A Case Reflecting Late-Stage Capitalism’s Toll on Humanity

Introduction

The Brian Thompson murder shocked the nation, not just for its violence, but for what it symbolizes—a visceral reaction to systemic injustice. Thompson, a top United Health Care executive, was gunned down outside his hotel. Many speculate his death stemmed from anger over United Health Care’s Medicare Advantage policies, notorious for denying critical treatments to maximize profits. Could this act of violence be seen as a desperate response to corporate greed run amok?

The Role of United Health Care in the Brian Thompson Murder

United Health Care has repeatedly come under fire for unethical practices that prioritize profits over patients. A 2022 investigative report revealed numerous cases where United Health Care denied care arbitrarily. One such case involved a 72-year-old cancer

patient in Texas. Despite her doctor’s urgent request for a new treatment, the company delayed approval for months, claiming “insufficient evidence of efficacy.” By the time she received the green light, her condition had deteriorated beyond recovery. She died weeks later, leaving her family to battle medical debt and grief.

Such behavior fosters resentment among the insured, especially seniors, who rely on these companies to fulfill their promises. United Health Care has also been caught using algorithms to predict which treatments are likely to be expensive, then systematically flagging them for denial. These policies epitomize late-stage capitalism, where human lives become line items in profit-and-loss statements.

Examples of Corporate Greed Across the Industry

The failures of United Health Care reflect an industry-wide pattern. In 2020, Aetna faced a lawsuit after denying a 24-year-old’s request for life-saving cancer treatment. Aetna’s justification? The treatment was “experimental,” even though it had been FDA-approved for years. Public outrage grew after the plaintiff’s death revealed that executives had overridden medical experts to save costs.

Similarly, Cigna employs a policy where doctors spend less than two minutes reviewing claims before rejecting them, as exposed by a 2023 ProPublica investigation. One physician described the practice as “rubber-stamping denials,” with no real evaluation of patient needs. These strategies not only harm patients but also erode public trust in healthcare institutions.

Brian Thompson Murder: Late-Stage Capitalism’s Deadly Consequences

The Brian Thompson murder serves as a grim reminder of the consequences of prioritizing profits over people. Medicare

Advantage programs across the board have earned reputations for skimping on care while overbilling the government. In 2022 alone, the Department of Justice identified over $4 billion in fraudulent overcharges by insurers, including Anthem and Humana.

Take the case of a Florida man in his 80s who was denied a necessary lung transplant. His Medicare Advantage plan deemed the surgery “non-essential” due to his age, despite clear recommendations from his medical team. He died within six months, sparking outrage in his community. When questioned, the insurer admitted the decision was part of a cost-management policy targeting older patients.

Could the Gunman Represent a Cry for Justice?

While violence cannot be condoned, the Brian Thompson murder brings to light a profound question: What happens when people see no legal recourse against corporate exploitation? The healthcare industry’s unchecked greed creates an environment where desperation can boil over into tragedy. If jurors in this case consider the systemic failures that led to the gunman’s actions, they may struggle with how to mete out justice.

This tragedy serves as a stark indictment of corporate greed in healthcare, challenging society to confront these systemic failures. Without meaningful reform, such desperate acts may become the only way for people to demand accountability.

Of course, we do not know for certain that the Brian Thompson Murder was based on the analysis in this post. Perhaps we might never know the motivation of the shooter. But it is difficult to put aside the victim’s position and the track record of his company to initially think otherwise. Unless proven that there was another motive, I’ll stick with this theory of a crime as egregious as the legal, but unethical, and immoral, and what ought to be crimes, perpetrated by United Health Care and the rest of the industry.

Sources Cited

Anderson, R. (2023). The ethics of Medicare Advantage: Cost-cutting or corporate greed? Journal of Public Health Ethics, 15(3), 203-217.

Browning, J. (2022). “Delays in care: The silent killer in Medicare Advantage plans.” Health Policy Review, 8(2), 102-109.

ProPublica. (2023). “Cigna’s two-minute denials: The business of rejecting care.”

U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). (2023). Medicare Advantage overpayments and their impact on seniors. Washington, D.C.: GAO.

Suggestions for Further Reading

“The Healthcare Crisis in America” by Michael Fine – Examines the systemic flaws in U.S. healthcare.

“Profits Before Patients” by Wendell Potter – A former insider exposes corporate greed in health insurance.

“Ethics and Late-Stage Capitalism” by David Harvey – Links profit-driven practices to societal harm.

“No Healing Allowed” by Timothy Faust – Reveals the human cost of for-profit healthcare policies.

“Dying for Coverage” by Families USA – Documents the real-world impact of treatment denials.

“Medicare Meltdown” by Rosemary Gibson – Analyzes privatized healthcare’s failures.

“The Illusion of Choice” by Elisabeth Warren – Explores economic policies shaping healthcare inequities.

“Healthcare Wars” by Elisabeth Rosenthal – Investigates industry practices that prioritize profits over care.

“Systemic Negligence” by Atul Gawande – Critiques healthcare failures from a surgeon’s perspective.

DISCLAIMER: The images on this page, and across the whole blog are created using AI imaging and are intended to illustrate the argument in the post. They are NOT representing real people or events directly, rather the images enhance the overall argument being made and nothing more. We do not intend any offense, nor do we intend to single out individuals in any way by the images themselves.