United Healthcare's disturbing track record
of rejecting claims as CEO Brian Thompson
is shot dead in New York
Daily Mail,
by
Laura Parnaby
Original Article
Posted By: sunset,
12/4/2024 12:23:53 PM
UnitedHealthcare's disturbing track record of rejecting claims has come under the spotlight after the insurance giant's CEO was shot dead in what is believed to have been a targeted attack in the heart of Manhattan. Brian Thompson, 50, was gunned down around 6:45am on Wednesday outside a Hilton Hotel in Midtown. The masked attacker remains on the loose and has not yet been identified. Their motive for the shooting has not been disclosed.
UnitedHealthcare was being probed by the Department of Justice for alleged antitrust violations, while its parent company, UnitedHealthcare Group (UHG), has come under fire from angry patients who claim the insurer refused to cover their care.
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Reply 1 - Posted by:
MarkTwain 12/4/2024 12:32:23 PM (No. 1848139)
The entire pharmaceutical and healthcare industry in this country is corrupt to the core. Profits over people, every time. I do not condone this violence, but I understand it. If the industry will not change peacefully, this is a valid alternative.
14 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Venturer 12/4/2024 12:42:24 PM (No. 1848154)
Sounds like they ticked off the wrong customer. This was definitely a target assassination.
12 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
DVC 12/4/2024 12:42:54 PM (No. 1848155)
I've had some incredible rejections of insurance in the past. Like a slip and fall which resulted in a broken wrist. I went to the ER to get it cast. Cigna, then my insurance carrier, denied the claim because I hadn't seen my primary care physician prior to getting treated. I was incredulous and looked at their regulations, then wrote a letter referring to their specific exemption of needing to see a primary care physician in emergency cases. I pointed out that a broken bone on a Saturday was a clear emergency which couldn't wait until Monday to see my primary care physician. They relented, but what the hell?
And some hard nosed refusals can mean someone dies due to no care. I can see how someone might get extremely, extremely angry if a loved one died due to a bureaucrat's decision.
Do I condone it? No.
Do I understand it? Yes, if this was the incitement.
19 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
BluesClues 12/4/2024 12:47:03 PM (No. 1848161)
I understand these companies are in there to make money. But it sounds like UHC was less about providing a service to consumers and more about maximizing their own profit. It sounds like all sorts of people with UHC insurance were denied coverage and they intentionally targeted those who would be least likely to have the knowledge of how to appeal decisions. He made $10M a year (which probably doesn't include bonuses and the like). He was in NY to announce their 2025 plan of $450B in revenue. I don't condone violence, but I feel less sympathy after reading this article. I also will be in the market for a supplemental medicare plan in a few years. Sounds like I'll steer clear of UHC.
12 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
DVC 12/4/2024 1:00:30 PM (No. 1848164)
For a supplemental Medicare plan.....for what it is worth, we have been happy with Aetna, and I recently had a massive expenditure, and they haven't given us any grief. Months of hospitalization, multiple surgeries, etc, etc and no problems with insurance.
Of course, Medicare rips off health care providers horribly. A shoulder replacement was billed by the surgeon at $15k, Medicare paid, IIRC, about $4K. Often the Medicare amounts they will pay are 10% of the billed amounts.
11 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
triggerberg 12/4/2024 1:11:35 PM (No. 1848170)
As a dentist, insurance is the bane of our existence. We reduce insurance companies’ interference in our practice by refusing to join any PPO. We still accept insurance but they cannot tell us what to do or what to charge, and because of that we can charge less and still stay in the black. But we still have to deal with the insurance companies’ chronically late payments and automatically denying claims as a first step. It is not unusual to have to submit claims multiple times. Demanding information repeatedly that they have already have is standard. Waiting up to a year for payment is not unusual. We despise insurance.
11 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
sunshinehorses 12/4/2024 1:54:50 PM (No. 1848196)
Rejecting claims was my first thought as to why he was shot. We are fighting health insurance for my husband as they keep rejecting all of the possible treatments for a condition he has.
5 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
DVC 12/4/2024 3:19:23 PM (No. 1848238)
Re #6, all our dental care now is just cash paid at the time of treatment. We looked at dental insurance after retirement, could see zero benefit to us. So we pay for our dental care. I had a cleaning yesterday, doc examined me afterwards, briefly and it was $180 out the door.
Insurance companies can be a real problem, balling up the system. Medicare is a total rip off of docs and hospitals.
4 people like this.
I lean to an angry customer, too.
But this guy was a big Democrat, or I gather from his pictures with Tim Waltz. So he's probably dirty.
And his wife made strange pat answers of "threats" by angry policy holders to reporters that just seemed "off", to me. Always best to look towards home.
1 person likes this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
NeonVortex 12/4/2024 6:44:22 PM (No. 1848301)
Looks like we may have found a motive.
0 people like this.
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