Alleged victims of America’s poor quality of healthcare have raised more than $70,000 (£62,000) for Luigi Mangione after he was charged with the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Ever since the cold-blooded shooting in Midtown Manhattan, New York, the discourse around it has been about how ‘hot’ Mangione is and the dubious industry his victim worked in.
The Ivy League graduate was arrested in a McDonald’s four days ago and since then more than a thousand donations have poured into for his legal defence.
Messages thanking the 26-year-old have been left on the webpage of the fundraiser from people raging about the injustice of the health insurance industry.
In the US, some treatments and reimbursements can be denied to patients depending on their insurance coverage.
One anonymous donor wrote: ‘Your actions in NYC have given voice to the countless individuals who have suffered and died because of the greedy, selfish people in the insurance industry. Be well, you are not alone.’
Another said: ‘Luigi, I work in healthcare, radiation oncology to be precise. I get the displeasure of watching patients be told their prescribed treatments are not necessary because there are cheaper (read riskier) alternatives.
‘Our doctors spend hours convincing the insurance companies the treatments are life saving. I want to say, thank you.’
A third message read: ‘The system has continuously failed Americans who seek healthcare which is a basic human right, not a commodity to profit off of.’
The message went further to describe insurance companies, which deny claims ‘so brazenly, as the ‘true criminals.’
Under the hashtag #FreeLuigi, another person commented: ‘My family has felt a lot of pain at the hands of insurance companies, and I will not stand idly by while the one man willing to stand up for us and people like us is persecuted.’
Several others simply wrote, ‘Deny, Defend, Depose’ – the words reportedly written on the shell casings found at the murder scene and intended to invoke tactics some accuse insurers of using to avoid paying out claims.
More than $71,000 had been raised as of Friday on GiveSendGo alone for Mangione.
The suspect suffered from chronic back pain that impacted his daily life, according to friends and social media posts.
He underwent spinal surgery last year for chronic back pain, and has since become a proponent of the procedure that changed his life for the better.
The data engineer repeatedly posted on Reddit about his recovery and also offered words of encouragement for people with similar conditions.
He urged them to push back against doctors who suggested that they had to live with pain.
There is no indication Mangione was ever insured by UnitedHealthcare, a senior New York City police official said in an interview Thursday with NBC.
The killing has nonetheless prompted speculation about whether he had a bad personal experience with the health care system.
Mangione himself lashed out himself on Tuesday as he was led into the courthouse, shouting in part, ‘…completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people!’
Americans pay more for health care than residents of any other country, and data shows spending on insurance premiums, out-of-pocket costs, pharmaceuticals and hospital services has all increased over the last five years.
Health insurers like UnitedHealthcare most often manage health benefits on behalf of employers and the government, which have a say in what services and drugs are covered.
‘It is hard to underestimate the anger and angst people have with their insurance companies,’ said David Shapiro, a former FBI agent and a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.
He said he had never seen anything like the reaction to Mangione, but added: ‘It’s not so farfetched given the mood of the country and the ease of cheering this anonymously on the Internet.’
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