UnitedHealthcare’s CEO in an op-ed published Friday praised Brian Thompson, who was murdered in New York City earlier this month, for his approach to the business at a time when the industry is under intense scrutiny.
“Brian was never content with the status quo,” Andrew Witty, UnitedHealthcare Group’s CEO, wrote in The New York Times. “That’s why he pushed us to build dedicated teams to help the sickest people navigate the health system. It’s why he fought for preventive health and quality health outcomes rather than simply adding ever more tests and procedures.”
“He [Thompson] believed decisions about health care should start with the individual and championed plans in which consumers could see costs and coverage options upfront, so they could decide what’s best for themselves and their families,” Witty continued.
“The ideas he advocated were aimed at making health care more affordable, more transparent, more intuitive, more compassionate — and more human,” he added. “That’s Brian’s legacy, one that we will carry forward by continuing our work to make the health system work better for everyone.”
Witty’s comments come at a time when much of the country has expressed a bipartisan frustration with health insurance, which was brought into focus with Thompson’s murder.
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A gunman shot and killed Thompson in the early hours of December 4 outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel. Police arrested 26-year-old Luigi Mangione in a Pennsylvania McDonald’s and hit him with gun and forgery charges. Mangione is being held without bail.
The public response to the murder has baffled and appalled analysts and media figures: Instead of shock and horror, many have instead lauded Mangione, turning him into something of a folk hero.
A crowdfunding effort for Mangione’s legal fees, started earlier this week, has exceeded its initial goal of $50,000, raising around $78,780 and stretching the overall goal to $200,000.
Merchandise glorifying Mangione and the shooting also flooded online markets, forcing Amazon, Etsy and eBay to remove much of the content on grounds of violating its community guidelines, which forbid selling merchandise that promotes or glorifies violence.
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The hashtag “FreeLuigi” trended on social media platform X following his arrest, with many framing his alleged actions as acts of vigilantism rather than criminal murder. Memes on various social media platforms have expressed anger at whichever employee at McDonalds had reported Mangione’s whereabouts to police, calling the person a “class traitor.”
All of this has been understood as a reflection of growing dissatisfaction with the health insurance industry. The bullets used to shoot Thompson had the words “depose,” “deny” and “defend” etched onto their casings, which many have taken as a reference to the book Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It. The book slams insurance companies for blocking legitimate claims.
Witty, in his op-ed, instead focused on the “enormous outpouring of support” for Thompson and his family, admonishing the “vitriol” directed at the company and “threats” against employees.
“The people of UnitedHealth Group are nurses, doctors, patient and client advocates, technologists and more,” Witty wrote. “They all come to work each day to provide critical health services for millions of Americans in need.”
He admitted, however, that “the health system does not work as well as it should, and we understand people’s frustrations with it. No one would design a system like the one we have. And no one did. It’s a patchwork built over decades.”
“We understand and share the desire to build a health care system that works better for everyone. That is the purpose of our organization,” Witty argued, later adding that “while the health system is not perfect, every corner of it is filled with people who try to do their best for those they serve.”
