The CEO of UnitedHealth’s insurance division, Brian Thompson, was shot dead in broad daylight in a targeted attack outside a hotel in Manhattan on Wednesday morning when he was attending the annual investor conference. The United States of America is tragically no stranger to deaths due to gun violence but unlike most shootings, this one has brought a stream of support for the suspected killer rather than the victim.
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The Reception
Unusually, the killing of the UnitedHealth Group CEO on Wednesday has not been received with an outpouring of horror and shock. Instead it sparked both explicit and implicit approval as well as widespread indifference, highlighting the aggravation of Americans who firmly believe the healthcare system is dysfunctional. Thompson’s murder has rekindled important dialogues about healthcare in the US and challenges with its accessibility.
Many Americans’ profound discontent concerning the unfairness of the US health insurance system has been underscored by the responses following Thompson’s murder. Doctors, professors, lawmakers, and those who had experienced insurance denials themselves were among those who voiced their opinions.
A Broken Healthcare System
A lecturer at Columbia University posted some words that reliably reflect a lot of the common public sentiment surrounding the death—“Today we mourn the deaths of the 68,000 Americans who needlessly die each year so that insurance company execs like Brian Thompson can become multi-millionaires.”
UnitedHealthcare had been heavily criticised for denying claims to its patients. Earlier this year, a Senate committee found that three large corporations—UnitedHealthcare, Humana, and CVS, the company that owns Aetna—were purposefully refusing patient claims for nursing care in order to generate greater profit.
In a complaint, the organisation was also charged with denying elderly patients additional treatment by deploying a flawed AI algorithm. Due to ridiculous deductibles, even those who survive after getting the care have to struggle with enormous debt. Reports state that approximately hundred million Americans currently bear the brunt of medical debt of some kind.
Arrest
New York authorities have accused 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, an Ivy League graduate, with murder after he was identified as the murder suspect. Early evidence indicates that the suspect’s alleged acts may have been political, even though the motive behind the crime is still largely unknown.
Senior law enforcement authorities claim that in addition to having a rifle, a silencer, and other materials—Luigi Mangione was also allegedly found to have a handwritten, three-page “manifesto” that criticised health insurance corporations for prioritising profits over care. “These parasites had it coming ….. I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done,” it apparently read.
