In the aftermath of the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Rep. Ro Khanna expressed sympathy for Thompson’s family but said that the wasn’t surprised by the fierce criticism directed towards the American healthcare system.
“First of all, let me just say it was horrific,”, said Khanna in an ABC This Week interview. “I mean, this is a father we’re talking about of two children, and my sympathies to the entire family. There is no justification for violence.”
“But the outpouring afterwards has not surprised me.”, Khanna stated. “Look, I as a congressperson had UnitedHealthcare deny a prescription for a nasal $100 pump spray, and I couldn’t get them to reverse this. So imagine what ordinary people are dealing with the biggest denial comes when it’s cancer treatment. I mean, people are getting denied on cancer treatment.”.
“My view is very simple: Why can’t we have a rule that if a doctor prescribes something and if Medicare — traditional Medicare — is going to cover it, then private insurance companies should be forced to cover it? I mean, it’s absurd in this country what’s going on.”
Khanna then said that he agrees with fellow politician Sen. Bernie Sanders, who said that “We waste hundreds of billions a year on health care administrative expenses that make insurance CEOs and wealthy stockholders incredibly rich while 85 million Americans go uninsured or underinsured. Health care is a human right. We need Medicare for All.”, on social media.
“After years, Sanders is winning this debate”, said Khanna, while stating that the U.S. should be moving towards healthcare for all. Medicare is a public US health insurance program for those who are over 65 or have disabilities. Khanna advocated for addressing the injustices within the healthcare system such as capping out-of-pocket costs and requiring private insurers to cover anything that Medicare would, reported Politico.
As mentioned by The Guardian, healthcare debt is one of the leading causes for bankruptcy in the U.S., while UnitedHealthcare and other health insurers rank as some of the richest companies in the country.
Thompson was shot on Dec. 4 outside of a Manhattan hotel while on his way to attend a meeting with company investors. His death wasn’t met with sympathy, but with vitriol instead. One notable example of this was from Columbia School of Social Work’s Anthony Zenkus, who posted “Today, we mourn the death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, gunned down…. wait, I’m sorry – today we mourn the deaths of the 68,000 Americans who die needlessly each year so that insurance company execs like Brian Thompson can become multimillionaires.” on social media.
As mentioned by Politico, many on social media believed the shooter, suspected to be 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, was motivated by a resentment towards for-profit healthcare coverage. This was further supported by the shell casings found at the scene of the shooting, which had the words “deny”, “defend”, and “depose” etched into them, referencing tactics sometimes used by insurance companies to avoid paying claims.
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What a sick response by Ko. What did Thompson do to Mangione … nothing. There is no moral equivalence. Ko response gives license for sickos to do likewise to justify their solution to our current healthcare. If there are copycat assassinations, we’ll point the finger to the likes of Ko and Bernie.