8 ms·

Health insurers remove executive bios, images from websites after CEO killing

41 points by jameslk 2y ago

gigatexal 2y ago
Maybe this shocking and extreme and sad murder of the CEO will get a discussion going on the state of healthcare in the US? But if anything productive comes from this it’ll make murder for your cause viable and that’s a road to chaos.
- salawat 2y ago
  Murder for your cause is already viable. The variable is scale. See making profit for United Healthcare.
- SlightlyLeftPad 2y ago
  We’re not going to have meaningful conversation about the state of healthcare in the US because that in and of itself would be an admission of guilt in the insurance industry. At best, we should expect thoughts and prayers all around.
  - bigfatkitten 2y ago
    > At best, we should expect thoughts and prayers all around. Sorry, those thoughts and prayers are out of network.
    - SlightlyLeftPad 2y ago
      Thoughts and prayers are not a covered medical procedure. Additionally, your future burial pre-authorization is denied as it’s not medically necessary.
    - SlightlyLeftPad 2y ago
      Your trauma team subscription has expired due to nonpayment, have a nice day.
- stackghost 2y ago
  The industry will just start hiring security firms for executives, and pass on the added costs to ratepayers.
  - throwaway48476 2y ago
    Guy separated from his wife after cheating on her. It's going to lead to some awkward dates with security hovering around.
- lostlogin 2y ago
  > But if anything productive comes from this it’ll make murder for your cause viable and that’s a road to chaos. When you’re talking a population as large as that of the USA, there is a lot of murder. It’s seen an an option regularly at the moment.
- drukenemo 2y ago
  [flagged]
- clipsy 2y ago
  > it’ll make murder for your cause viable and that’s a road to chaos Murder for your cause is already viable and profitable, UHC used it to great effect by rejecting enormous numbers of legitimate claims.
- 8note 2y ago
  is it actually extreme? how many deaths was the CEO responsible for by what they prioritized to make profit for shareholders? why is it extreme for the CEO to die, but not for hus customers?
  - gigatexal 2y ago
    It’s a valid question. People squeezed by the consequences of eventually push back.
Teever 2y ago
How will this change events like G20, Copenhagen, or Davos? Will the powerful be able to meet in an extravagant fashion like this ever again? Will they ever be so brash as to say stuff like this[0] in public again? What happens when the first billionaire is taken down by a $1000 drone? They can take down whatever online presence they want but it won't be enough to hide from a motivated person or group of people. What comes next? [0] https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/tim-gurner-australian-ceo-unemployment-video-rcna104957 https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/tim-gurner-austr...
- quantified 2y ago
  Expect extra security and physical spacing in enclaves, luxury hotels, etc. I doubt this is going to be copied soon. But the temperature of discontent is being raised, and fhe extraction of rent by our oligarchs along with the cost pollution forced into all of American life will jar loose a few more events over time. [https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/an-assassin-showed-just-how-angry https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/an-assassin-showed-just-h...] which was posted elsewhere on HN today highlights human nature as why the Sherman Anti-Trust Act is a good idea.
- DoingIsLearning 2y ago
  > How will this change events like G20, Copenhagen, or Davos? Nothing will change, have you seen the security apparatus of G20? They literally turn any place into a fortress. Visit Canary Wharf or City of London and most of the infrastructure for barricading or lock down is already there. What is unexpected to me is that this starts with Healthcare when my expectation would have been Oil and Gas first. > What comes next? A. They find him and he gets accidentally murdered during arrest so that he never sits in front of a jury. B. They never find him and a copycat trend begins.
  - Teever 2y ago
    If Russian tanks are vulnerable to drones how can the same be said of any of the places you describe?
renewiltord 2y ago
The reactions online are awful and completely divorced from reality.
- rootusrootus 2y ago
  Ghouls, all of them. And all the adoration for the killer is going to create a whole lot of copycats.
  - SlightlyLeftPad 2y ago
    While terrible and no one should condone murder ever, we might finally get some common sense gun laws as a result.
    - logicchains 2y ago
      Because people with the resources to carry out professional assassinations are going to abide by gun laws..
      - SlightlyLeftPad 2y ago
        No as a distraction to make the general public feel better about a situation they have no control over.
    - analognoise 2y ago
      Why must we never condone murder ever? Surely in the rich tapestry of human interaction, there are a number of reasonable places for it?
    - hiatus 2y ago
      Aren't guns already heavily regulated in NYC, and suppressors illegal in NYC altogether?
  - jumping_frog 2y ago
    The copycats would think of themselves as Dexter, doing good for the society while keeping the hobby alive (pun intended).
rootusrootus 2y ago
