UnitedHealth CEO remembers slain co-worker, talks about root factor of health worry woes
Ken Alltucker
UnitedHealth throng’s top executive said the corporation’s murdered health insurance executive Brian Thompson worked to make the country’s health-worry structure better for everyone.
UnitedHealth throng CEO Andrew Witty also acknowledged the U.S. health worry structure is confusing and must enhance, citing high prices of medical services as the “root factor” of the country’s health worry woes. Witty’s remarks came as the Minnesota-based health insurance and medical services corporation announced returns that fell short of analysts projections’ for the final three months of 2024.
On a call with investors, Witty thanked the community for condolences and back after Thompson was gunned down in Midtown Manhattan last month at the corporation’s annual investors conference. Thompson was CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the health insurance arm of UnitedHealth throng.
“Many of you knew Brian personally. You knew how much he meant to all of us and how he devoted his period to assist him make the health structure work better for all of the people we’re privileged to serve,” Witty said. “He would dive in with thrill and caring to discover solutions to enhance experiences, whether for an person buyer, an employer or a community health agency.”
Witty added that the U.S. health worry structure needs to function better and “needs to be less confusing, less complicated and less costly.”
“America faces the same fundamental health worry dynamic as the rest of the globe,” Witty said. “The resources available to pay for health worry are limited, while demand for healthcare is unlimited.”
He added that the country’s health worry structure must address the expense of worry to enhance standard and access.
“Ultimately improving healthcare means addressing the root factor of health worry expense,” Witty said. “Fundamentally, health worry costs more in the U.S. because the worth of a single procedure, visit or prescription is higher here than it is in other countries.”
Thompson, 50, from Jewell Iowa, was a father of two sons. He’d been CEO since April 2021 and with the corporation since 2004.
His murder was followed by an outpouring of community frustration over health insurance and the healthcare structure more broadly.
In a recent USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll, about two in three Americans said the Dec. 4 murder of Thompson was incorrect, and the suspected killer should be prosecuted to the packed extent of the law.
Most of the rest agreed it was incorrect, but said they understood the rage the alleged shooter felt toward America’s health worry structure.
