Andrew Witty, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, testifies during the Senate Finance Committee hearing titled “Hacking America's Health Care: Assessing Cyberattack's Shift to Health Care and What's Next,” at the Dirksen Building in Washington , DC, on May 1, 2024.
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UnitedHealth Group Chief Executive Andrew Witty on Friday mourned the death of Brian Thompson, who ran the company's insurance division, and acknowledged that the U.S. healthcare system is “flawed” and needs reform.
“We know that the health care system is not working as well as it should, and we understand people's frustrations about it,” Witty wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times. “No one would design a system like the one we have. And no one did. It's a patchwork built over decades.”
UnitedHealth Group's “mission is to help make it work better,” he said.
“We are willing to partner with anyone, as we always have – healthcare providers, employers, patients, pharmaceutical companies, governments and others – to find ways to deliver high-quality care and lower costs,” Witty added.
The New York Times article marks Witty's first public comments since last week's fatal shooting of Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the largest private insurer in the U.S. UnitedHealth Group is the largest health care conglomerate in the U.S. country according to their income. Its market capitalization of nearly $475 billion has fallen since Thompson's death on Dec. 4.
Luigi Mangione, 26, is accused of shooting Thompson to death outside the Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan while the CEO was addressing UnitedHealth Group's investor day. Investigators have said Mangione was a critic of the health care industry, a view widely shared among Americans.
The murder has unleashed a wave of pent-up resentment and anger toward the insurance industry, which has become a popular villain blamed for rising health care costs and difficulties in accessing care. From denied claims, rising premiums and unexpected bills to a general lack of transparency, patients have flooded social media with stories about their own negative insurance experiences.
Still, the killing comes after a challenging year for insurers, which are under pressure to shore up profits. This year in particular, businesses faced higher medical costs as seniors opted for surgeries they had delayed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Witty acknowledged UnitedHealth Group's role in U.S. healthcare challenges.
“Health care is intensely personal and very complicated, and the reasons behind coverage decisions are not well understood,” Witty said, noting, “We share some responsibility for that.”
He did not provide details on what exactly could be done to reform the industry. But Witty said the company, along with employers, governments and other payers, needs to improve the way insurers explain what is covered and how those decisions are made.
It also noted that behind certain claims decisions “lies a comprehensive and continually updated body of clinical evidence focused on achieving the best health outcomes and ensuring patient safety.”
Witty said Thompson had gone above and beyond to help patients navigate the health care system.