Everyone blames the insurance company. But my pharmacy billed insurance 272 for a generic on the $4 Walmart list and it got paid in full. My doctor’s PA billed $440 for a 20 minute telemedicine call and it got paid in full. My insurance has never denied a medication or procedure ordered by my doctor. I think it’s not simply insurance companies that are the issue. For some reason people just feel more comfortable blaming them than admitting the doctors and other staff are massively overbilling. Maybe we should try to fix that. They must be trying to hide other costs in those ridiculous bills to be. That’s not fair to me.
- wetpaws 2y ago
  [dead]
- Insanity 2y ago
  True, the issue is pretty much the entire US healthcare “system”. But insurance companies do play a not insignificant role in that.
- timschmidt 2y ago
  The Affordable Care Act requires that "Insurers must spend at least 80–85% of premium dollars on health costs; rebates must be issued if this is violated." So insurers bought hospital networks, inflated the bills, and took their profit from the other side of the equation. Before you forgive your insurance company and blame your pharmacy and doctor, check first that they aren't owned by the same corporation.
  - bpodgursky 2y ago
    Do you have any examples? I am quite confident I have never been in this situation, I have never heard of anyone except Kaiser patients (who are FWIW very happy with their service) getting this.
    - tmpz22 2y ago
      My extended family has been Kaiser for decades and it has plenty of faults (Bay Area region). I’ve personally had multiple severe misdiagnosis by tired over worked doctors. I’ve had massive ER bills with trivial operations. I’ve gotten damagingly inaccurate mental health care, and at times long delays to see various specialists. The partnership of Kaiser and Reagan are largely responsible for the healthcare system America has today. Do not give them a pass.
bhaney 2y ago
I figure most people capable of planning an effective assassination are also capable of using Wayback Machine, but sure.
- SlightlyLeftPad 2y ago
  I highly doubt the executive leadership of these organizations is remotely aware that’s even possible.
- dinfinity 2y ago
  Wayback Machine? How about just Googling? You think the names of _the CEOs_ of some of the _biggest_ corporations on this planet are going to be hard to find on the internet?
tomlockwood 2y ago
>“The people in our industry are mission-driven professionals working to make coverage and care as affordable as possible and to help people navigate the complex medical system,” Michael Tuffin, the president and CEO of powerful health insurance lobby AHIP, wrote on LinkedIn on Thursday. “We condemn any suggestion that threats against our colleagues — or anyone else in our country — are ever acceptable.” I looked at this guy's LinkedIn and he was the "SVP, External Affairs" for the UnitedHealth Group from 2015 until 2023.
locallost 2y ago
Here's a tangent from outside the US, where health insurance is "great". Overall, it's true that it's not insane as in the US, but scratch below the surface and all insurances have a bottom line. A friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer, it looked especially bad, but she's through chemo and it looks promising now. Recently the health insurance told her since it's actually hopeless they want to stop paying her medical leave money, they want to make her "retired" because she's not coming back to work anyway so the pension system should take over. She was a freelancer most of her life, so didn't pay that much into it, and will drop from 1500 to 700 euros of monthly income. There are things you can do, appeal, apply for state aid etc but try to do that when you are recovering from cancer, chemo, have three kids, and your health insurance is telling you to give up it's hopeless. Now make the insurance a for-profit business trying to maximize shareholder value and you get what you get.
- hulitu 2y ago
  > She was a freelancer most of her life, so didn't pay that much into it, and will drop from 1500 to 700 euros of monthly income. A regretable mistake. from her side to not think about retirement.
bostik 2y ago
Life imitates art: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/146511/death-penalty-for-insurance-company-directors https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/146511/death-penal...
MrHamburger 2y ago
Rich people want to be seen, they want to show their wealth, their status and their power. What is the point of having money and power when you need to hide among the plebs? It is like breathing for them. You can willingly stop breathing for a while but eventually you need to inhale. And they are going to start brandishing their wealth and their status again.
ChrisArchitect 2y ago
[dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42333800 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42333800
solardev 2y ago
The killing seems to have been cathartic for many, and the killer inscribed words onto his ammunition that directly referenced health insurance industry tactics used to prevent claim payouts. https://apnews.com/article/unitedhealthcare-delay-deny-depose-insurance-online-criticism-2d9c9a1a2a551876e72a11a93fc7624c https://apnews.com/article/unitedhealthcare-delay-deny-depos... It's hard to feel any sympathy for these CEOs and companies. They've had it coming for a long time, and I bet people see the killer as a vigilante hero bringing justice to those normally immune to it.

