A company's responsibility is solely to its shareholders, not to its customers. If those two goals align, win/win. Denying expensive claims increases profitability right up to the point they lose enough customers to offset those gains. Am I missing something fundamental about capitalism here?

I'm not saying that's particularly ethical behavior and they wouldn't get my business if I could help it, but if they choose to behave otherwise, they risk delivering suboptimal shareholder value, no?

> Denying expensive claims increases profitability right up to the point they lose enough customers to offset those gains. Am I missing something fundamental about capitalism here?

Yes... the ultimate responsible party is the patient, not the insurance company. It makes no sense to deny Americans the right to use the hospital because the hospitals are private entities contracting with their patients, not a government service.

Insurance is an ancillary concern and of concern only to two private parties, not the government.

Who's denying Americans the right to use hospitals if their insurance is denied due to a pre-existing condition of being unvaccinated? Freedom isn't free, they should have done their cost/benefit analysis a priori instead of trying to shaft the rest of us with the bar tab. Sounds like you want Medical Marxism to me.

And if the hospital is filled to capacity maximizing revenue already, why can't a free market entity preferentially treat the vaccinated who will pose a lesser danger to their employees and thus result in lower employee burnout and sick pay not mention higher gross margin?

This leaves the insurance companies free to pursue their mission of maximizing profitability as much as they possibly can to deliver shareholder value and we all win, no?

It also leaves entrepreneurial sorts like yourself the opportunity to open a bespoke hospital for anti-vaxxers and mask-deniers who, if they have the money, will pay top $$$ because the alternative given they are at your door is an eternal dirt nap.

Seems like an American Success story in the making to me.

I think you've gone off the deep end. I replied to a comment suggesting making hospitalization of unvaccinated illegal by social policy. I said that doesn't make sense in a country where government is not nominally involved in hospitalizations.