Brian Thompson Didn't Deserve to Die But Neither Do the Rest of Us

Health insurance companies decide what prices to put on people’s lives. I mean, medications, doctor visits, and procedures.  There must be a financial incentive to denying humans live-saving care because how else can we explain having procedures and medications that prevent people from dying, but they’re only accessible to those who can afford it. Same goes with doctors. The best charge more. Work harder and you can earn better coverage and medical treatment. Most Americans are one medical emergency away from ending up on the streets. If not, pray you don’t get injured or sick. You might end up like Brian Thompson. Not executed in the streets but dead.

Who is Brian Thompson?

Should we celebrate this unknown gunman as an anti-hero? Of course not. Killing is only acceptable in defense. The media will speculate on the killer’s motives. Brian Thompson will be painted as a visionary leader and great father. I didn’t know the guy, so I can’t speak on who he was as a man. I can do some research though. They say don’t shit on the dead, but what if Brian Thompson was an asshole?

Thompson was under investigation for selling $15.1 million in shares of UnitedHealth Group before an antitrust probe from the Department of Justice became public. Seems like he was tipped off and knew his business was engaging in shady and illegal business practices and had to cash out before stock prices fell, which they did when news of an investigation broke. But Thompson wasn’t alone. Other senior executives at UnitedHealth Group were under investigation for insider trading including Chairman Stephen Hemsley, Chief People Officer Erin McSweeney, and Chief Accounting Officer Tom Roos. These executives collectively sold $101.5 million in company shares before the investigation became public. Hemsley alone netted nearly $85 million from these transactions.

Alright, alright. A few suits used insider trading to earn a few bucks. This is common practice in the stock market and with American politicians. Does that mean this corrupt, greedy guy deserved to die? Of course not. But to say he was just a CEO who stole cash and was murdered isn’t responsible reporting either. Figure we should learn more about what type of organization United Healthcare was under Thompson’s reign.

Thompson has been CEO of UnitedHealthcare. one of the largest health insurers in United States, since 2021. The company has received thousands of complaints with claim denials and delays in service. Online reviews often rate UnitedHealthcare between one and two stars out of five, indicating widespread dissatisfaction. Here’s what Les Masterson at Forbes had to say about the company, “Health insurance premiums are higher than some competitors” and the “company’s complaint level is well above the industry average.”

But that’s not all.

• In October 2021, a New York Times report identified UnitedHealthcare in a list of Medicare insurers accused of over-billing. A whistleblower came forward and told the U.S. government that executives at UnitedHealth Group told workers to mine old medical records for more illnesses, to identify diagnoses of serious diseases that might have never existed, inflating bills paid by the federal government's Medicare Advantage program. Tax dollars stolen by a greedy organization pretending to be treating Americans? That’s pretty fucking evil.

• In November 2021, a jury unanimously found UnitedHealthcare guilty of "oppression, fraud, and malice" in its conduct and awarded TeamHealth $2.65 million in compensatory damages. In December, the jury reconvened to determine punitive damages and awarded TeamHealth $60 million.

• In February 2022, the United States Department of Justice sued to stop UnitedHealth Group's $8 billion acquisition of Change Healthcare, arguing that the deal would give UnitedHealth access to its competitors' data and ultimately push up healthcare costs. Too bad a judge rejected the department's bid. Following the completion of the acquisition, the parties agreed that the appeal would be voluntarily dismissed, with no reasons provided by the Justice Department for dropping it. Shady business right there.

• In November 2023, a class-action lawsuit was filed alleging the use of an AI algorithm claiming that the AI model had a 90% error rate and overrode physicians' determinations of medical necessity, leading to wrongful denials of coverage, which allegedly resulted in premature termination of coverage for potentially thousands of patients.

• In July 2024, The Wall Street Journal concluded that UnitedHealthcare was the worst offender among private insurers who made false diagnoses in their clients in order to trigger large payments from the government's Medicare Advantage program (see above). The patients often did not receive any treatment for those insurer-added diagnoses. The report calculated those diagnoses added by UnitedHealthcare for diseases patients had never been treated for had yielded $8.7 billion in payments to the company in 2021. Hmm. Wonder where all that money went if it didn’t go towards treating patients with made up medical issues? Profit sharing anyone? No doubt much of this money was returned to the executive board and investors.

That’s a laundry list of offenses. And those are the ones we know about. The news won’t talk about this though. Reporters will focus on the hunt for the gunman, his motive, and how wonderful of a man Thompson was. He played a role in America’s broken system, but Thompson was also a human being, flawed like the rest of us. He may have been a great father, but he was greedy and saw no issues with lying and stealing from Americans. He robbed old, poor vulnerable and sick Americans to line his and his cronies’ pockets. Let’s not act like he was some hero. Thompson didn’t deserve to die, but he should have been enjoying the four walls of a jail cell.

Again, his death is tragic, most deaths are. The internet doesn't seem to think so unless you’re a squirrel or gorilla. Dark humor memes things like “I can’t identify the gunman because he’s out of my network” and memes of sweating, nervous Executive Suits with the caption “Health insurers when denying a claim today.” And that’s what this is about.

Thompson, UnitedHealthcare and every other healthcare insurance company puts profits over people. The numbers don't lie. The media will never mention the thousands of lives UnitedHealthcare hurt, made bankrupt, or killed while under Thompson’s leadership. And he’s not alone. This is a symptom of a broader issue. A violent plead for healthcare reform.

Are all health insurance companies like this?

Hard to say, but the very existence of healthcare insurers and their Suits is problematic. Health insurance should not exist. A person’s life shouldn’t come down to which insurance plan they have. Here’s an idea, pay a monthly premium for a service and then have to pay additional charges after receiving said service. Oh, and you can only get the best prices and services if you pay more per month. What the fuck am I paying for in the first place? Access, ladies and gentlemen.

I haven’t had health insurance in six years. Can’t afford it. Literally “hoping for the best” and trying to earn enough to afford to stay alive. It’s barbaric. Especially considering America is the richest and greatest country this world has ever seen. Or so says America. I constantly hear how great America is from people getting face fucked by a giant red, white, and blue dildo. We aren’t evolving as a country because of greed and “that’s the way they were always done.” Ignorant thinking will rot America from the inside.

Every human deserves the most advanced medicine regardless of income or insurance status. Period. We’re talking about a person’s life here, not numbers on a spreadsheet. How can a bunch of suits in a room put a price on someone’s life? Not sure, but that’s the way our current healthcare system works. It’s killing Americans that don’t deserve to die every day. And now a suit was murdered in cold blood for treating people as expendable. In life there's actions and consequences. When you put a price on someone’s life, whether directly or indirectly, they may come for you. Until we figure out how to stop greed and the resulting war against the lower class, things will only get worse.

Rest in peace, Brian Thompson and to all of these who couldn’t afford or were denied healthcare.