Dec 7 \u2013 The \u201cbrazen and targeted\u201d killing of health insurance executive Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, outside a New York hotel this week shocked America. The reaction to the crime also exposed a simmering rage against a trillion-dollar industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrior authorisation\u201d does not seem like a phrase that would generate much passion.<\/p>\n
But on a hot day this past July, more than 100 people gathered outside the Minnesota headquarters of UnitedHealthcare to protest against the insurance firm\u2019s policies and denial of patient claims.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrior authorisation\u201d allows companies to review suggested treatments before agreeing to pay for them.<\/p>\n
Eleven people were arrested for blocking a road during the protest.<\/p>\n
Police records indicate they came from around the country, including Maine, New York, Texas and West Virginia, to the rally organised by the People\u2019s Action Institute.<\/p>\n
Unai Montes-Irueste, media strategy director of the Chicago-based advocacy group, said those protesting had personal experience with denied claims and other problems with the healthcare system.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are denied care, then they have to go through an appeals process that\u2019s incredibly difficult to win,\u201d he told the BBC.<\/p>\n
The latent anger felt by many Americans at the healthcare system \u2013 a dizzying array of providers, for profit and not-for-profit companies, insurance giants, and government programmes \u2013 burst into the open following the apparent targeted killing of Thompson in New York City on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Thompson was the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the insurance unit of health services provider UnitedHealth Group. The company is the largest insurer in the US.<\/p>\n
Police are still on the hunt for the suspected killer, whose motivation is unknown, but authorities have revealed messages written on shell casings found at the scene.<\/p>\n
The words \u201cdeny\u201d, \u201cdefend\u201d, and \u201cdepose\u201d were discovered on the casings, which investigators believe could refer to tactics which critics say insurance companies use to avoid payouts and to increase profits.<\/p>\n
A scroll through Thompson\u2019s LinkedIn history reveals that many were angry about denied claims.<\/p>\n
One woman responded to a post the executive had made boasting of his firm\u2019s work on making drugs more affordable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have stage 4 metastatic lung cancer,\u201d she wrote. \u201cWe\u2019ve just left [UnitedHealthcare] because of all the denials for my meds. Every month there is a different reason for the denial.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thompson\u2019s wife told US broadcaster NBC that he had received threatening messages before.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere had been some threats,\u201d Paulette Thompson said. \u201cBasically, I don\u2019t know, a lack of [medical] coverage? I don\u2019t know details.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him.\u201d<\/p>\n
A security expert says that frustration at high costs across a range of industries inevitably results in threats against corporate leaders.<\/p>\n
Philip Klein, who runs the Texas-based Klein Investigations, which protected Thompson when he gave a speech in the early 2000s, says that he\u2019s astonished the executive didn\u2019t have security for his trip to New York City.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s lot of anger in the United States of America right now,\u201d Mr Klein said.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompanies need to wake up and realise that their executives could be hunted down anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Klein says he\u2019s been inundated with calls since Thompson was killed. Top US firms typically spend millions of dollars on personal security for high-level executives.<\/p>\n
Brian Thompson was remembered as a \u201cdevoted father\u201d and \u201cgood friend to many\u201d<\/p>\n
In the wake of the shooting, a number of politicians and industry officials expressed shock and sympathy.<\/p>\n
Michael Tuffin, president of insurance industry organistion Ahip, said he was \u201cheartbroken and horrified by the loss of my friend Brian Thompson\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a devoted father, a good friend to many and a refreshingly candid colleague and leader.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement, UnitedHealth Group said it had received many messages of support from \u201cpatients, consumers, health care professionals, associations, government officials and other caring people\u201d.<\/p>\n
But online many people, including UnitedHealthcare customers and users of other insurance services, reacted differently.<\/p>\n
Those reactions ranged from acerbic jokes (one common quip was \u201cthoughts and prior authorisations\u201d, a play on the phrase \u201cthoughts and prayers\u201d) to commentary on the number of insurance claims rejected by UnitedHealthcare and other firms.<\/p>\n
At the extreme end, critics of the industry pointedly said they had no pity for Thompson. Some even celebrated his death.<\/p>\n
The online anger seemed to bridge the political divide.<\/p>\n
Animosity was expressed from avowed socialists to right-wing activists suspicious of the so-called \u201cdeep state\u201d and corporate power. It also came from ordinary people sharing stories about insurance firms denying their claims for medical treatments.<\/p>\n
Mr Montes-Irueste of People\u2019s Action said he was shocked by the news of the killing.<\/p>\n
He said his group campaigned in a \u201cnonviolent, democratic\u201d way \u2013 but he added he understood the bitterness online.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a balkanised and broken healthcare system, which is why there are very strong feelings being expressed right now by folks who are experiencing that broken system in various different ways,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Tuffin, head of the health insurance trade association, condemned any threats made against his colleagues, describing them as \u201cmission-driven professionals working to make coverage and care as affordable as possible\u201d.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dec 7 \u2013 The \u201cbrazen and targeted\u201d killing of health insurance executive Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, outside a New York hotel this week shocked America. The reaction to the crime also exposed a simmering rage against a trillion-dollar industry. \u201cPrior authorisation\u201d does not seem like a phrase that would generate much passion. But on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104598\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}