The shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was met by many people online with a morbid sense of inevitability. The often callous nature of the US health care system has long been a point of wide discussion, with evidence piling up that the way the country provides medical services is costly in both money and human life. The health industry’s executives — insurers, pharma, even hospitals — have become popular villains.
The killing of a human being is morally repugnant — full stop. But many people still found themselves asking: If it turns out, as may well be the case, that the shooter was primarily motivated by the injustices of American health care, would that be surprising?
On the same day as the shooting, news that a different insurer would restrict coverage for anesthesia during surgeries went viral, serving as a kind of cosmic confirmation of this line of thinking. A health insurance executive is shot in New York City over (it is assumed) the industry’s avaricious practices, while another insurer affirms the […]
There are some of us who will not be shedding any tears for this profit maximizing master of the universe who cashed out millions in stock before his demise. This CEO’s company has the highest denial rate in the business and huge profits year over year. Profits before people creating potentially needless worry, suffering and premature death while “they laugh all the way to the bank”. The message seems to have been received by one insurer who rescinded a proposed limit on anesthesia reimbursement.