United Healthcare CEO shot and killed

[rodoheel]

Right now it is the only way for the overwhelming majority of Americans. And murders like the one today won't move the needle on this at all.

I don't disagree that murders aren't the solution. No one is advocating for murdering health care reps as a means of change. But murders are the sort of thing you get when you have an obviously problematic system that vastly enriches some people while making health care worse for many others, the government can't or won't do anything to fix it (at least in part because the insurance companies profiting from the system lobby them not to change the system), and people then feel powerless to do anything.

The system needs to change. Murder isn't the way to do it, but neither is resigning ourselves to insurance bureaucracies that are more predatory and worse for Americans than anything Elon and Vivek's "DOGE" wants to eliminate.

 

[rodoheel]

Not explicitly on here, but you don't have to look very far to see people celebrating this hit.

Perhaps you should go argue with those people then?

 

[ronjon]

I feel like there are two different conversations in this thread.

1) NO ONE should be murdered for going to work. Violence is not the answer. This act, if it was an act of revenge or outrage, should be condemned and the person should be punished. It is not justified no matter how bad the company policies are.

2) The healthcare system in the US is VERY problematic and many citizens are suffering from the way it is structured. There is great incentive to make an insurance company more profitable over time but less incentive to provide comprehensive, low-cost healthcare on the consumer end.

The healthcare insurance line of business is restricted to 20% profit. These companies are all starting services companies to juice the profits.

 

[ZZLPHeels]

Perhaps you should go argue with those people then?

Thoughts and prayers?

 

[rodoheel]

Thoughts and prayers?

If it would make you feel better to copy some of the posts celebrating the shooting so we can all say "yes, that's bad and I disagree with it" be my guest.

 

[ZZLPHeels]

If it would make you feel better to copy some of the posts celebrating the shooting so we can all say "yes, that's bad and I disagree with it" be my guest.

Sure.

UnitedHealthcare tried to deny coverage to a chronically ill patient. He fought back, exposing the insurer’s inner workings.

After a college student finally found a treatment that worked, the insurance giant decided it wouldn’t pay for the costly drugs. His fight to get coverage exposed the insurer’s hidden procedures for rejecting claims.

www.propublica.org

More than 200 million Americans are covered by private health insurance. But data from state and federal regulators shows that insurers reject about 1 in 7 claims for treatment. Many people, faced with fighting insurance companies, simply give up: One study found that Americans file formal appeals on only 0.1% of claims denied by insurers under the Affordable Care Act.

UnitedHealth Group annual gross profit for 2023 was $90.958B, a 14.24% increase. UnitedHealth Group annual gross profit for 2022 was $79.617B, a 14.31% increase from 2021. UnitedHealth Group annual gross profit for 2021 was $69.652B, a 3.96% increase from 2020.

Do you suspect this particular CEO had a vested interest in serving those patients with needed care or denying coverage in order to meet EPS targets and shareholder value?

Thoughts and prayers?

 

[Geisterfahrer]

Put another way, would the people brushing off this murder be doing the same if the CEO of a beer company was shot and killed in the same fashion? Why not move on down the line? How about distributors? What about people who own bars and restaurants that serve alcohol? How about the guy that drives the beer truck that delivers the beer to the vendors? Alcohol is bad and kills people, right?

No one is brushing off the murder, get a grip.

 

[NCK9]

Nursing subreddit reaction....users 'flair' has their job/role in various hospitals/offices

 

[Callatoroy]

Health care is a necessity. Private health insurance is not the only way - and definitely not the best way - to ensure that people have health care when they need it.

I guess that is debatable. There really isn't a way that doesn't have serious drawbacks for some people and there isn't a one size fits all approach.

 

[CallMeTyler]

Somebody has to pay for it. If you want to pay for all your care yourself, then there's no need.

The United States is the only developed country in the world w/o universal health coverage for its citizens. Our system is the outlier.

So we, that being human beings in an advanced society, have recognized the need for healthcare and found ways to facilitate that care w/o using insurance companies.

Hopefully that explanation helps accentuate my point a bit better.

 

[Callatoroy]

Video is pretty crazy - definitely looked like a professional or someone who knew what they were doing. That said, the real story is in the comments - no he didn't deserve this, but not getting much sympathy from the masses.

Because its easy and popular to demonize insurance companies.

 

[CallMeTyler]

I'm not talking about a pie-in-the-sky utopia. I'm talking about the way things are, right now, today. Health insurance is a necessity in today's society unless you are very wealthy or are poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. We don't have universal healthcare. We have multiple companies that provide private health insurance for people, coverage that is often provided at subsidized rates through their employers. That's the way the system works. In order for this coverage to be provided, companies have to exist to insure people. This person was just a man filling a job. He'll be replaced by another man filling that exact same seat. Murdering him does nothing to reform healthcare or make life better for anybody else.

69% of humans on planet Earth have universal health coverage. What "pie" are you referring to? The one that already serves all other developed nations on Earth?

 

[rodoheel]

I guess that is debatable. There really isn't a way that doesn't have serious drawbacks for some people and there isn't a one size fits all approach.

I find it hard to believe that anyone would make the argument that our current system is the best one for providing quality health care for our citizens at a reasonable cost. Do you think you can make that case?

 

[ZZLPHeels]

69% of humans on planet Earth have universal health coverage. What "pie" are you referring to? The one that already serves all other developed nations on Earth?

We don't have that pie here. If you attempt to order it, the server will tell you to choose something else. I'm not saying that is a good thing, but that is the way it is.

 

[ZZLPHeels]

No one is brushing off the murder, get a grip.

At least one poster here is. I quoted the remark in question in one of my posts on this page.

 

[HeelingAg]

To clarify some things, the person shot today is the head of United Healthcare, which is a division of United Health Group. It is the CEO of United Health Group that earns $23.5 million, not the lower-level employee killed today.

Correct. Also, Mr. Thompson made $10 mil+ as a “lower level employee”.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson Is Fatally Shot in New York City: Live Updates

The executive, Brian Thompson, was shot in what the police described as a “brazen targeted attack” outside a hotel where the company was holding an investor meeting. The assailant was last spotted in Central Park, investigators said at a news conference.

www.nytimes.com

Nursing subreddit reaction....users 'flair' has their job/role in various hospitals/offices

Wow, that sub appears to give no fucking shits.

 

[Callatoroy]

Crazy. Looks like he shot three times and then again when he was on the ground.

This is definitely (imo) not a disgruntled patient / customer. This was a professional hit complete with suppressor just like on TV. There is no telling who might want this guy dead. Wife / mistress, disgruntled business associate, competitor in other types of business, Mob, etc.

 

[CallMeTyler]

At least one poster here is. I quoted the remark in question in one of my posts on this page.

Were thoughts and prayers not enough? What else needs be said?

 

[rodoheel]

Sure.

Sorry I just read through that post several times looking for the poster celebrating the shooting and claiming it was a good thing and I didn't find it anywhere. I'm sorry that the poster's sarcasm was just too much for you to handle, though. I further apologize on behalf of the board that we are not collectively rending our garments and crying to the heavens over the murder of a healthcare CEO whom none of us knew.

 

[Callatoroy]

Consistent with this being a targeted attack. The shooter had no interest in the lady at the scene.

That is surreal. didn't pay a bit of attention to the witness. Not concerned at all. Professional assassin.