41 points by jameslk 2y ago

Maybe this shocking and extreme and sad murder of the CEO will get a discussion going on the state of healthcare in the US? But if anything productive comes from this it’ll make murder for your cause viable and that’s a road to chaos.

salawat 2y ago
Murder for your cause is already viable. The variable is scale. See making profit for United Healthcare.
SlightlyLeftPad 2y ago
We’re not going to have meaningful conversation about the state of healthcare in the US because that in and of itself would be an admission of guilt in the insurance industry. At best, we should expect thoughts and prayers all around.
- bigfatkitten 2y ago
  > At best, we should expect thoughts and prayers all around. Sorry, those thoughts and prayers are out of network.
  - SlightlyLeftPad 2y ago
    Thoughts and prayers are not a covered medical procedure. Additionally, your future burial pre-authorization is denied as it’s not medically necessary.
  - SlightlyLeftPad 2y ago
    Your trauma team subscription has expired due to nonpayment, have a nice day.
stackghost 2y ago
The industry will just start hiring security firms for executives, and pass on the added costs to ratepayers.
- throwaway48476 2y ago
  Guy separated from his wife after cheating on her. It's going to lead to some awkward dates with security hovering around.
lostlogin 2y ago
> But if anything productive comes from this it’ll make murder for your cause viable and that’s a road to chaos. When you’re talking a population as large as that of the USA, there is a lot of murder. It’s seen an an option regularly at the moment.
drukenemo 2y ago
[flagged]
clipsy 2y ago
> it’ll make murder for your cause viable and that’s a road to chaos Murder for your cause is already viable and profitable, UHC used it to great effect by rejecting enormous numbers of legitimate claims.
8note 2y ago
is it actually extreme? how many deaths was the CEO responsible for by what they prioritized to make profit for shareholders? why is it extreme for the CEO to die, but not for hus customers?
- gigatexal 2y ago
  It’s a valid question. People squeezed by the consequences of eventually push back.

Teever 2y ago

How will this change events like G20, Copenhagen, or Davos? Will the powerful be able to meet in an extravagant fashion like this ever again? Will they ever be so brash as to say stuff like this[0] in public again? What happens when the first billionaire is taken down by a $1000 drone? They can take down whatever online presence they want but it won't be enough to hide from a motivated person or group of people. What comes next? [0] https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/tim-gurner-australian-ceo-unemployment-video-rcna104957 https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/tim-gurner-austr...

quantified 2y ago
Expect extra security and physical spacing in enclaves, luxury hotels, etc. I doubt this is going to be copied soon. But the temperature of discontent is being raised, and fhe extraction of rent by our oligarchs along with the cost pollution forced into all of American life will jar loose a few more events over time. [https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/an-assassin-showed-just-how-angry https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/an-assassin-showed-just-h...] which was posted elsewhere on HN today highlights human nature as why the Sherman Anti-Trust Act is a good idea.
DoingIsLearning 2y ago
> How will this change events like G20, Copenhagen, or Davos? Nothing will change, have you seen the security apparatus of G20? They literally turn any place into a fortress. Visit Canary Wharf or City of London and most of the infrastructure for barricading or lock down is already there. What is unexpected to me is that this starts with Healthcare when my expectation would have been Oil and Gas first. > What comes next? A. They find him and he gets accidentally murdered during arrest so that he never sits in front of a jury. B. They never find him and a copycat trend begins.
- Teever 2y ago
  If Russian tanks are vulnerable to drones how can the same be said of any of the places you describe?

renewiltord 2y ago

The reactions online are awful and completely divorced from reality.

rootusrootus 2y ago
Ghouls, all of them. And all the adoration for the killer is going to create a whole lot of copycats.
- SlightlyLeftPad 2y ago
  While terrible and no one should condone murder ever, we might finally get some common sense gun laws as a result.
  - logicchains 2y ago
    Because people with the resources to carry out professional assassinations are going to abide by gun laws..
    - SlightlyLeftPad 2y ago
      No as a distraction to make the general public feel better about a situation they have no control over.
  - analognoise 2y ago
    Why must we never condone murder ever? Surely in the rich tapestry of human interaction, there are a number of reasonable places for it?
  - hiatus 2y ago
    Aren't guns already heavily regulated in NYC, and suppressors illegal in NYC altogether?
- jumping_frog 2y ago
  The copycats would think of themselves as Dexter, doing good for the society while keeping the hobby alive (pun intended).

