Understand What United Healthcare Is....,

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Besides Teaching You How To Break In And Run A Suppressor On Your EDC - How Can I Assist?

 NYTimes  |  A grainy image of his face drew comparisons to Hollywood heartthrobs. A jacket similar to the one he’s wearing on wanted posters is reportedly flying off the shelves. And the words written on the bullets he used to kill a man in cold blood on a sidewalk on Wednesday have become, for some people, a rallying cry.

Three days after a gunman assassinated a top health insurance executive in Midtown Manhattan and vanished, the unidentified suspect has, in some quarters, been venerated as something approaching a folk hero.

The authorities have pleaded for help from the public to find the person who killed the UnitedHealthcare executive, Brian Thompson, who was a husband and father of two children. But in a macabre turn, some people seem to be more interested in rooting for the gunman and thwarting the police’s efforts.

The Upper West Side hostel where officials believe the unknown man stayed during his time in the city has reportedly received a deluge of bad reviews online, with some people calling the workers there “narcs.” The business has been cooperating with the police.

 

And while high-profile crimes have in recent years mobilized internet sleuths hellbent on finding answers, civilian efforts to find Mr. Thompson’s killer have appeared muted. Instead, the executive’s killing has released a tide of online frustration toward the health insurance industry, with some people even voicing their support for the gunman.

 

It is unclear what motivated the killing or whether it was tied to Mr. Thompson’s work in the industry. The police have yet to identify the shooter, and he remained at large as of Saturday.

 

The killing, which occurred at around 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday, just outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel, incited an immediate citywide manhunt by law enforcement. Police officials have said that their assumption is that the gunman left the city by bus about an hour after he shot Mr. Thompson because they have video of him entering a bus depot but not leaving it.

One A Week Sound About Right?

United CEO Andrew Witty gave an address to the company today (video leaked to me). Some highlights:
- "we guard against the pressures that exist for unsafe care or for unnecessary care."
- "There are very few people in the history of the US healthcare industry who had a bigger… pic.twitter.com/7ihMkHAcia

— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) December 6, 2024

thedailybeast  |  UnitedHealth Group’s CEO slammed health insurance industry critics on social media as “vitriolic” and “not in tune with reality” as it is battered by anger in the wake of insurance CEO Brian Thompson’s murder.

Andrew Witty, Thompson’s boss, did not make the comments to the public but in a private video to company staff. He has not spoken publicly since the assassination-style murder outside a Manhattan hotel early Wednesday morning.

Independent journalist Ken Klippenstein initially posted a shortened clip of Witty’s comments to his Substack amid an avalanche of people attacking the health insurance industry on social platforms. He followed up with the full almost three-minute long address Witty gave to staff at UnitedHealth.

Witty, clearly reading from a script and dressed casually, defended his industry against accusations it refuses people vital coverage saying “we guard against the pressures that exist for unsafe care or unnecessary care.”

His extended complaint started by claiming the company puts “patients, consumers and members first, as we always have done,” claiming its mission was to improve their experience–and that Thompson left a legacy of doing that.

“I have never been more proud of this company and our colleagues and what this company does on behalf of people in need across this country,” he said.

He urged them to “tune out that critical noise that we’re hearing right now,” adding, “It does not reflect reality. It is simply a sign of an era in which we live.

“What we must know is focus on what we know to be true. And what we know to be true is that we need a company like UnitedHealth Group and it needs people like Brian within it.”

Witty, a British former pharma executive who is known as Sir Andrew Witty in the UK after being given a knighthood by the late Queen Elizabeth, is facing a Department of Justice probe into insider trading allegations. His last fully calculated compensation package in 2023 was $25 million. The company denies wrongdoing.

“I’d like to give you a little bit of advice around the media,” said Witty. “My strong advice and request to everybody is just don’t engage with the media. If you’re approached, I would recommend not responding and, if necessary, simply refer them to our own media organization.”

Witty added, “You’ve seen a lot of media interest in this situation with a huge amount of misinformation and frankly offensive communication,” calling the coverage “aggressive, inappropriate and disrespectful.”

Representatives for UnitedHealth Group and its health insurance division, UnitedHealthcare—which Thompson led—did not immediately respond to a Daily Beast request for comment on the leaked video.

