Frustrated UnitedHealthcare clients took to social media sharing their stories of denied claims, following the death of the company’s CEO Brian Thompson.
A June 2023 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that most insured adults in the U.S. experienced issues with their health insurance, including claim denials.
In the hours following Thompson’s death, customer stories of UnitedHealthcare and other insurers surfaced. One user posted about her surgery being denied just two days before it was scheduled, while another recounted having to appeal a denial for breast cancer surgery.
In 2023, in Minnesota, a class action lawsuit arguing that UnitedHealthcare used AI “in place of real medical professionals to wrongfully deny elderly patients care,”. It was alleged that more than 90% of the denials were reversed through an internal appeal or proceedings.
Last year, UnitedHealthcare settled a case with a seriously ill college student in Pennsylvania who claimed the company denied coverage for necessary medications, leaving him with over $800,000 in medical bills.
UnitedHealthcare, which insures 49 million people in the US, has recently been scrutinized for increasing its case denials. According to a Senate Permanent Subcommittee investigation in October, the insurer more than doubled the rate of denials for care following hospital stays between 2020 and 2022 as it implemented machine-assisted technology to automate the process.
Thompson’s widow, Paulette, admitted that before the shooting, there had been threats against her husband related to “a lack of coverage.”
Police have not identified the shooter or a motive, but they are examining shell casings that had the words “depose” and “delay” inscribed on them, potentially linked to the book “Delay Deny Defend,” which criticizes the insurance industry.
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
