NEW YORK (AP) — Brian Thompson ran one of many largest well being insurers in the USA, however tens of millions of individuals affected by his selections didn't know him.
Then on Wednesday deadly capturing of UnitedHealthcare CEO in a focused killing on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk put the chief and his enterprise within the nationwide highlight.
Thompson, who was 50, had headed the insurance coverage division of big UnitedHealth Group Inc. since 2021 and had labored on the firm for 20 years. He beforehand ran its Medicare and retirement companies.
This undated picture offered by UnitedHealth Group reveals UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (AP Picture/UnitedHealth Group through AP)
As CEO, Thompson led an organization that gives well being protection to greater than 49 million People, greater than the inhabitants of Spain. United is the biggest supplier of Medicare Benefit plans, the non-public variations of the U.S. authorities's Medicare program for folks age 65 and older. The corporate additionally sells particular person insurance coverage and administers medical insurance protection for 1000’s of employers and state- and federally-funded Medicaid applications.
The corporate led by Thompson generated $281 billion in income final yr, making it the biggest subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, based mostly in Minnetonka, Minnesota. His $10.2 million annual pay package deal, which incorporates wage, bonuses and inventory choices, made him one of many firm's highest-paid executives.
UnitedHealthcare headquarters in Minnetonka, Minnesota, lowered its flags to half-staff on Wednesday, December four, 2024, in honor of CEO Brian Thompson, who was fatally shot exterior a lodge in New York. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio through AP)
The College of Iowa graduate started his profession as a licensed public accountant at Pricewaterhouse Coopers and had little title recognition past the trade. Even to traders who personal its shares, the face of the mother or father firm belonged to CEO Andrew Witty, a knighted British triathlete who testified earlier than Congress.
Thompson's few moments within the public highlight contrasted along with his position in reshaping the best way People get well being care.
At an investor assembly final yr, he described his firm's shift towards “value-based care,” paying docs and different caregivers to maintain sufferers wholesome, somewhat than specializing in treating them after they get sick.
“Well being care ought to be simpler for folks,” Thompson mentioned on the time. “We’re conscious of the challenges. However navigating the long run via value-based care opens up a scenario the place… the household doesn’t must make selections for themselves.”
Thompson additionally drew consideration in 2021 when the insurer, like its opponents, was extensively criticized for a plan to start denying cost for what it thought-about non-critical visits to hospital emergency rooms.
“Sufferers usually are not medical consultants and shouldn’t be anticipated to self-diagnose throughout what they imagine is a medical emergency,” the American Hospital Affiliation's govt director wrote in an open letter to Thompson. “Threatening sufferers with a monetary penalty for making the mistaken determination might have a chilling impact on them searching for emergency care.”
United Healthcare responded by delaying implementation of the change.
This mixture of pictures offered by the New York Metropolis Police Division reveals the suspect needed within the homicide of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson exterior a Manhattan lodge the place the well being insurer was holding a convention with traders, on Wednesday, December four, 2024. (New York Metropolis Police Division through AP)
Thompson was scheduled to talk at an investor assembly when he was shot about 6:45 a.m. exterior the New York Hilton Midtown by a masked assailant who fled on foot, the New York Police Division mentioned.
Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny mentioned investigators have been analyzing Thompson's social media accounts and interviewing staff and relations. He mentioned Thompson left the lodge alone.
“It didn't look like he had any issues in any respect,” Kenny mentioned. “It didn't have any safety particulars.”
___
AP author Michael R. Sisak contributed to this report.
___
This story corrects the fashion of the corporate title to UnitedHealthcare.