Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has been charged with first-degree murder and second-degree murder as an act of terrorism. Thompson’s assassination has brought renewed attention to the practices of the health industry and especially UnitedHealth Group, which reported $22 billion in profits last year. For more, we speak with Kevin Dwyer, who has firsthand experience with UnitedHealthcare denying him lifesaving medication for cystic fibrosis. “The thought of getting this medication that could stop my decline was everything to me. And it was devastating when I got the denial,” says Dwyer, who only got approved after his case became a national news story. “It shouldn’t take this, but unfortunately it does,” says Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of health initiatives at the Community Service Society of New York and co-founder of the Health Care for All New York campaign.
