Career > Public Health & Health Policy

‘How many innocent people did UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson kill?’ Patients and doctors might understand the murderer’s possible motive

By Claire Wolters | Fact-checked by MDLinx staff
Published December 6, 2024

Key Takeaways

Social Buzz

  • "When you shoot one man in the street it's murder. When you kill thousands of people in hospitals by taking away their ability to get treatment you're an entrepreneur." - @LogOffAlready, X

  • "@UHC denied my surgery two days before it was scheduled. I was in the hospital finance office in tears." - @ProfYolonda, X

An unidentified assailant fatally shot Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, in Manhattan, New York, on Wednesday morning. New York police officers are now furiously searching for the gunman, and security officers from Fortune 500 companies across the globe are discussing and reviewing executive protection programs.[]

On social media, however, users have expressed a different kind of fury: Anger at various health insurance companies in the US, and their at-times strained relationships with patients.

Some X users have used the platform to share stories of health insurance denying their treatments, and the personal physical or financial burdens they had to carry in the aftermath.

Others have voiced dismay to the media surrounding the shooting. One X user contrasted the CEO’s death with deaths of hospital patients who were unable to fund their treatments. 

“When you shoot one man in the street it's murder,” The user wrote. “When you kill thousands of people in hospitals by taking away their ability to get treatment you're an entrepreneur.”

How do patients feel about insurance?

According to a survey by Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released in June 2023, insured Americans largely express positive relationships with health insurance companies, with 81% of people giving their insurers ratings such as “excellent” or “good.”[] But at the same time, insured Americans commonly report problems with their health insurance, like low-to-no coverage of medical bills or lengthy waiting times for pre-authorizations.

Related: It took literal murder for BCBS to retract 'heinous' new policy

KFF found that common patient-reported problems with health insurance include:

  • Claims and payment issues, such as health insurance companies paying less than the patient expected for their medical bill—which was reported by 27% of respondents—or not paying it at all, which was reported by 48%.

  • Provider and network issues, such as in-network doctors not being available to see patients—which was reported by 26% of respondents—or a patient needing to see an out-of-network doctor (or go to an out-of-network hospital) for their care, which was reported by 14%.

  • Pre-authorization issues, such as insurance companies delaying or denying an approval for needed care, which 16% of respondents reported occurring within 12 months of being surveyed.

  • Prescription drug problems, such as an insurance company not covering a needed prescription or charging a “very high” copay, which 23% of respondents said happened to them within 12 months of being surveyed—and was most commonly a problem among people with Medicare.

Dr. Wael Harb, a board-certified medical oncologist at MemorialCare Cancer Institute at Orange Coast and Saddleback Medical Centers in Orange County, California, explains that people with Medicare can have a particularly hard time navigating prescription drug payments, as a result of Medicare Part D’s “donut hole” coverage gap. The donut hole is a descriptive term for how Medicare Part D will cover prescription medications up to a certain point, then drop coverage until patients reach a new out-of-pocket threshold, then resume coverage. The cycle resets each year.

Dr. Harb, who works with cancer patients, says the donut hole process “can be problematic, as patients can have interruption in their care if they're not able to afford medication.” 

Related: UnitedHealthcare CEO was murdered today: A chilling targeted attack?

“Especially in oral anti-cancer therapy, this can be very expensive and not possible for a patient to afford,” Dr. Harb adds.

  • Mental health coverage problems, such as insurance companies not covering a particular mental health therapist or therapy, which 10% of respondents reported happening within 12 months of being surveyed.

  • Unresolved problems, such as nearly half of respondents saying their biggest insurance problem went either unresolved or not resolved to their liking.

In addition to identifying problems at play, KFF reported that the challenges people face with health insurance companies aren’t stand-alone issues—and have rollover effects. Notably, these can have negative consequences to peoples’ health outcomes and finances.

According to KFF, some additional consequences of insurance issues include:

  • Unexpected medical costs

  • Delayed medical care

  • Missed medical care

  • Negative health outcomes

The KFF survey was conducted on a nationally representative sample of 3,605 US adults with health insurance, including 978 people who receive health insurance through their or their spouse’s employer, 885 people on Medicare, 880 people who purchased health insurance through the ACA marketplace, and 815 people on Medicaid.

A 2024 Patient Experience Survey (PES) by global market research and polling company Ipsos revealed similar findings to KFF. Conducted from July 19 to August 1, 2024, out of a nationally represented sample of 2,592 US adults (2,397 of which reported being insured), the PES too found that many insured Americans struggle with access and affordability in the healthcare system. The survey highlighted issues such as insurance coverage influencing delayed care or denial, and the high costs of healthcare treatments—particularly prescription drugs—which have risen in the last year.[] 

Notably, the PES reported that not only did insured patients struggle to pay for healthcare services, like prescription drugs, but that they struggled to picture how to pay for drugs in the future. According to the findings, 43% of insured responders expressed “concern that their insurance company will deny future care” and 51% said they “can’t anticipate what they'll pay for their prescriptions.”

The PES also found that 64% of insured Americans want away with common insurance practices, like prior authorizations and step therapy.

Reports have found that Medicare Advantage prior authorizations requests—or denial of them—have at times delayed or denied patients access to medically necessary care.[]

Step therapy, sometimes referred to as “fail first” policies, refers to insurance policies that require patients to fail one treatment (usually an older, less expensive treatment) first, before they can receive another (usually newer, more advanced or more desirable) treatment.

Dr. Harb explains that this typically happens for cost reasons, at least to start out with. But it doesn’t always add up nicely—for the insurer or the patient. For instance, while a newer treatment may come with a higher price tag, this number will be even higher if the patient (or their insurance) has had to pay for them to fail other treatments, first. 

“Step therapy might be reasonable in some situations, but in others, it is just delaying patients from getting appropriate treatment,” Dr. Harb says. 

Dealing with insurance can be frustrating for doctors, too, especially if you are confident that your patient needs a certain treatment which, for financial reasons, is out of reach.

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