Two years before Brian Thompson was shot dead on the streets of New York, a notice from health insurers was met with a series of anguished, angry responses.
“Making health care more affordable means putting more money in people’s pockets,” Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group’s insurance division, wrote on LinkedIn. “That is now more important than ever. Lowering drug prices and improving price transparency are two ways we are working to lower costs for UnitedHealthcare members.”
Among the post, few praised the sentiment. “I’m curious, money in whose pockets?” wrote one user. “It appears that members are not the primary recipients when the ratio of CEO pay to average staff pay is 30:1 and revenue increases by more than 10% in a year.”
Another shared how her 86-year-old mother’s health care plan was terminated without notice.
“Do better,” said a woman who said she was diagnosed with stage four cancer but was forced to end her insurance coverage after UnitedHealth denied her medications. “Every month there is a different reason for the refusal. As of today, we are well over our maximum net worth for the year, having spent over $20,000 [£16,000]. Because we are in our sixties, we don’t have time to earn that back.”
Now, Thompson’s murder by a masked killer in the US has unleashed a new wave of public anger over the state of the country’s healthcare system.
There is speculation that the motive behind Brian Thompson’s murder is related to his work at UnitedHealthcare – NYPD News/Handout via Reuters
For some, sympathy seems scarce. Within hours of the murder, videos appeared online in which nurses and patients posted horror stories about when they had dealings with health insurers. Underneath a CNN video of the shooting, a commenter said: “Thoughts and deductible for the family. Unfortunately, my condolences are out of network.”
A manhunt is still underway for the attacker in Thompson’s attack and their motive is unknown. However, there is increasing speculation that he was targeted because of his work in the health insurance industry. Speaking to reporters this week, Thompson’s estranged wife suggested he had been the victim of threats in the past. She said these may have been related to health care ‘coverage’.
Evidence discovered Thursday only added fuel to the theory that Thompson’s job played a role in the attack. Law enforcement officials revealed that shell casings with the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were found at the crime scene.
Some suggested this could be a reference to the tactics insurers use to avoid paying claims to patients, with a book published in 2010 titled Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.
In the book, author Jay Feinman writes, “All insurance companies have an incentive to chisel their customers to increase profits.”
Frustration over the state of the U.S. health care system has been growing for years. Senator Bernie Sanders said in April: “It is a system that is not designed to provide health care to all people in a cost-effective way. It is a system designed to make enormous profits for the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical companies and many other industries within the system.” He claimed that this system was “completely broken”.
Insurers claim they are dealing with rising medical costs instead of raking in profits. However, there are signs that the system is starting to crack.
Currently, 85 million people across America are uninsured or underinsured. For those who do pay for insurance, this is a significant portion of their pay package.
In 2022, health insurance was second only to wages as part of employee compensation, at 7.9% of their pay package. The cost of family health insurance offered through employers has only increased since then, rising 7% this year to $25,572.
Many of those who are covered claim they are paying too much for services they felt should be covered by their insurance.
Research from the Commonwealth Fund earlier this year found that more than two in five working-age adults had been billed or required to pay a co-payment – a fixed amount patients must pay before insurers provide cover – for a healthcare service they receive. thought that should have been covered by insurance.
It has led to growing resentment toward health insurers. According to a Gallup survey, less than a third of Americans have a positive view of health care. Only oil and gas, the federal government and pharmaceutical companies came out worse.
A particular concern for those dealing with insurers is ‘denial rates’. Although companies are not required to publish how often they deny claims, official surveys have claimed the problem is significant.
A Senate committee investigation earlier this year alleged that the three largest companies in the industry – UnitedHealthcare, Humana and CVS – all denied nursing care to people suffering from falls and strokes. It accused UnitedHealthcare of denying requests for nursing stays three times more often than for other services. The companies refuted the report.
For now, UnitedHealthcare executives can only mourn their colleague. Andrew Witty, the CEO of parent company UnitedHealth Group, called the case a “terrible tragedy.”
“Our hearts are with his family, especially his mother, his wife Paulie, his brother and his two boys, who lost a father today,” he said.
Yet not everyone can appreciate the human tragedy of this case. As one nurse said on TikTok, “I just can’t feel sorry for him because of all those patients and their families.”
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