When the CEO of one of the largest medical insurance companies in the United States was gunned down on the streets of Manhattan on Wednesday, his death quickly sparked a major conversation about the vilified industry in which he worked.
Brian Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two, was in New York City at a conference when he was killed in what police say was a shooting.
Among the hundreds of posts on social media about the shocking murder, many people were moved to speak out about the unfairness of the health insurance industry. Often dark jokes on X, Instagram, Reddit and TikTok talked about the cruelty that medical insurance companies can do to their customers. Some have even written folk songs about this event.
“The bullet hit the CEO outside the window he was given, so he doesn’t deserve emergency treatment,” wrote someone on X in response to a letter about the killing.
One Reddit user wrote: “A man is dead, and nobody cares. Huh. Sounds like business as usual at United Health doesn’t it?
An announcement on UnitedHealthcare’s Facebook page announcing Thompson’s death drew 42,000 laughing emoji reactions on Thursday afternoon.
Others shared their own stories about how the health insurance industry had refused to cover their loved ones or burdened them with debt.
“His company put many people in my family in debt that they will be paying for the rest of their lives and they refused to take care of my grandfather which eventually led to his death. Brian Thompson killed people. Full stop,” wrote one person.
“Remembering the day United Healthcare denied my 12-year-old son’s overnight hospital stay ‘as medically unnecessary’ following ASD heart surgery,” wrote another.
A post announcing the death of Brin Thompson on UnitedHealthcare’s Facebook page received more than 42,000 laughing emojis in response. (Image)
The response coincides with the commemoration of the death of Henry Kissinger, the former US secretary of state, who was caught by many Americans behind the bombing in Cambodia that killed hundreds of thousands. When he died in November 2023, the media was also full of memes celebrating his death.
As unfortunate as it may have been, the nature of Thompson’s murder reflected the growing anger among many Americans about the unfairness of the US health insurance industry. And among those who spoke were doctors, professors, politicians and people who suffered from being denied insurance.
“Currently, more than 1,000 people are in need of money every day, due to medical bills. Anyone who can make millions of dollars overseeing a system like this, and sleep well at night deserves no sympathy,” Beau Forte, a former Green Party congressman in New Jersey who ran on a platform calling for universal health care, said. The Independent.
Forte, who ran for office because her father couldn’t get coverage from a health insurance provider after suffering from an illness, was among hundreds of people who posted viral tweets eulogizing Thompson after his death.
“How appropriate is it to ask me if I’m not feeling well or if someone in charge of a big company allows this to happen if I’m not happy about it?” I apologize if it seems difficult, but that’s where I stand,” he added.
Forte was not alone.
“Today, we mourn the death of the CEO of United Healthcare, Brian Thompson, who was shot …. wait, I’m sorry – today we mourn the death of 68,000 Americans who die needlessly every year so that an insurance company like Brian Thompson can become multi-millionaires,” he wrote. a professor at Columbia University in another post got 3.5 million views.
The results come amid growing complaints from consumers about rising health care costs, declining coverage and high deductibles.
UnitedHealthcare itself had faced scrutiny over denying claims to its customers. The Senate concluded earlier this year that three major companies – UnitedHealthcare, Humana and CVS, the owner of Aetna – were deliberately denying nursing claims to patients to increase profits.
The company has also been accused of using a flawed AI algorithm to deny elderly patients care.
A New York police officer stands outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan where Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot dead, Wednesday, December 4, 2024, in New York. (AP)
Data on how many medical insurance claims are denied are notoriously hard to come by, despite efforts by the government to make the process more transparent.
The Affordable Care Act, a sweeping health care law passed by Barack Obama in 2010, was designed in part to prevent false denials by insurance companies and was tasked with implementing it. look at them. It has failed miserably in that effort, and evidence suggests that resistance is increasing.
A study by independent health research firm KFF published last year found that insurance companies will reject an additional 17 percent from patients in 2021, even when they receive care from in-network doctors. It also found that less than 1 percent of consumers appealed the denial, and among those who did, insurers upheld their decision about 60 percent of the time. A ProPublica study published last year also found that insurers withhold between 10 percent and 20 percent of their claims, based on the limited government data available.
Those numbers cover many horrific stories of people getting sick or dying after being denied the help they need from insurance. News stories of people dying after their insurance company refused to pay for medical treatment are a regular occurrence in the American media.
Even those who get treatment and survive often face huge debt due to high deductibles. Today, nearly 100 million people in America are facing some type of medical debt.
Timothy Faust, health writer and author Health Justice Now, he told The Independent that many Americans see medical insurance companies as a major source of injustice within the health care system.
“The health insurance companies will finally find out, through the many negative methods of reducing costs, the care you deserve to receive and to what extent it affects your family, and understandably the institutions that we are most associated with the injustice of American health care,” he said. he said.
“From talking to people all over the country, I know how many Americans feel the effects of this system inside their bodies. We’ve seen our loved ones suffer and die from preventable diseases that hospitals overcharge and insurance companies refuse to pay. I think a lot of the hidden anger comes from witnessing this corruption over and over again, Faust added.
None of these issues were unique to UnitedHealthcare, however.
Thompson worked for parent company UnitedHealthcare for nearly 20 years before taking over the insurance company in 2021. The company provides insurance coverage to some 49 million Americans and generated $281 billion in revenue last year.
His role as the Great Leader gave him great influence over the lives of millions, but his name was often unknown until his death.
The real motive of the killer is not yet known, but the police were given a great insight after revealing that the words “refuse,” “remove,” and “protect” were carved in living circles and in holes found outside the Hilton Hotel on. Sixth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, where Thompson was shot.
These three words have a striking resemblance to Jay Feinman’s book Delay, Deny, Prevent: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.
“Today the name of the game is delay, deny, defend: to improve their profits, insurance companies delay the payment of reasonable claims, refuse to pay outright, and defend their actions by forcing claimants to go to court,” the book’s blurb reads.
-Additional reporting by Justin Rohrlich