CEO of UnitedHealth Group Andrew Witty UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has reacted to the social media celebration following the murder, calling it grossly inappropriate, offensive and extremely disrespectful. UnitedHealth Group is the parent company and UnitedHealthcare is the health benefits business of UnitedHealth Group.
Brian Thompson, 50, was killed by a masked man in front of a NYC hotel. The killer has not yet been caught but according to NYPD investigators, the killer could be a disgruntled former staff member or customer. Social media users, including doctors, journalists, celebrated Thompson’s killing and started calling the killer a ‘hero’ as they recounted their experience of being denied insurance payments by a company that put so many lives at risk.
In his address to the company’s staff, which was an internal video, Witty said, “You’ve seen a lot of media interest in this situation with a lot of misinformation and clearly offensive communication…People write things that we simply don’t write. Don’t recognize.. .”
“I would like to give you some advice around the media… My strong advice and request to everyone is not to engage with the media. If you are contacted, I would recommend not responding and, if necessary, just telling them our own. Refer to media organization.”
The company removed Brian Thompson’s photo from the website
UnitedHealthcare’s website has removed Brian Thompson’s photo and bio from the site. Many other healthcare companies also preemptively removed photos and bios of their top leaders as executives at health insurance companies were spooked by Thompson’s death.
The brazen killing and its unbridled celebration on social media took everyone by surprise as it reflected public anger against the healthcare industry. According to experts, the killer could not have been a professional hitman because his firing did not look professional; But it was not an act of momentary anger. Investigators said it was a premeditated killing as the killer was well aware of Brian Thompson’s movements. Three words were engraved on the shell casings of the pills he fired: Deny, Defend and Deposit—a tactic health insurance companies deploy to deny insurance claims.