By Michael Erman
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth’s insurance unit, was fatally shot in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning in what police described as a targeted attack by a masked assailant who lay in wait just before the parent company’s annual investor conference at a Hilton hotel.
Thompson, 50, had been with the company for 20 years and had been CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the major insurance unit of UnitedHealth Group, since April 2021. Here’s what you need to know about UnitedHealthcare:
WHAT ARE THE ACTIVITIES OF UNITEDHEALTHCARE?
UnitedHealthcare is the largest U.S. health insurer, providing benefits to more than 50 million Americans. The company offers benefit plans that pay for much of regular health care, as well as care for customers who become ill or injured. The unit had revenues of $281.4 billion in 2023, nearly double that of the second-largest U.S. health insurer. Americans routinely pay more for health care than people in any other country.
HOW DOES IT FIT INTO THE UNITEDHEALTH GROUP?
UnitedHealth Group is a $560 billion healthcare conglomerate consisting of two major subsidiaries. In addition to the insurance business led by Thompson, there is Optum, which includes a pharmacy benefits manager, specialty pharmacy, data analytics and physician and surgical practices.
It also includes technology company Change, which was the target of a cyberattack this year that affected thousands of healthcare providers and millions of healthcare customers.
The entire company generated $371.6 billion in revenue last year. Sir Andrew Witty became CEO of UnitedHealth Group in 2021 after leading Optum. From 2008 to 2017 he was CEO of the British pharmaceutical company GSK.
HOW MANY PEOPLE DOES UNITEDHEALTHCARE COVER AND WHERE?
The company offered health insurance to more than 50.6 million people at the end of the third quarter, including 49.3 million people in the United States. Nearly 30 million people are enrolled in employer or other commercial insurance, 15.3 million in government-sponsored Medicare plans, primarily for people age 65 and older under Medicare Advantage programs, and 4.3 million in Medicaid plans for people with low incomes. According to the annual report, the company’s global operations benefit customers in more than 150 other countries.
Under Thompson, UnitedHealthcare grew the number of people it serves domestically from approximately 44 million people when he took over as CEO in April 2021.
HOW PROFITABLE IS IT?
In 2023, the insurance company earned $16.4 billion, almost a third more than in 2020, the year before Thompson took over as CEO.
(Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