On the heels of Thompson’s death and the ensuing hunt for his assassin, the company removed his bio from a page that once listed UnitedHealth’s leadership. Now it goes to a broken link.

Thompson was shot dead outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday. He was due to address an investors’ conference for his company, which is one of the largest health insurers in the world. The killer, who experts have suggested is not a professional hitman, fled on an electric bike and remains at large.

 

 

Medical Insurance Executives Now Hiding Their Faces In Fear

Brian Thompson reportedly had a salary of $10 million per year, and $20 million in United Health Care stock. His net worth was $43 million.

He was CEO during the COVID-19 crisis, at a time when UHC was denying 1/3rd of claims.

Not celebrating his murder, just making a point. pic.twitter.com/3zNDxtjB6P

— Dr. Andrew Saturn (@badspaceguy) December 4, 2024

newsmax  |  Health insurance companies removed executive leadership names from their websites after the assassination of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.

Brian Thompson. 50, was murdered Wednesday morning in New York City in a shooting that police called a "brazen, targeted attack."

As of Friday morning, UnitedHealthcare's "About Us" page that listed leadership, including Thompson, redirected to a more general page.

A Google search for the UHC leadership team sends users to the company home page. A search-result link to "Our Leaders" page that lists several names, including Thompson's, sends people to a "Page Not Found." Clicking on Thompson's name also results in that.

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, which Thursday announced it will walk back changes that would charge patients for anesthesia during procedures that went longer than estimated, redirects its own leadership page to its "About Us" page, 404 Media reported.

Blue Cross Blue Shield, separate from Anthem BCBS, now redirects its own leadership page to its "About Us" page. Originally, that BCBS page showed leadership, including President and CEO Kim Keck, Executive Vice President and CFO Christina Fisher, and 23 more executives as of earlier this year according to archives of the page.

On social media platform X, user @GASLIGHTER_ spotted that other major insurers including CareSource, Medica, CVS, and Molina also removed info of their leadership teams.

"Nonprofit health insurance organization Caresource took down the individual pages for all of its executive leadership, including President and CEO Erhardt Preitauer, Executive Vice President David Williams, Executive Vice President for Markets and Products Scott Markovich, Executive Vice President for Strategy and Business Sanjoy Musunuri, CFO Larry Smart and COO Fred Schulz. Snippets from each of these pages are still visible on Google search, but the pages themselves return an error that says 'the requested URL was not found on this server,'" 404 Media reported.

"Another nonprofit health plan, Medica, did the same: Medica's executive leadership page redirects to its homepage, and its foundation leadership staff page now returns an error: 'Oops. That page doesn't exist.'

"Elevance Health took down its leadership page, too, replacing it with a message that says 'Sorry, that page is no longer here.' The most recent archive for that page is from last week."

Delay, Deny, Depose...,

cbsnews  |   Bullets that an unidentified gunman used to shoot and kill UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday morning had words written on them, CBS News has confirmed.

The words "delay," "deny" and possibly "depose" appeared on shell casings and bullets recovered from the scene of the shooting in New York City, according to New York City Police Department officials. Law enforcement officials said they are examining whether the words relate to a possible motive involving insurance companies and their responses to claims. ABC News first reported this information.

A source briefed on the investigation said each word was meticulously written, not etched, onto the casings in Sharpie. Officials are examining the casings to determine whether the words could be related to a possible motive involving insurance companies and their responses to claims. Investigators believe they could reference "the three D's of insurance" coined by the industry's critics, which are "delay," "deny" and "defend." The alliteration is a comment on the tactics that opponents say insurance companies use to delay or deny policyholders' claims.

Thompson, 50, was shot multiple times before 7 a.m. ET Wednesday, by a masked gunman who fled the area before police arrived. The shooting happened in a busy section of Manhattan outside of the Hilton Midtown hotel, where the executive was set to attend a conference for UnitedHealthcare investors. Thompson had been staying at the Marriott across the street, authorities said.

The NYPD released the first unmasked images Thursday of an individual wanted for questioning in connection with the shooting, asking the public for help identifying that individual. The images were taken from a hostel in the Manhattan Valley area of the Upper West Side. A law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation told CBS News the man used a fake ID with a fake name to check into the hostel. A person briefed on the investigation said it was a fake New Jersey identification card. The hostel said in a statement to CBS News it was cooperating with the NYPD.