UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty authored an op-ed calling for health care reform after his colleague, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was murdered last week in a targeted attack on his way to the company's annual investor day in New York City.
Witty's guest essay was published Friday in The New York Times, and he wrote that while he and his colleagues appreciate the "outpouring of support for Brian," who ran UnitedHealth Group's insurance division, they are also "struggling to make sense of this unconscionable act and the vitriol that has been directed at our colleagues who have been barraged by threats."
"No employees — be they the people who answer customer calls or nurses who visit patients in their homes — should have to fear for their and their loved ones' safety," Witty wrote, adding that the company wants to help improve the health care system.
"We know the health system does not work as well as it should, and we understand people's frustrations with it. No one would design a system like the one we have. And no one did. It's a patchwork built over decades," Witty explained. "We are willing to partner with anyone, as we always have — health care providers, employers, patients, pharmaceutical companies, governments and others — to find ways to deliver high-quality care and lower costs."
Witty said that the "reasons behind coverage decisions are not well understood" and that some of the responsibility for that is shared by health care and insurance companies like the one he leads. He said that employers, governments and others who pay for health care "need to improve how we explain what insurance covers and how decisions are made."
"Behind each decision lies a comprehensive and continually updated body of clinical evidence focused on achieving the best health outcomes and ensuring patient safety," Witty wrote. "While the health system is not perfect, every corner of it is filled with people who try to do their best for those they serve."
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The UnitedHealth Group CEO noted that Thompson advocated for ways to improve the health care system, such as having the company "build dedicated teams to help the sickest people navigate the health system." He also said Thompson "championed plans in which consumers could see costs and coverage options upfront, so they could decide what's best for themselves and their families."
"The ideas he advocated were aimed at making health care more affordable, more transparent, more intuitive, more compassionate — and more human," Witty wrote. "That's Brian's legacy, one that we will carry forward by continuing our work to make the health system work better for everyone."
Witty's op-ed comes after Thompson was killed in a shooting on the way to the company's investor day in Manhattan on Dec. 4.
The suspect in the killing, Luigi Mangione, was arrested in Pennsylvania following a manhunt and expressed animosity towards the health care industry in writings that were discovered when he was apprehended.
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The New York Police Department and UnitedHealthcare confirmed on Thursday that Mangione was not a client of the insurance company. The NYPD said that he may have targeted the company because of its size and influence within the industry.
Shares of the company are down 4% this week after dropping nearly 10% the week of the shooting.
