Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy (D.) slammed the health care industry’s “immoral system” in response to the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, saying “thousands of people” die every day at the “hands of a health care industry that mostly doesn’t give a s—t about people.”
“What I see happening in this country is a real visceral anger that the outrage at Brian Thompson’s death, or the outrage at the death of any powerful person, isn’t matched by the anger over the thousands of people who die, often anonymous deaths every single day in this county at the hands of a health care industry that mostly doesn’t give a s—t about people and only cares about profits,” Murphy said in an X post over the weekend.
“Ordinary people in this country are not indifferent to the loss of life, but these companies are,” Murphy continued. “The business model of the health care industry is to deny care, necessary medical care to people who need it and force them into bankruptcy or worse let them die in order to grow profit, … that’s an immoral system.”
I know it’s uncomfortable for political leaders to wade into the conversation that’s happening in this country in the aftermath of the murder of the United Health CEO. But we need to listen to what people are feeling. And act. pic.twitter.com/V3WwRV74Fo
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) December 15, 2024
Murphy is a vocal supporter of socialized health care legislation, including the Affordable Care Act. In 2018, he introduced the Choose Medicare Act, which would allow “every American and every business to buy into Medicare in order to drive down costs.”
While the motives of Thompson’s assassin remain unknown, the bullets found at the scene appeared to have the words “deny,” “depose,” and “defend” written on them, a message that mirrors the title of a book that denounces the health care insurance industry, the New York Post reported.
Luigi Mangione, who was arrested last week and charged in connection with Thompson’s death, had subscribed to anticapitalist and climate-change causes and liked online quotes from “Unabomber’’ Ted Kaczynski ranting against the U.S. health care system, according to law enforcement officials, citing his online activity. He is expected to be extradited to New York early this week.
Far-left senators Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) also blasted the health care system in response to Thompson’s murder.
“Violence is never the answer, but people can be pushed only so far,” Warren said. “This is a warning that if you push people hard enough, they lose faith in the ability of their government to make change, lose faith in the ability of the people who are providing the health care to make change, and start to take matters into their own hands in ways that will ultimately be a threat to everyone.”
Read the full article here
