Health care advocates are shown protesting the denial of medical care at a United Healthcare office in Minnetonka, Minnesota, on July 15, 2024. David Berding/Getty Images for People's Action Institute Hide Caption
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David Berding/Getty Images for People's Action Institute
Anger over the current state of medical care in the United States continues unabated.
It's been a week since UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in Manhattan. The shocking and targeted killing also sparked suspicions about the business he ran in the world's most expensive country for healthcare.
Mr. Thompson led the largest health insurance company in the United States. The company is part of a vast, for-profit conglomerate that touches nearly every part of how Americans access health care. His company has been widely criticized for making health care more expensive and less accessible. And that frustration boiled over in the response to his death, from widespread jokes to outright celebration.
UnitedHealth has not directly responded to the widespread consumer criticism since last week. A UnitedHealth spokesperson declined to comment to NPR for this story.
This week, some people came out to show support after police arrested Luigi Mangione in the shooting death. An online fundraiser for Mangione's defense had raised more than $65,000 by Thursday night. Meanwhile, videos on social media showed “wanted” posters of other CEOs posted in downtown Manhattan.
“We are facing an apocalyptic moment in the human story, where hundreds of thousands of Americans are going bankrupt because of medical costs, and these private health insurance executives are “I keep laughing all the way to the bank,” he says. Sam Beard, Mangione Legal Defense Fundraiser Organizer.
The rhetoric echoes the last time consumers rallied widely in protest against powerful corporations and their wealthy executives, during the Occupy Wall Street movement in late 2011 that swept the nation in the wake of the financial crisis.
Ultimately, the Occupy movement had no immediate impact on the companies and CEOs it criticized. No Wall Street CEO has gone to prison for the business decisions that led to the subprime mortgage crisis and the resulting wave of foreclosures. But these protests underscored the overwhelming populist anger at America's deep income inequality.
Now, the reaction to Thompson's murder is “kind of a sign of an era of inequality where people feel pretty powerless,” said Helaine Oren, editor-in-chief of the American Economic Liberties Project, an antitrust nonprofit. says.
Populism and economic fatigue remain a powerful force in American politics today, as voters fed up with inflation recently demonstrated by reelecting former President Donald Trump. Oren added: “We've seen this in action since the financial crisis. There's just a sense of, 'How can we get a fair deal?'”
Consumers' feelings of helplessness are often further amplified when interacting with the health insurance companies that control the care they receive. But navigating these huge, opaque companies is frustrating at best, and consumers rarely have much say. For approximately 154 million Americans, employers offer a choice of health insurance coverage.
UnitedHealth is the most likely of these. The company is the fourth largest company in the United States by overall sales, with divisions that include hiring physicians, providing pharmacy benefits, and processing patient medical claims. The company, along with its biggest competitors, has been the subject of antitrust scrutiny, consumer lawsuits over widespread claim denials, and bipartisan criticism. This week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Sen. Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, introduced legislation to break up large health care conglomerates, including UnitedHealth.
“Insurance companies are out of control. They need to be broken up,” Hawley said on the X Show. “Let's stop buying up doctors' offices. Let's stop owning pharmacies. Let’s start putting patients first.”
Everyone interviewed for this article emphasized the need for change, and many healthcare providers are hopeful that something good will come from this tragic event.
“This is not a heroic vigilante, and it's important that he is brought to justice,” said Dr. A. Mark Fendrick of the University of Michigan. “That being said, there may be small lessons we can learn moving forward.”
Fendrick studies ways to improve health insurance and advocates for a more holistic approach to so-called “value-based” insurance. Last week, he published an article in a medical journal urging the medical industry to rethink the way it does business and the types of services it charges higher prices for.
“In the wake of a tragedy that has gripped the nation's conscience, now may be the time to reframe the conversation from how much money we spend to how effectively we spend our health care dollars.” Fendrick wrote.
Dr. Diana Gilnita, a rheumatologist in Irvine, Calif., is already trying a different approach. After years of fighting with insurance companies, Gilnita started Direct Care, which bypasses insurance and provides services to patients at lower rates. She posted an article on LinkedIn last week following Thompson's death. The headline asked, “How many more lives must be lost before we change medicine?”
Leaders of major health care companies have generally maintained that they are working to improve the quality of care available to all Americans.
In an email to employees on Wednesday, UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Whitty remembered Thompson as “one of the good guys” who received feedback from UnitedHealth customers. Shared anonymous testimonials and notes of support.
“I am so proud to be part of an organization that brings so much good to so many people,” said Whitty.
