The head of UnitedHealthcare’s parent company responded to the killing of the insurance giant’s CEO Brian Thompson in a New York Times guest essay on Friday, mourning his death while also calling for work to improve the nation’s “patchwork” health insurance system.
In the piece, Andrew Witty admitted the health care system is “not perfect” and needs to be overhauled so that it works better for everyone, but it is filled with good people who shouldn’t be demonized.
“While the health system is not perfect, every corner of it is filled with people who try to do their best for those they serve,” wrote Witty, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group.
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The CEO’s essay, titled “The Health Care System Is Flawed. Let’s Fix It,” comes more than a week after Thompson was gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel ahead of a shareholder conference. The suspect, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, was arrested on Monday and charged with Thompson’s murder.
The killing prompted some celebrations on social media among prominent liberals due to their loathing of the health insurance industry often accused of putting profits over care.
Ex-Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz made waves with her reaction to the killing. In a recent Substack article, she wrote, “People have very justified hatred toward insurance company CEOs because these executives are responsible for an unfathomable amount of death and suffering.”
She added, “I think it’s good to call out this broken system and the people in power who enable it. Again, not so they can be murdered, but so that we can change the system and start holding people in power accountable for their actions.”
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Witty’s column appeared to respond to these celebratory remarks, conceding that the healthcare system needs work, but that employees don’t deserve hatred or threats when things aren’t running smoothly for everyone.
He began with somber words regarding Thompson’s killing, stating, “We are bearing a grief and sadness we will carry for the rest of our lives. Grief for the family he leaves behind. And grief for a brilliant, kind man who was working to make health care better for everyone.”
“Yet we also are struggling to make sense of this unconscionable act and the vitriol that has been directed at our colleagues who have been barraged by threats,” he went on. “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.”
Witty acknowledged, “We know the health system does not work as well as it should, and we understand people’s frustrations with it. 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.”
“Clearly, we are not there yet.”
Witty touted Thompson as a healthcare employee that tried to do his best for his clients.
“Brian was one of those people,” Witty stated, adding, “Brian was never content with the status quo. That’s why he pushed us to build dedicated teams to help the sickest people navigate the health system. It’s why he fought for preventive health and quality health outcomes rather than simply adding ever more tests and procedures.”
The executive said that the late CEO promoted ideas that “were aimed at making health care more affordable, more transparent, more intuitive, more compassionate — and more human.”
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