By Sriparna Roy
(Reuters) – Shares of health insurers including UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:) continued to fall on Friday, two days after Brian Thompson, the CEO of the company’s health insurance unit, was fatally shot outside a Manhattan hotel by a lurking man. shooter .
The gunman remains at large and his motive for the attack has not yet been determined, police officials said.
Thompson’s death sparked a wide-ranging conversation on social media about frustrations with navigating the U.S. health insurance system, especially when medical costs are not covered or insurance claims or care requests are denied.
“Insurer sentiment expressed by the public following this event suggests that UnitedHealth and perhaps the industry may need to adjust the way they approach coverage decisions,” said Morningstar analyst Julie Utterback.
Shares of UnitedHealth fell 4.8% on Friday, after falling 5% on Thursday. Rival insurers Elevance, Centene (NYSE:), CVS Health (NYSE:) and Cigna (NYSE:) were also down between 1% and 3% in afternoon trading. Those shares also all lost ground on Thursday.
The words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were carved into shell casings found at the scene, police sources told ABC and the New York Post. The words evoke the title of Jay Feinman’s 2010 book criticizing the U.S. insurance industry: “Delay Deny Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.”
Social media sites have been flooded with angry posts attacking companies and users, sharing personal frustrations over the rejection of reporting and how they have been denied necessary care, as well as sarcastic videos with unsympathetic messages such as “thoughts and prayers require prior consent.”
Health insurers are reassessing the risks to their top executives, with both UnitedHealth and CVS removing photos of their leadership teams from their websites after the shooting.
Potential changes in coverage decisions could be driven by internal initiatives or external pressures that could pose risks to the bottom line, Utterback said.
The insurance industry has experienced higher costs in recent quarters due to increased demand for health care under government-sponsored Medicare plans for older adults or people with disabilities, as well as changes in states’ Medicaid enrollment, so that insurers have more patients at their disposal. who need more medical services.
