Last Monday, the nationwide manhunt for the killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson ended at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, of all locales.
Luigi Mangione has been charged in Thompson’s murder, and even before his apprehension, before his name was known, Mangione had become something of a folk hero. Now, the photogenic alleged killer has become an internet thirst-trap sensation. An often-shared photo of Mangione, shirtless with a backpack while hiking, has become the subject of countless memes.
What does it say about our society when an alleged murderer is lionized into the stratosphere of heroism?
Going back to day one of this story; when news broke of the brazen murder of Thompson, my gut reaction was either the CEO had ticked off the wrong person and it was a contract killing or option two is that we could be entering a new “eat the rich” stage of our history.
Almost immediately after the killing, viral information began popping up across social media platforms claiming that UnitedHealthcare had the highest claim denial rate at 32%. That information cannot be verified, however, as comprehensive data on claim denials is not made available to the public by either the feds or the insurers themselves.
Regardless of the statistic’s veracity, or lack thereof, the killing of Thompson, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, did bring attention to a national frustration over healthcare and denied claims. One verifiable statistic, reached through polling, stated that about six in 10 insured Americans experience problems when trying to use their insurance, including claim denials.
Mangione is still awaiting extradition to New York, where five felony warrants await him. The NYPD is investigating whether or not a denied claim related to a back injury is a factor in the shooting. The 26-year-old suspect was discovered to have written extensively about a chronic back condition, and had written some sort of manifesto railing against the healthcare system.
Picture this hypothetical, if you will. So, here’s the story of Jay. Jay was diagnosed with leukemia, and before symptoms drove him to finally go and see a doctor, he was rarely sick.
Jay was supposed to start chemo treatments last Tuesday, but his insurance is refusing to pay for it. His PTO already ran out, and so he is left to excise $160 out of his savings bi-weekly to send to his employer to cover the cost of insurance, because he does not have short-term disability.
Jay’s oncologist told him that without the chemo, he’d only have three to four months to live. Currently, Jay is in a hospital, scared, alone and depressed, while his girlfriend, who is working as many hours possible at two jobs to make sure everything is taken care of, attempts to go to bat for him; calling his insurer and being put on endless holds, and eventually hearing the claim would be escalated.
Sounds frustrating, doesn’t it? Though imagined, that scenario is likely a reality that many Americans face on the daily; feeling as though they’ll get knocked down no matter what, or that their life isn’t valuable enough for an insurer to pay for life-saving treatments.
One statistic I read online stated that 42% of cancer patients lose their life savings within two years. I couldn’t find any place to verify that, but I don’t doubt it. Actually, I’d figure it’d be much higher.
With that in mind, it surprises me that incidents, like Thompson’s murder, aren’t more commonplace. People can only be pushed so far.
It’s easy to see why a lot of people aren’t upset over the murder of a giant healthcare company. The system is broken and corrupt.
Change will have to come at some point, and typically, any sort of systemic change is sparked by extreme actions, as history shows us.
The answer is not violent acts or a spin into anarchy, but there are a lot of desperate folks in our country feeling as though they’ve been failed, and from what we know about Luigi Mangione’s mental state, his story should be a reminder that change is needed.
The astute pundit Ben “If I Keep Speaking Really Fast And Not Letting You Speak And Then Say You Are Interrupting Me When You Speak Then I Win” Shapiro tried to assert on a recent podcast that it was only the “evil revolutionary left” cheering on Thompson’s murder. No, Ben, no. No one, regardless of what side of the binary they choose to align, is cheering on the murder of a man. They’re just tired of feeling as though their lives have no value.