AnnieBW! :(

[AnnieBW]

40. Thanks.

Kim died recently, after cheating death several times. Her townhouse caught fire, and she died of asphyxiation from it. She was a survivor, but death caught up to her at age 50 1/2.

She was a die-hard Republican, but she'd been around me and my husband long enough (and loathed Romney enough) to vote for Obama in 2012.

[toddwv]

23. A perfect example of why your health care shouldn't be dependent on your job.

I'm not sure why the right-wing doesn't understand, or maybe it's just because they don't care anymore.

[Cha]

26. YES, toddwv!

[Warren DeMontague]

27. If he were honest, he'd tell them that the company pretty much died around 2004.

Blaming it on an employee's baby is pretty damn low.

[Enthusiast]

28. "Corporations are people, my friend."

[Brickbat]

30. If AOL can't handle the costs, administration and management of health insurance,

it should advocate for single-payer and then it won't have to worry about a goddamn thing except how to distribute all of the lovely money it's sitting on.

[area51]

46. +1

Facts are staring companies in the face, but they want to keep that health care hammer over employees.

[Joey Liberal]

31. Armstrong is an insult to humanity

He's a modern day Scrooge. AOL should be ashamed.

[Rex]

32. You are just supposed to die or go off and die so the bottom line is not hurt.

And CEOs wonder why normal people think they suck! He apologized to save the bottom line. Until these assholes decide that people are more important then money, we will continue to hear CEOs throw temper tantrums over their workers need to live.

[adirondacker]

41. They weren't satisfied with winning the war on the poor, now it's fullspeed ahead for the middle. nt

[calimary]

42. Stunning essay! "Corporations are people, my friend." MY ASS.

They can't be. This story is proof-positive that they're certifiably inhuman.

HAH. You're not an employee. You're nothing but a cost-benefit analysis.

I like the bumper sticker that reads: "I'll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one." And that would be one example of capital punishment that I'd strongly support.

[busterbrown]

44. Make sure the msm doesn’t report this...

[yellowcanine]

45. Armstrong should resign or be canned. You just can't talk about employees like that.

[mgardener]

47. We need to demand of republicans

Republicans are increasingly demanding pregnancies continue despite the non viability of the fetus or the mothers.
They will have to explain how we will pay for these children they are demanding we keep alive.

I am heartened by the above story. I am so glad that medicine has advanced so far and has given this child a chance at a normal life. My story did not have such a happy ending. My premature son died after 5 days. We removed him for the vent after he had no brain activity. This happened over 30 years ago.
I went to work F/T from Feb. to July and every single one of those pay checks was spent to pay off the hospital bill.
But, republicans are demanding that we keep these babies alive and that we keep people like Terri Schiavo alive. It is not nice to have to talk money at these times but if CEO's and others will penalize the rest of their workforce for large medical expenses then yes we have to talk about this.
Especially in light of yesterday's revelation that a republican does not want to pay for maternity benefits because his wife was "fixed".

They need to explain how they will pay for this and not penalize anybody else.