https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/07/brian-thompson-unitedhealthcare
But millions of Americans were less interested in the mechanics of what New York’s new police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, called “a premeditated, pre-planned, targeted attack” than the possible motive. Despite the fact the killer’s motive remains completely unknown, the death of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO unleashed an eruption of anger from people mistreated, or untreated, by the US’s rapacious medical industry and even a grim schadenfreude from some at Thompson’s death.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans are driven into bankruptcy every year by medical debts, with many of them losing their homes. Thousands die because insurance companies find reasons not to pay for treatment, including UnitedHealthcare, which denies about one-third of claims.
Anthony Zenkus, a lecturer at the Columbia School of Social Work, spoke for many in a post on X.
“Today, we mourn the death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, gunned down.... wait, I’m sorry – today we mourn the deaths of the 68,000 Americans who needlessly die each year so that insurance company execs like Brian Thompson can become multimillionaires,” he wrote.
The revelation that shell casings at the scene were marked with the words “deny” and “defend” and “depose” added weight to speculation that the killer had had a vendetta against UnitedHealthcare, which earned $280bn in revenue last year insuring about 50 million people in the US. Two of the words are used by the industry in policy documents and were included in the title of a 2010 book Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.
Thompson was in New York from UnitedHealthcare’s headquarters in Minnesota for an investor conference. The 50-year-old father of two had been appointed the company’s CEO in 2021 and was paid $10m last year after overseeing a sharp rise in profits to $16bn that some critics said came from using artificial intelligence to routinely reject claims.
His killer appears to have been well-informed about Thompson’s movements. The assailant apparently knew when his victim was likely to arrive at the New York Hilton Midtown hotel close to Central Park and which entrance he would use.
[...] There was less information about the killer’s motives but that did not stop a flood of conjecture, much of it premised on bitter experience at the hands of the medical insurance industry.
Such conjecture would make the field of possible perps ten godzillion strong. Perhaps fifteen.
And - the insurance industry is paying attention and making changes. Security details are now envisioned. "Don't reform defend better" is a fitting motto for beefing up security, as well as the niche's litigation mantra. The execs will get the security details while the lawyers will not, lawyers being fungible, as well as their liking that word. Bless media coverage of the shooting being as it is.
The ball's in Trump's court. Expect him to muff that play, where the first of the two parties to go to the mat on Medicare for All will carry the day, (if either party ever does that since it is against the DNA of both to help people instead of corporations).
UPDATE: As to what Trump and/or JD have to know, but watch them dither, is that Americans want Healthcare As A Right, per a second Guardian item featuring this image:
