The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

In an attempt to one-up United Health for most ridiculous Minnesota-based health insurance company, HealthPartners (relatively) recently announced its new Mascot, Petey P. Cup. He's a giant urine specimen container with arms, legs, feelings, and no shame. Since then I've learned quite a bit about Petey P. Cup and his sidekick Pokey the Syringe. Here are eleven things I've learned about HealthPartners' new campaign.

It's not any surprise to those who've followed the sordid history of UnitedHealth Group to see that the company is being sued by the Attorney General of New York for manipulating the reimbursement rates for their insured who go outside of the network for their care.

I just got a $500+ bill in the mail for a basic teeth cleaning. I have dental insurance, and I just got a $500+ bill in the mail for a basic teeth cleaning. Yup...

Why exactly do I have dental insurance? Certainly if my teeth were crooked and I wanted to get them straightened, my insurance company would argue that it's purely for aesthetic purposes, hence unnecessary. Is it to protect me from the consequences of a good bashing? — probably self-inflicted after receiving their bill...

I lied about the basic cleaning.