Killing of insurance CEO exposes simmering anger at US health system | Global News Avenue

The “brazen and targeted” murder of a health insurance executive outside a New York hotel shocked the United States this week. Reactions to the crime also exposed anger at a multi-trillion dollar industry.

“Prior authorization” doesn’t seem like a phrase that would generate much enthusiasm.

But on a hot day in July, more than 100 people gathered outside UnitedHealthcare’s Minnesota headquarters to protest the insurance company’s policies and denials of patient claims.

“Prior authorization” allows companies to review proposed treatments before agreeing to pay for them.

Eleven people were arrested for blocking roads during protests.

They came from across the country, including Maine, New York, Texas and West Virginia, to attend rallies organized by the People’s Action Institute, police records show.

Unai Montes-Irueste, director of media strategy for the Chicago-based advocacy group, said protesters have personal experience with denied claims and other problems with the health care system.

“They are denied care and then have to go through an appeals process which is very difficult to win,” he told the BBC.

The underlying anger among many Americans at the health care system — a dizzying array of providers, for-profit and nonprofit companies, insurance giants and government programs — comes under the guise of health insurance executive Brian Thompson ) broke out after apparently being targeted for murder. Wednesday in New York City.

Thompson is CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the insurance arm of healthcare provider UnitedHealth Group. The company is the largest insurance company in the United States.

Police are still searching for the suspected killer and his motive is unclear, but authorities revealed a message written on a shell casing found at the scene.

The words “deny,” “defend” and “abandon” were found on the casing, which investigators believe may refer to insurance companies’ tactics of denying coverage and increasing profits.

A look through Thompson’s LinkedIn history shows many people angry about the rejected claims.

One woman responded to the executive’s post bragging about the work her company was doing to make drugs more affordable.

“I have stage 4 metastatic lung cancer,” she wrote. “We just left (United Healthcare) because my medication was denied. Every month there was a different reason for denial.”

Thompson’s wife told NBC that he had received threatening messages before.

“There was some threat,” Paulette Thompson said. “Basically, I don’t know, lack of (health) insurance? I don’t know the details.”

“All I know is that he said someone had been threatening him.”

A security expert says dissatisfaction with high costs across industries will inevitably pose a threat to business leaders.

Philip Klein, principal of Texas-based Klein Investigations, which protected Thompson when he gave speeches in the early 2000s, said he was impressed by the It was surprising that the executive’s trip to New York City came without security.

“There’s a lot of anger in the United States of America right now,” Mr. Klein said.

“Companies need to wake up and realize that their executives can be pursued anywhere. I will not allow any of my clients into New York City right now.”

Mr Klein said he had received an influx of phone calls since Thompson was killed. America’s top companies routinely spend millions of dollars on the personal security of their top executives.

After the shooting, some politicians and industry officials expressed shock and sympathy.

Michael Tuffin, chairman of insurance industry group Ahip, said he was “heartbroken and shocked by the loss of his friend Brian Thompson”.

“He was a loving father, a good friend to many, and a refreshingly candid colleague and leader.”

UnitedHealth Group said in a statement that it has received many messages of support from “patients, consumers, health care professionals, associations, government officials and other caring individuals.”

But many people online, including UnitedHealth customers and users of other insurance services, reacted differently.

The reactions ranged from snarky jokes (a common quip was “thoughts and prior authorization,” a play on the phrase “thoughts and prayers”) to comments about the number of insurance claims denied by UnitedHealthcare and other companies.

At the extreme end, critics of the industry pointedly expressed that they had no mercy for Thompson. Some even celebrated his death.

Online outrage appears to be bridging political divides.

Hostility has been expressed by everyone from avowed socialists to right-wing activists skeptical of the so-called “deep state” and corporate power. It also comes from ordinary people sharing stories of insurance companies denying medical claims.

Mr Montes-Irueste of People’s Action said he was shocked by news of the killing.

He said his group campaigned in a “non-violent, democratic” way, but added that he understood the pain online.

“Our health care system is fragmented and fragmented, and that’s why people who are experiencing this fragmented system in so many different ways are feeling very strongly right now,” he said.

The posts highlight the deep frustration many Americans feel with health insurance companies and the system as a whole.

“The system is very complex,” said Sarah Collins, a senior scholar at the Commonwealth Fund for Healthcare Research Foundation.

“Just knowing and understanding how to get insurance can be a challenge for people,” she said. “Everything may look fine until you get sick and need your plan.”

Recent Commonwealth Fund research found that 45 percent of insured working-age adults were charged for something they believed should have been free or covered by insurance, while fewer than half of those who reported suspicious billing errors had them question. Seventeen percent of respondents said their insurance company refused to cover care recommended by a doctor.

The U.S. health system is not only complex, but also expensive, with huge costs often falling directly on individuals.

Ms Collins said prices were negotiated between providers and insurers, meaning what was charged to patients or insurers often bore little resemblance to the actual cost of providing care.

“We found that across all types of insurance, even including (government-sponsored) Medicaid and Medicare, many people said their health care costs were unaffordable,” she said.

“People accumulate medical debt because they can’t pay their bills. That’s unique to the United States. We do have a medical debt crisis.”

A survey by researchers at the Health Policy Foundation KFF found that about two-thirds of Americans say insurance companies bear “a lot” of the blame for high medical costs.

In recent years, insurance companies have increasingly refused to cover treatments and used prior authorization to deny coverage, said Christina Ebner, senior economist at the nonprofit think tank RAND Corporation.

She said the premium would be about $25,000 (£19,600) per family.

“On top of that, people are facing thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs,” she said.

UnitedHealthcare and other insurance companies have faced lawsuits, media investigations and government investigations over their practices.

Last year, UnitedHealthcare settled a lawsuit filed by a chronically ill college student whose story was reported by the news site ProPublica and who said he was saddled with $800,000 in medical bills after being denied medications prescribed by doctors.

The company is currently fighting a class-action lawsuit Claims it uses artificial intelligence to end treatments early.

The BBC contacted UnitedHealth Group for comment.

Reporting by Tom Bateman