Reddit Mods Delete Doctors Slamming Insurance Industry After Ceo's Murder

In the wake of the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, there has been an outpouring of grievances from Americans about the state of healthcare in this country, and the massive insurance companies that gatekeep you from receiving it.

Doctors who have witnessed how insurers' ruthless penny-pinching has endangered their patients first-hand have been especially outspoken.

On the r/medicine subreddit, which has nearly 500,000 members, the reaction of medical professionals to Thompson's death has been so savage that moderators have deleted an entire thread about the news of his assassination, The Daily Beast reports.

"He is lucky that it happened in December," wrote one user purporting to be a MD in emergency medicine. "Imagine how much it would cost when his out-of-pocket minimum reset in January!"

But the pièce de résistance came from a nurse satirizing the typical, lengthy rejection letter UHC would send to unfortunate patients.

"After a careful review of the claim submitted for emergency services on December 4, 2024, we regret to inform you that your request for coverage has been denied," the parody letter reads. "Our records indicate that you failed to obtain prior authorization before seeking care for the gunshot wound to your chest."

These are brutal ways to respond to someone's death — but the prevailing sentiment among the doctors here seems to be "cry me a river."

"It's hard to drum up sympathy for someone who has legally profited from indirectly maiming and murdering millions," replied a self-identified doctor of osteopathic medicine.

Another user remarked that the gleeful response across the website had "strong French Revolution vibes."

While moderators deleted the original thread, it hasn't stopped the tidal wave of takes from flooding the subreddit, where many of the top threads are about the CEO shooting, or the ills of for-profit healthcare.

In fact, one of the top posts right now links to the very Daily Beast report about the original thread being deleted.

"The thread should have stayed up," said a purported MD in the most upvoted comment. "The public response has been largely on one track and for good reason."

Thompson was shot at least three times by a masked gunman Wednesday morning outside a hotel where he was supposed to meet with investors. The suspect remains at large. We don't know his identity yet, and his motives remain unclear.

However, bullet casings recovered from the scene reportedly had the words "deny," "defend," and "depose" written on them, which is likely a reference to the title of 2010 book about health insurance companies' shady practices.

UnitedHealthcare is the insurance arm of UnitedHealth Group, the largest health company in the world and the eighth largest of any industry by revenue.

It has long been criticized for frequently denying patient claims, sometimes even in the face of pressing medical circumstances. One analysis suggests UHC denies claims at a higher rate than any other insurer: 32 percent, which is twice the industry average.

An investigation by Stat News last year found that UHC employed an AI algorithm to automatically block coverage to severely ill and elderly patients.

The dark reaction to Thompson's assassination may be too much to stomach for some, but it's easy to see why there is so much anger being directed toward what he represented.

More on healthcare: People's Reactions to a Health Insurance CEO Getting Assassinated Are Incredibly Dark

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