UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty claimed his firm guards against “unnecessary” care.
Summary
UnitedHealth CEO Andrew Witty criticized public outrage over the health insurance industry following the assassination of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson.
In a leaked video to staff, Witty dismissed criticism as “misinformation” and urged employees not to engage with media.
Thompson’s murder outside a Manhattan hotel has intensified scrutiny of the industry’s practices, with bullet casings found at the scene bearing phrases linked to insurance claim denial tactics.
The killing has sparked debate on UnitedHealthcare’s history of denying claims, while the shooter remains at large.
The fact that this is an internal video means at least one of your employees don't think you've learned the lesson you need to learn from this mr witty.
Witty, clearly reading from a script and dressed casually, defended his industry against accusations it refuses people vital coverage saying “we guard against the pressures that exist for unsafe care or unnecessary care.”
"There are very few people in the history of the US healthcare industry who had a bigger positive effect on American healthcare than Brian [Thompson]."
Lol you fucking shitting me? This guy's whole speech is a lie.
If a handful of people are celebrating this and the rest are condemning that behaviour then sure I might listen to this dude.
If more than 95% of the comments I’ve seen across all platforms and political leaning, then I’m afraid that society has spoken and they’ve had enough of these parasites.
Do think we will have change? No, not unless we get more people willing to do things like that hero in NYC did the other morning.
I attended many C level meetings in a publicly traded company, grateful to be out by being fired after throwing the CTO off a cliff for sexual harrassment. Yeah, those whistleblower protection documents that I had to sign were used to wipe asses.
I can guarantee you that right now many meeting are having had where people need to come up with ideas to make the company look better without doing anything that would make them less money. They'll come up with strategies where they promise to do better, probably implement a few rules that actually make it better for 6 months or so, then they'll change it to make it worse than it is today. Potential disasters are always seen as opportunities to make even more money.
Fuck these people.
I'm now a CTO myself at a private company and we do better. We pay honest wages, also for C level (as in, I don't have an insane salary or disturbing benefits), we try not to over hire, we try not to fire. I'm the first in, the last out every day. We focus NOT on lying to customers but on actually making good products, that is why people love working with us. There are companies that are working hard to do it right.
There he goes again, issuing yet more denials, and denying new claims and whatnot. Thats what got them here in the first place, christ. Have they learned nothing, this is very unwitty of "Mr. Witty"
Also, can we very much continue and expand with prefacing the pos' name with the pre-nomial "$millions" they are compensated to spout their bullshit? Reminds me of congressmen being required to wear decals of their sponsors like racecars or something
Is the OTHER CEO of your company not an indication that you should probably stop your bitching?
Get the bankers out of my doctor's office, the only people who should have the authority to decide what care is necessary is the physician treating me and myself when signing informed consent forums.
Never forget that when a business owner tells you that they put consumers first, nothing is stopping them from converting their business into either a cooperative or a nonprofit organization dedicated to the public benefit. Even if it’s the case that at some given moment, the business really is putting consumers first, there is no benefit to the consumer for the business to continue operating as a privately owned for-profit institution. The only benefit a for-profit institution provides that a cooperative or nonprofit cannot, is the power for leadership to prioritize their own interests above all other stakeholders whenever it suits them.
We should really take the time to appreciate this man's dedication to the grindset and professionalism. He woke up earlier than most executives to get this once in a lifetime opportunity. He arranged travel plans by bus to execute on a plan that, by all objective measures, worked. Really they're just upset the murderer did it better.