The UnitedHealth Group CEO addressed the simmering frustrations, threats and vitriol aimed at health care insurers, conceding, “We know the health care system is not working as well as it should.”
But he said Brian Thompson, murdered director was one of the people trying to improve this system.
Andrew Witty, director of UnitedHealth Group, United Healthcare’s parent company, wrote that he understands “people’s frustrations” with the U.S. health care system.
“No one would design a system like the one we have. And no one did. It’s a patchwork built over decades. Our mission is to help make it work better,” Witty said in a New York Times article. opinion article published Friday morning, titled “The Health Care System is Broken. Let’s fix it.”
Witty described Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO, as a champion of that mission.
“As Brian Thompson’s family, friends and colleagues mourn his killing, we carry a grief and sadness that we will carry for the rest of our lives. Grief for the family he leaves behind. And heartbreak for a brilliant, kind man who worked to improve health care for everyone,” Witty wrote.
The article was published a week after Thompson was filmed in Midtown Manhattan as he prepared to speak at a conference on the morning of December 4, in what police described as a targeted ambush.
Suspect Luigi Mangione26, was arrested five days later in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and charged with the murder. Mangione had suffered a painful “life-changing injury” to his backand had angry at American businesses and the healthcare systemaccording to his writings and his presence on social networks.
UnitedHealthcare said Mangione was not insured by the company, but New York Police Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione may have targeted Thompson because UnitedHealthcare is one of the largest insurers disease of the country.
Mangione remains detained in Pennsylvania and is fighting extradition to New York. A lawyer for Mangione said he intends to plead not guilty to all charges.
Witty described Thompson as an Iowa native, who worked on a farm as a child, grew up on the same farm as his mother and whose father spent more than 40 years unloading trucks into silos grain.
“He never forgot where he came from, because it was the needs of people who live in places like Jewell, Iowa, that he first considered in finding ways to improve care.” , Witty wrote.
When colleagues proposed new ideas to Thompson, he would ask them, “Would you want this for your own family?” »
“Otherwise, end of discussion,” Witty reminded.
He said the company was struggling to “make sense of this unconscionable act” as well as the “vitriol that has been directed at our colleagues who have been bombarded with threats.”
“No employee, whether those who answer customer calls or nurses who visit patients at home, should have to fear for their safety or that of their loved ones.”
He emphasized that the company’s mission is to improve health care, but acknowledged that the system is “complicated” and that insurers “share some responsibility for that.” Witty spoke about the need to improve how insurance coverage is explained and how decisions are made.
“Even though the health care system is not perfect, every corner is filled with people trying to do their best for those they serve,” he wrote. “Brian was one of those people.”
He said Thompson “pushed us to build dedicated teams to help the sickest people navigate the health care system.”
“That’s why he fought for preventative health and quality health outcomes rather than just adding more and more tests and procedures.” He believed that health care decisions should start with individual plans and championed plans in which consumers could know costs and coverage options in advance, so they could decide what is right. better for themselves and their families,” Witty explained.
The CEO said Thompson advocated for ideas to make health care more affordable, transparent and compassionate.
“This is Brian’s legacy, one that we will carry forward as we continue our work to make the health care system work better for everyone,” Witty concluded.
Thompson’s assassination had something of a domino effect, as it sparked fury and scrutiny of the country’s health care system and corporate greed.
Business executives, health insurance industry employees, and law enforcement officers reported being threatened and harassed after his death.
Social media posts on Wednesday showed images of wanted posters posted in Manhattan featuring photos of the CEOs of at least two health insurance companies. The posters accuse the leaders of “denying medical care for corporate profit.”
The posters, many of which have been removed, included the terms “deny,” “defend,” “depose” — words written on bullet casings. found at the crime scene. The words have also been used on merchandise sold online glorifying murder.
Rebecca Weiner, the New York Police Department’s deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, said Wednesday that in some cases online, the suspect had been hailed as a hero.
She said the killing resembles a domestic terrorist attack and threatens to spark a “contagion.”
Actions of UnitedHealth Group and other major health insurers are down since Thompson’s killing last week, but they still remain valued in the tens of billions of dollars, according to CNBC. UnitedHealth is by far the largest insurer, with a stock price of about $521 as of Friday and a market capitalization of about $480 billion.