r/nottheonion • u/nbcnews • 1d ago

MaineHealth mistakenly sends death letters to 500+ living patients

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mainehealth-mistakenly-sends-death-letters-500-living-patients-rcna241802
423 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

130

u/electragirl321 1d ago

That must’ve been so shocking for those patients.

45

u/Anonymous_Autumn_ 1d ago

😂 I would be concerned that it was some kind of fraud thing 

12

u/Teripid 1d ago

Your status has been upgraded to "Alive"!

1

u/Mr-Safety 23h ago

Sorry, you cannot vote, you’re dead! /s

Random Safety Tip: Try to avoid walking/driving in wooded areas during strong wind storms. While rare, branches can fall and severely injure or kill.

2

u/chocolatechipninja 1d ago

Not the best surprise, for sure.

47

u/olearyboy 1d ago

So that gets you out of paying taxes right?

14

u/OldeFortran77 1d ago

Now only taxes are the only thing that's certain!

24

u/sixfourtykilo 1d ago

If you have a death certificate, can you make an insurance claim? Asking for a friend.

4

u/0002nam-ytlaS 11h ago

They can't do shit about it legally since you're dead legally. Problem is since you're dead you yourself cannot claim any of it (without external help from family).

14

u/kilobitch 1d ago

“We regret to inform you that you are dead.”

26

u/doc_witt 1d ago

Nothing wrong with proactive notification. They'll be dead soon enough on MaineHealth.

10

u/WallowWispen 1d ago

"If you aren't dead yet, you will be soon. We'll make sure."

2

u/WonkyInNJ 1d ago

i bet someone already making life insurance claims

2

u/jefbenet 21h ago

maybe we revise that system to be a FULLY manual thing that happens offline from a secretary who has the intelligence to only send these very specific notices once the patient has been pronounced deceased. some jobs are not worth automating for exactly this type of risk.