Well being insurer shares fall after UnitedHealth exec homicide

By Sriparna Roy

(Reuters) – Shares of medical insurance corporations together with UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) continued to fall on Friday, two days after Brian Thompson, the CEO of the corporate’s medical insurance unit, was fatally shot outdoors a Manhattan resort by a gunman mendacity in wait.

The shooter continues to be at giant and his motive for the assault has not been decided, police officers say.

Thompson’s loss of life sparked a large social media dialog over frustrations with navigating the U.S. medical insurance system, notably when medical bills usually are not coated or insurance coverage claims or requests for care are denied.

“The anti-insurer sentiment expressed by the general public after this occasion means that UnitedHealth and maybe the business might have to regulate how they deal with protection choices,” mentioned Morningstar analyst Julie Utterback.

Shares of UnitedHealth had been down 4.8% on Friday after a 5% drop on Thursday. Rival insurers Elevance, Centene (NYSE:CNC), CVS Well being (NYSE:CVS), and Cigna (NYSE:CI) additionally fell between 1% and three% in afternoon buying and selling. These shares all misplaced floor on Thursday as properly.

The phrases “deny,” “defend” and “depose” had been carved into shell casings discovered on the scene, police sources instructed ABC and the New York Put up. The phrases evoke the title of Jay Feinman’s 2010 ebook vital of the U.S. insurance coverage business: “Delay Deny Defend: Why Insurance coverage Firms Do not Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.”

Social media websites have been flooded with indignant posts attacking the businesses and customers sharing private frustrations on protection rejections and the way they’ve been denied mandatory care, in addition to sarcastic movies with unsympathetic messages like “ideas and prayers require prior authorization.”

Medical health insurance corporations are reassessing the dangers for his or her prime executives with each UnitedHealth and CVS eradicating pictures of their management groups from their web sites after the taking pictures.

Potential adjustments in protection choices could also be prompted by inner initiatives or exterior pressures that might pose dangers for earnings, mentioned Utterback.

The insurance coverage business has been going through increased prices over the previous few quarters on account of elevated demand for healthcare below government-backed Medicare plans for older adults or these with disabilities, in addition to adjustments in Medicaid eligibility from states, which has left insurers with extra sufferers who require extra medical companies.