rootusrootus 2y ago

Everyone blames the insurance company. But my pharmacy billed insurance 272 for a generic on the $4 Walmart list and it got paid in full. My doctor’s PA billed $440 for a 20 minute telemedicine call and it got paid in full. My insurance has never denied a medication or procedure ordered by my doctor. I think it’s not simply insurance companies that are the issue. For some reason people just feel more comfortable blaming them than admitting the doctors and other staff are massively overbilling. Maybe we should try to fix that. They must be trying to hide other costs in those ridiculous bills to be. That’s not fair to me.

wetpaws 2y ago
[dead]
Insanity 2y ago
True, the issue is pretty much the entire US healthcare “system”. But insurance companies do play a not insignificant role in that.
timschmidt 2y ago
The Affordable Care Act requires that "Insurers must spend at least 80–85% of premium dollars on health costs; rebates must be issued if this is violated." So insurers bought hospital networks, inflated the bills, and took their profit from the other side of the equation. Before you forgive your insurance company and blame your pharmacy and doctor, check first that they aren't owned by the same corporation.
- bpodgursky 2y ago
  Do you have any examples? I am quite confident I have never been in this situation, I have never heard of anyone except Kaiser patients (who are FWIW very happy with their service) getting this.
  - tmpz22 2y ago
    My extended family has been Kaiser for decades and it has plenty of faults (Bay Area region). I’ve personally had multiple severe misdiagnosis by tired over worked doctors. I’ve had massive ER bills with trivial operations. I’ve gotten damagingly inaccurate mental health care, and at times long delays to see various specialists. The partnership of Kaiser and Reagan are largely responsible for the healthcare system America has today. Do not give them a pass.

bhaney 2y ago

I figure most people capable of planning an effective assassination are also capable of using Wayback Machine, but sure.

SlightlyLeftPad 2y ago
I highly doubt the executive leadership of these organizations is remotely aware that’s even possible.
dinfinity 2y ago
Wayback Machine? How about just Googling? You think the names of _the CEOs_ of some of the _biggest_ corporations on this planet are going to be hard to find on the internet?

tomlockwood 2y ago

>“The people in our industry are mission-driven professionals working to make coverage and care as affordable as possible and to help people navigate the complex medical system,” Michael Tuffin, the president and CEO of powerful health insurance lobby AHIP, wrote on LinkedIn on Thursday. “We condemn any suggestion that threats against our colleagues — or anyone else in our country — are ever acceptable.” I looked at this guy's LinkedIn and he was the "SVP, External Affairs" for the UnitedHealth Group from 2015 until 2023.

locallost 2y ago

Here's a tangent from outside the US, where health insurance is "great". Overall, it's true that it's not insane as in the US, but scratch below the surface and all insurances have a bottom line. A friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer, it looked especially bad, but she's through chemo and it looks promising now. Recently the health insurance told her since it's actually hopeless they want to stop paying her medical leave money, they want to make her "retired" because she's not coming back to work anyway so the pension system should take over. She was a freelancer most of her life, so didn't pay that much into it, and will drop from 1500 to 700 euros of monthly income. There are things you can do, appeal, apply for state aid etc but try to do that when you are recovering from cancer, chemo, have three kids, and your health insurance is telling you to give up it's hopeless. Now make the insurance a for-profit business trying to maximize shareholder value and you get what you get.

hulitu 2y ago
> She was a freelancer most of her life, so didn't pay that much into it, and will drop from 1500 to 700 euros of monthly income. A regretable mistake. from her side to not think about retirement.

bostik 2y ago

Life imitates art: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/146511/death-penalty-for-insurance-company-directors https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/146511/death-penal...

MrHamburger 2y ago

Rich people want to be seen, they want to show their wealth, their status and their power. What is the point of having money and power when you need to hide among the plebs? It is like breathing for them. You can willingly stop breathing for a while but eventually you need to inhale. And they are going to start brandishing their wealth and their status again.

ChrisArchitect 2y ago

[dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42333800 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42333800

solardev 2y ago

The killing seems to have been cathartic for many, and the killer inscribed words onto his ammunition that directly referenced health insurance industry tactics used to prevent claim payouts. https://apnews.com/article/unitedhealthcare-delay-deny-depose-insurance-online-criticism-2d9c9a1a2a551876e72a11a93fc7624c https://apnews.com/article/unitedhealthcare-delay-deny-depos... It's hard to feel any sympathy for these CEOs and companies. They've had it coming for a long time, and I bet people see the killer as a vigilante hero bringing justice to those normally immune to it.