“Although the motive for the killing is yet unknown, Johnson’s death has touched a raw nerve for many Americans about their often dire and exploitative dealings with the US for-profit healthcare industry. Conjecture about the motive for the killing was heightened by words scrawled on the bullets in magic marker: “deny”, “depose”, and “defend”.

On social media, Thompson’s death was met by an outpouring of rage at the private health insurance industry he represented, alarming researchers of political violence and putting corporate executives on edge.

Many compared Johnson’s killing to health insurer’s denials of care – with charts about denial rates going viral, and corporate security firms noting a distinct uptick in violence over the past five years.

“There’s a lot of just pent-up outrage at this company and other companies that are middlemen that are standing between a patient and his or her doctor or hospital,” Wendell Potter, a former Cigna vice-president who has become an industry critic, told the Minnesota Star Tribune.

As Americans shared stories about the stinging treatment at the hands of private insurers, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in Connecticut, New York and Missouri announced they would no longer pay for anesthesia is a surgery goes beyond a certain time limit.”

—Jessica Glenza for The Guardian

Fri 6 Dec 2024 09.28 EST