Simply over a yr earlier than United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered this week in Midtown Manhattan, a lawsuit filed in opposition to the insurance coverage big he helmed revealed simply how draconian its claims-denying course of had develop into.
Final November, the estates of two former UHC sufferers filed suit in Minnesota alleging that the insurer used an AI algorithm to disclaim and override claims to aged sufferers that had been accredited by their medical doctors.
The algorithm in query, generally known as nH Predict, allegedly had a 90 percent error rate — and in response to the households of the 2 deceased males who filed the swimsuit, UHC knew it.
As that lawsuit made its way through the courts, anger relating to the huge insurer’s predilection in the direction of denying claims has solely grown, and speculation about the assassin’s motives means that he might have been amongst these upset with UHC’s protection.
Although we don’t yet know the identity of the one that shot Thompson nor his reasoning, reviews declare that he wrote the phrases “deny,” “defend,” and “depose” on the shell casing of the bullets used to shoot the CEO — a message that makes it sound rather a lot just like the killer was aggrieved in opposition to the insurance coverage trade’s aggressive denials of protection to sick sufferers.
Past the shooter’s personal motives, it is clear from the shockingly celebratory reaction online to Thompson’s homicide that anger in regards to the American insurance coverage and healthcare system has reached the purpose of literal bloodlust.
As The American Prospect so aptly put it, “solely about 50 million clients of America’s reigning medical monopoly might need a motive to actual revenge upon the UnitedHealthcare CEO.”
And the alarming cruelty of the claims across the firm’s AI algorithm — we requested the corporate whether or not it is nonetheless utilizing it, however acquired no fast reply — completely illustrates why they’re so offended.
Extra on insurance coverage evils: Private Equity Firm Accused of Buying Life Insurance Policies on Old People to Profit From Their Deaths
