United Health shooting dredges up wave of hate against insurers

Americans take to social media to vent long-simmering discontent with industry

NEW YORK - The shooting death of high-ranking UnitedHealth Group executive Brian Thompson has uncovered a deep anger among Americans who say the health insurance industry has too often failed to cover large medical bills and stood in the way of necessary care.

"There's clearly a sense of real discontent and distrust of the industry revealed in social media," said Mr Brian Klepper, principal of the Healthcare Performance consulting firm. "That's not a healthy environment for an industry to prosper."

The reaction to the shooting is a wake-up call for sprawling companies that have seen their profits and stock prices rise over the past few years.

Social media has given millions of Americans the means to amplify their long-simmering dissatisfaction with health insurers, and in the wake of Mr Thompson's death, X, Reddit, TikTok and other platforms lit up with hatred aimed at the industry.

Dr Kevin Farmer, a University of Florida orthopedics and sports medicine professor who posted on X about the shooting, said frustration with insurance is something doctors see every day. "I mean, what that can do to someone's emotional thought process and reaction," Dr Farmer said. "They feel helpless."

The motive for Mr Thompson's killing remains unclear. New York police released images on Dec 5 of a man they said is wanted in connection with the shooting and searched a Manhattan hostel where the person is believed to have stayed.

No direct evidence has emerged to connect the shooting with any dispute over UnitedHealth's business, though a shell casing and live ammunition round inscribed with "delay" and "depose" were recovered from the pavement at the midtown hotel where Mr Thompson, 50, was attacked.

The words echo complaints many American consumers have aired about long waits for insurers to pay medical bills and legal fights over claims.