The murder of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson has sparked disturbing reactions around the world, with some Australians saying they are not surprised by the atrocity due to the nature of the expensive US healthcare system.
Thompson, 50, was shot to death on December 4 outside the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan, where he was scheduled to attend an investor meeting.
CCTV footage showed the masked killer approaching Mr Thompson from behind before shooting him and casually walking away from the scene.
Police have since arrested and charged “anti-capitalist” and Ivy League graduate Luigi Mangione, 26, for the alleged execution-style murder of the father of two.
Thompson joined the health insurance provider in 2004 and has held multiple leadership positions, including CEO of the company’s government programs division.
The shooting made headlines around the world and many Australians said they were not surprised by the killing.
“There is frustration with the medical and health system in the United States and I think it is coming to the fore,” one Sydney resident told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Something has to be done. Not necessarily killing people, but I think a review is necessary.”
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed outside the Hilton hotel in Manhattan.
The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, added that people’s health and healthcare are fundamental rights, but something that large corporations and insurers are exploiting for financial gain.
“There has to be something there besides huge corporate profits… “There are ordinary people in the streets suffering and watching themselves and their loved ones die,” he said.
“I don’t approve of what (the alleged killer) did, but I can sympathize with him, yes.”
He explained that while he was “generally happy” with Australia’s health services, he was concerned that they might follow the US health system.
Another woman told Daily Mail Australia she believed people saw the killing as a form of “retribution” for inadequate access to basic healthcare.
“I think Americans are very angry that their health care system is in such disarray and so many people can’t access basic health care, which is really a human right,” he said.
“I think some people are losing the thread that this was a human being and that (Mr. Thompson) had a family and that (he) was not the decision maker in the entire health care system.
‘This really should be a government issue and should be addressed at a government level for the entire country. “One person is not going to be the beginning and the end of everything.”
He said that while there are opportunities for healthcare in Australia to improve, it is in a “much better state” than in the United States.
CCTV footage showed the masked killer shooting Mr Thompson moments before he attended an investor meeting at the hotel.
Another Australian argued that while the murder was never good, the reaction the incident received was a reflection of the state of healthcare in the United States.
‘Much of your population is fed up with the way your country works. “You always hear stories of Americans having to pay a lot of money (for health care),’ he said.
“I was at St Vincent’s Hospital and there was an American there freaking out because he thought he was going to have to pay $40,000 to get a check-up. His face was quite shocked when he found out it was covered.
Other Australians echoed similar sentiments online, stating that Thompson’s murder was a direct result of how insurance and healthcare companies treat people in the United States.
“The little guy has been pushed too hard and now people are fighting back,” one commented.
A second chimed in: “This is bound to happen when your business is basically about life and death, and your motive is profit and the law does not provide adequate resources or regulation, if that was truly the motivation.”
A third added that Mangione’s lawyer should take “the entire health insurance industry to court” and argue that the 26-year-old was defending the public from a CEO who profited from “killing and bankrupting” people. .
Authorities have launched an urgent search for the suspected killer (pictured) who spent 10 days on the run after fleeing the scene.
UnitedHealthcare, which is the largest health insurer by market share in the United States, was rocked by protests over allegedly systematically denying payments to patients earlier this year.
ValuePenguin’s analysis found that UnitedHealthcare denied 32 percent of claims, compared to the industry average for large health insurance companies of 16 percent.
Thompson was the CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s insurance division, reporting $281 billion in revenue last year and providing health care to millions of Americans.
The medical giant was about to announce windfall revenue and profits for the year before his murder.
Last year alone, Thompson received a compensation package of $10.2 million, including $1 million in base salary, cash and stock grants.
Mr. Thompson’s schedule was widely known and witnesses have said the alleged gunman even knew which door Thompson was going to exit from before opening fire.
Authorities arrested Mangione at McDonald’s Altoona, Pennsylvania, after a worker and an elderly customer saw him and called police.
Mangione spent 10 days in Manhattan, staying at a local youth shelter after he allegedly fled the scene.
Police have since arrested ‘anti-capitalist’ and Ivy League graduate Luigi Mangione, 26 (pictured)
When he was arrested, police allegedly found him with a 3D-printed ghost gun similar to the one used in the murder, a silencer, four fake IDs, and a manifesto.
The manifesto allegedly showed that Mangione, who was the valedictorian of his school, was enraged by the healthcare industry and its profits.
At the scene of the murder, police also found three live bullets and three shell casings that had the words “depose,” “deny” and “defend” written on them in permanent marker.
Online sleuths made a comparison to the 2010 book with a similar title ‘Delay, Deny, Defend’, which offers a scathing critique of ‘why insurance companies don’t pay and what can be done about it’.
Mangione faced Blair County Court in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, charged with five felonies.
His positions include forgery, carrying a weapon without a license, altering records or identification, carrying “instruments of a crime” and presenting a false identification to authorities.
It is understood police have not yet charged him with Thompson’s murder.
Mangione did not enter a plea and was denied bail. He will appear again in Blair County Court on December 23 at 9 a.m.