Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO prompts flurry of stories on social media over denied insurance claims

The early morning killing of a top health insurance executive in midtown Manhattan Wednesday has unleashed a flurry of rage and frustration from social media users over denials of their medical claims, a public display of Americans’ pent-up anger at the nation’s complex health insurance industry.

The early morning killing of a top health insurance executive in midtown Manhattan Wednesday has unleashed a flurry of rage and frustration from social media users over denials of their medical claims, a public display of Americans’ pent-up anger at the nation’s complex health insurance industry. In one stark example, a Facebook post by UnitedHealth Group expressing sadness about UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s death received 62,000 reactions – 57,000 of them laughing emojis. UnitedHealth Group is the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, the division that Thompson ran. New York police have yet to determine the shooter’s identity and motive, but in an interview with NBC, Thompson’s widow, Paulette, told the network that “there had been some threats” against her husband, potentially related to “a lack of coverage… I don’t know the details.” A source told CNN that there were concerning threats against UnitedHealth Group, although Thompson’s name was not mentioned. A shell casing recovered from two of the bullets at the scene of the shooting had the words “depose” and “delay” written on them, according to law enforcement sources. Police are exploring whether the words indicate a motive since they are similar to the title of a book that’s critical of the broader insurance industry – “Delay Deny Defend.” The majority of insured US adults had at least one issue, including denial of claims, with their health insurance in the span of a year, according to a survey released in June 2023 by KFF, a nonprofit health policy research group.