Was it justified to murder the Health Insurance CEO?

About ten days ago, I learned that the United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson was shot dead on the streets of Manhattan. He was on his way, walking to a investor meeting. The violence shocked many Americans, and occurring in broad daily on a busy street in downtown New York City. Now the anger and controversy.

In the wake of this murder, the print and cable media have focused primarily on Thompson's murder. Why didn't he have any security? Is it common for Fortune 500 companies have added security for their leaders? Will the assailant get away, or will he be caught shortly? Did a disgruntled UHC policyholder do it? Or did a disgruntled policyholder hire a hitman to execute this CEO? Many crime analysts are convinced that this murder was not done by a professional. There were too many missteps made by the man who fired the gun. At this point, there are more questions than answers, and I believe the mystery of this assassination will be answered if the assassin is caught.

Indeed, many current and former UHC policyholders rushed to social media to perhaps engage in schadenfreude. Whether it's ethical or not, some policyholders are experiencing acts of joy and pleasure behind Thompson's family pain. One woman on social media was frustrated with UHC as her mother was diagnosed with stage-four breast cancer. On behalf of her mother, she fought the illness and healthcare system for years. She said, "The fight with the insurance companies was, in some ways, worse than her mother's cancer." Another on social media had little sympathy regarding Thompson's murder, saying, "Why mourn the death of Brian Thompson when 68,000 Americans who needlessly die each year so that insurance company execs like Brian Thompson can become multimillionaires." Another commentator said, "I hope he still gets an ambulance bill that UHC will refuse to pay." The last comment to include here is quite snarky, "I would offer thoughts and prayers, but I'm going to need prior authorization first."

I'm pretty ambivalent about this murder. Thompson had previously said he wanted to reform his healthcare company to help ensure his claims analysts only deny claims that are truly not medically necessary. Well, as of this year, UHC is first in the amount of denied claims by

insurance company. But what sort of reform did he do as CEO for the last several years? As a for-profit company, the policyholders are typically not the focus of the CEO – especially in a healthcare company. It's interesting to consider that a publicly traded company that doesn't provide any actual healthcare has so much discretion on whether they pay a healthcare claim

submitted on behalf of policyholders. In 2023, UnitedHealth Group had an annual revenue of $371 billion with a 14.64% growth. This is merely the financial report of only one public healthcare company. Does this tragedy bring to the forefront that Congress needs to honestly review the status of our current corporate healthcare system? Many Americans over the last many years hate healthcare. at healthcare companies' power when an some insureds pay high premiums when about 30% of all claims that a company such as UHC denies.

Some on social media worry about vigilante justice, that it's ok to engage in violence if something thinks another has wronged them. They fear that violence in America is escalating too much. I don't believe this murder will necessarily escalate this country into more violence. The one change that will occur is that business leaders will be inclined to get more security in public. If we're truly honest about violence in our society, one solution is to legislate and regulate handguns and other firearms strictly – as we do with obtaining a driver's license. Sadly, this husband and father of two was murdered in broad daylight in Manhattan. Indeed, I feel for this family and I'm certainly not going to boast about this murder, but I do understand much of the chilling sentiment expressed in social media. I'm not a proponent of vigilantism or violence, but then again, if an insurance company denied my multi-million-dollar claim, which forced me into bankruptcy, I may have a different opinion.

We're getting a new President in about six weeks, and is there a possibility that his administration will make a difference with healthcare insurance companies? Perhaps as part of his mantra about "draining the swamp," will he ensure that this industry is better regulated on behalf of all Americans? Better yet, will he help drain the swamp by introducing "Medicare for all?" (A critical thinker might ask how will Trump drain the swamp when he's part of the swamp?)

Astute Americans know there's too much money for these public companies to make, and companies such as UHC are dedicated to lobbying Congress to maintain profit margins to satisfy their stock owners. But with so much money involved in this industry, will any change be made? Will there be more legislation to ensure healthcare insurers are held more accountable? Moving forward, will a similar murder occurring in public make any difference in federal legislation in the healthcare or any other industry? My sense is very little will change as a result of this murder. In a few days, a skeptic will say a war, earthquake, or school shooting will displace what we're currently viewing on cable news.

Was it justified to murder the Health Insurance CEO?

One final note about insurance: I worked at Allstate Insurance in Northbrook, Illinois during the 2000s for nearly nine years. During my tenure, I remember hearing that Allstate had the 7th most amount of attorneys of any Fortune 500 company. That's an interesting fact and when you "peel the onion," you realize the reason why they employed so many attorneys. I'm sure the concept of "deny and delay" came into place when considering auto and home claims. A fact that may help shed some light on how this company has operated over the last 20 years is that, in the mid-2000s, they were second in auto market share. Today, they are fourth, astonishing that the same CEO is still in place.