Insurance Company Profits From a Fallen Soldier While Simultaneously Ripping Off His Family

I wish I could say this story was somehow shocking or the exception rather than the rule, unfortunately, for anyone who’s even somewhat paid attention over the past decade or so it’s obvious that this is par for the course.

There seems to be no end to what the greed of corporate executives will drive them to do. If you’re wondering why the gap between the haves and the have nots is ever widening, you need look no further than this story and then multiply it 20 or 30 million times.

We’re not just talking borderline shady or questionable actions, we’re talking about downright despicable policies that blatantly put corporate profits ahead of the well-being and interest of the people they’re supposed to be serving. The very people who are responsible for their success in the first place.

For Prudential insurance it doesn’t even seem to matter that the person whose life in question is an American soldier who lost his life fighting in Afghanistan.

Sgt. Ryan Baumann was out on a mission riding in his Humvee when he spotted an IED, his immediate reaction was to shout to the driver to “turn left”. That left the IED directly under himself. Sgt. Baumann was killed instantly while the driver, gunner and medic that were with him survived.

His mother was forced to face one of the most unimaginable things a parent can face. Having to bury their own son or daughter.

It was hard to accept life without her son, until a casualty assistance officer asked her to choose how she would like to receive his death benefits. 

“At that moment, you realize this was real,” she said. “I also knew that you know, to me, it felt like I was profiting from his death, you know, by getting money.” 
She eventually filed, electing to receive a lump sum of $400,000. But the check never came. Instead, she received a check book and a packet from Prudential saying the money had been placed in its “alliance account” where it was “available immediately” and would “begin earning interest” right away.

Everything seemed fine, until she tried using the checks. 

“I was told that the check could not be verified,” she said.

Here’s the gist of what’s going on. Instead of actually giving out the lump sum as requested, Prudential holds the money in an account of its own and sends out checks to use. Meanwhile, Prudential is paying out less than one percent interest on the money to the family member while collecting nearly five percent from their own investment of the money.

Yes, I am aware that this isn’t an anomaly and that many corporations capitalize on death in one way or another. The question is how long can corporate America keep draining the resources of the bottom ninety percent of Americans before our entire system destabilizes and implodes on itself?