In the days that followed the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week, many across the internet unleashed their frustration and anger with a healthcare system that leaves people behind far too often.
In an op-ed posted Dec. 13 in The New York Times, Andrew Witty, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, which operates UnitedHealthcare, acknowledged that rage as well as the role insurers like UHC have played in an ecosystem patients frequently struggle to understand and navigate.
"Healthcare is both intensely personal and very complicated, and the reasons behind coverage decisions are not well understood. We share some of the responsibility for that," he wrote.
He said that the onus is on private payers, the government and employers to explain what benefits packages include and why decisions are made around claims.
Thompson died Dec. 4 in Manhattan, shot on the sidewalk as he headed to UnitedHealth's annual investor event that day. Police said bullets recovered at the scene said "deny," "defend," "delay" and "depose," alluding to insurers' decisions to deny claims or potentially delay access to care through utilization management like prior authorization.
Police on Dec. 9 arrested and charged 26-year-old Maryland native Luigi Mangione with Thompson's murder after he was recognized in a central Pennsylvania McDonald's. Mangione had a manifesto on him that decried the healthcare industry, particularly UnitedHealth, for profit-seeking.
CNN reported that Mangione was not a member of UnitedHealthcare at any point, per the company, and police believe that Thompson was chosen as more of a symbolic target as the head of the largest insurer in the U.S.
Witty wrote in the opinion piece that as part of the broad vitriol online, colleagues have been "barraged by threats."
"No employees—be they the people who answer customer calls or nurses who visit patients in their homes—should have to fear for their and their loved ones’ safety," he said.
He continued that he and the team understand where the frustration and anger comes from, however. The U.S. healthcare system is a "patchwork built over decades" rather than one designed cohesively.
"No one would design a system like the one we have," Witty wrote.