On Monday, police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, arrested Luigi Mangione in connection with last week’s shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. When Mangione’s identity became public, the online reaction around Thompson’s death went into overdrive; unlike most shootings, this one has brought a stream of support for the suspected killer rather than for the victim, and Mangione’s capture has only intensified that sentiment.
Mangione, 26, has since been charged with second-degree murder in New York, among other crimes, and has been valorized as a folk hero in many corners of the internet, though the killing of Thompson, 50, has also been widely condemned. After Mangine was arrested and identified, his following on X went from a few dozen followers to more than 300,000 overnight. From a flood of supportive memes on Instagram and X to a shooter lookalike contest this weekend in Manhattan’s Washington Square Park, making jokes about Thompson’s death somehow came to be considered acceptable and appropriate.
The widespread interest in Mangione demonstrates just how much built-up hate there is toward insurance companies: Americans are infuriated about the costs and complications of health care coverage, and Thompson’s murder has brought that anger to the surface. To try to better grasp the reaction among Americans, Today, Explained reached out to journalist Bob Herman, who covers the business of health care at Stat News and has co-reported several investigations about UnitedHealthcare.
Today, Explained co-host Sean Rameswaram spoke with Herman about UnitedHealthcare’s business practices, their place in the health care market, and why they have been a target of so much anger. An excerpt of his conversation with Herman, edited for length and clarity, is below. In the full podcast we also get into who Mangione is and what we know about his motives, why it took police five days to find him, and how they eventually did, so listen to Today, Explained on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get podcasts.
Bob Herman
UnitedHealthcare is the largest health insurance company in America, and it is part of a bigger company called UnitedHealth Group. UnitedHealthcare covers older adults on Medicare Advantage, they cover the poor who are on Medicaid, they sell Obamacare plans, and they’re also the plans that employers offer to their workers. We’ve had a whole series this year called Health Care’s Colossus that has looked at this massive company and how it has its tentacles everywhere. A lot of people recognize it for UnitedHealthcare, the insurance company. It is not just a health insurance company — that’s what it’s most known for, that’s why it’s often reviled — but people don’t recognize all the other components that it owns. It owns a ton of medical practices. It either employs or is affiliated with one out of every 10 doctors in the country. It is the largest claims processor. They are everywhere.
Sean Rameswaram
What was your reaction when you saw that Brian Thompson had been shot last week?