Is that this a “John Wick-meets-Erin Brockovich” homicide, or one thing else altogether? Yesterday morning, United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot in Midtown Manhattan in what authorities say appears like a focused assault.
The killer was masked, and his gun was outfitted with a silencer. He “apparently knew which door Mr. Thompson was going to enter and arrived exterior the lodge about 5 minutes earlier,” per a New York Instances report. After he killed Thompson, the shooter fled through e-bike. He has but to be apprehended.
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United gives healthcare protection to virtually 50 million individuals, bringing in $281 billion in income and paying Thompson $10.2 million in whole compensation yearly.
Usually, when somebody is tragically murdered (God relaxation his soul), it might not be customary to say their comp bundle. But it surely’s sadly related to this story as a result of hordes of individuals have seized on this homicide, performing prefer it was warranted as a result of a healthcare firm CEO should be, of their telling, fairly evil. Some have theorized that it is a spurned affected person, somebody who was deeply wronged, who might have a vendetta in opposition to Thompson. That’s potential, however we do not know sufficient but.
Some individuals have taken to celebrating this theoretical vigilantism, like outstanding journalist Taylor Lorenz, who in few phrases has steered that extra CEOs be gone after on account of their perceived misdeeds.
— Taylor Lorenz (@taylorlorenz.bsky.social) 2024-12-04T21:31:56.268Z
“And other people marvel why we would like these executives lifeless” she wrote yesterday on the identical web site.
“No shit homicide is unhealthy,” wrote journalist Ken Klippenstein on the platform Bluesky, which seems to largely be for individuals who’ve exited X in a huff. “The jokes concerning the United CEO aren’t actually about him; they’re concerning the rapacious healthcare system he personified and which People really feel deep ache and humiliation about.”
As we speak we bear in mind the legacy of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein.bsky.social) 2024-12-04T16:30:54.583Z
In 2021, the corporate got here below fireplace as a result of it introduced a plan to begin denying cost for emergency room visits deemed unnecessary (one thing opponents additionally meant to do). “Threatening sufferers with a monetary penalty for making the unsuitable resolution may have a chilling impact on searching for emergency care,” wrote the chief government of the commerce group American Hospital Affiliation on the time.
However contemplate the incentives right here: After all an business commerce group representing hospitals needs extra use of providers, and thus extra payout. And in fact the entity doing the paying out needs to make sure sufferers are even handed and there is much less overuse of pricey providers. Everyone seems to be enjoying their half completely right here; there’s not likely a nasty actor, per se—simply two oppositional events responding to incentives.
But it surely’s that kind of nuance that the pro-socialized-healthcare homicide cheerleaders maintain lacking: This method positive is damaged. There is no worth transparency, and thus it is very onerous to train actual selection earlier than you obtain a service. Upcoding—when healthcare suppliers play quick and free with the billing codes to get extra reimbursement from both insurance coverage corporations or the federal government—occurs on a regular basis. Regulatory necessities continually drive up prices. Clients will not be effectively served by this, nevertheless it’s not likely the person corporations which can be responsible, not to mention the individuals who run them.
This is not to say United by no means does something unsuitable. One ProPublica investigation lined how the corporate tried to disclaim protection to a chronically sick school scholar, and the way his household sued. One of these denial of protection occurs to a not-insignificant variety of claims, and there are many tragic tales of sufferers who have been wronged. Options like socialized medication, administered by the federal government, do not create significantly better outcomes. (Authorities actors additionally reply to incentives, do not .)
as a thriller author I remorse to tell everybody that the John Wick-meets-Erin Brockovich idea of the insurance coverage CEO homicide (i.e. an act of revenge for company greed) is by far the least more likely to show out, its immense reputation nonwithstanding
— Kat Rosenfield (@katrosenfield) December 5, 2024
CEOs like Thompson aren’t cartoon villains twisting their mustaches, and Bluesky venting about how a lot you need the guillotine to come back for them would not repair a damaged system or make you morally first rate. Although the favored idea is {that a} hit man should have been employed by a affected person who has egregiously wronged by the corporate, this ignores that individuals who have a tough time paying their medical payments sometimes have wads of money laying round to infuse into an murderer’s pockets. Extra data will come out over the approaching weeks, and within the meantime, let’s simply all comply with ignore journalists on Bluesky.
Do not let the door hit you on the best way out: Gary Gensler, present chair of the Securities and Trade Fee, will soon be out, changed by Donald Trump’s decide, Paul Atkins. Atkins “served as a Republican Commissioner from 2002 to 2008 in the course of the post-Enron local weather when the SEC sought to develop its attain within the identify of stopping fraud,” reports The Wall Avenue Journal. “He regularly criticized the company for needlessly meddling in markets by issuing guidelines that raised prices for public corporations and traders.”
Atkins isn’t any opponent of crypto; the worth of bitcoin shot up after the decide was introduced, rising 6.1 p.c to $103,801 this morning. Atkins has been vital of ESG requirements (which the Journal rightly provides “bully public corporations into advancing the left’s local weather and cultural agenda”) and the SEC mandating greenhouse-gas emission disclosures. He is an all-around nice decide, and a welcome corrective given the years of SEC harassment the crypto business has endured.
Scenes from New York: A significant pro-building housing plan is predicted to be accredited by metropolis council.
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- Economist Russ Roberts has a great thread concerning the well being care system and the discourse surrounding Thompson’s homicide.
