The Manhattan shooting of Brian Thompson, CEO of United Healthcare

[DaveBrown74]

I have a lot of the same thoughts.  Right now on social media he is being called a hero by many people.  In 5 years when he is still facing decades in prison and people have long since moved on, I would think his view will change.

 

For sure, and I think you nailed it with the final point. I think this guy correctly predicted he'd be praised, if not lionized, by lots of people for doing this. He got that part right.

I suspect the part he didn't calculate correctly is that nobody will care about him anymore in a 4-5 years when this is all over and he's sitting in a supermax prison in the middle of nowhere with basically no hope of getting out anytime in the next 25-30 years, if ever.

If someone told him that right now he'd surely deny it, but it will sink in eventually.

[Ed Vette]

I suspect his Attorney will plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

[DaveBrown74]

I suspect his Attorney will plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

Yup. He has no other play here.

[DaveBrown74]

I suspect his Attorney will plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

I guess stuff like this can't hurt at this point if he's going for the insanity play. Might as well act like a total nut-job.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCiPMMbGCIk

[Ed Vette]

I guess stuff like this can't hurt at this point if he's going for the insanity play. Might as well act like a total nut-job.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCiPMMbGCIk

That and the inside the court antics lead me to think he was setting up his plea.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

The world is going to hell in a handbasket. His past professor of sociology at University of Pennsylvania left a a couple notes on social media (since been taken down) that she "has never been more proud of one of her students" and that she has "never been prouder to be a professor at University of Penn"...WTF

I guess it's okay to celebrate cold-blooded murder if it advances a political agenda     

"A University of Pennsylvania professor (Julia Alekseyeva) made social media posts celebrating Luigi Mangione and then appeared to take down her TikTok account after going viral for celebrating the murder by the suspected killer of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson..." NY POST

[MightyGiants]

Alleged CEO killer praised Elon Musk and backed Peter Thiel in social media posts

The alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare's CEO shared content praising billionaire Elon Musk and venture capitalist Peter Thiel on social media.

Luigi Mangione, who was charged with murder in New York City on Monday night over the fatal shooting of Brian Thompson, has been portrayed as being "anticapitalist" by some and hailed a " hero" by others for taking a radical stance against the American health insurance industry.

But the reality appears to be more complex, with the Ivy League-educated 26-year-old having supported sentiments shared by some of the world's richest men, according to his X profile.

Earlier this year, Mangione shared a post on his X account of another user praising Musk for his "commitment to long-term civilization success."

It referenced a post by Musk from March this year where he claimed he was "in a battle to the death with the anti-civilizational woke mind virus."

One of the most recent posts on Mangione's X's profile was a repost of a video of Thiel, the right-wing billionaire who introduced JD Vance to Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in 2021.

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/luigi-mangione-murder-unitedhealthcare-elon-musk-b2661922.html

[squibber]

I cringe a little bit whenever the media mentions his first name, Luigi. Luigi is my official first name and I never cared for it.

My last name has a lot of vowels in it too. Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert thinks the killer's name is funny. Oh well.

[MightyGiants]

I will tell you what: I sympathize with people who are fed up with insurance companies.  Not to the point of gunning down the executives, but those companies certainly play fast and loose with people's lives.


I have HMO health insurance. Back in the spring, I had a minor medical procedure.  I followed the procedure of going to my primary doctor and getting a referral.  I brought my referral to the specialist and got my procedure.

While I was sitting in the ER after being struck by a car, I got an email on my phone from the specialist telling me I was on the hook for thousands of dollars in medical costs.   When I was able to look into the matter, I found that my health insurance had denied the claim.

I reached out to the health insurance and explained to them that I had gone to the primary doctor (one on their list), got my referral, and went to a specialist on their list.   Turns out the form the primary doctor gave me was incorrect and their specialist had failed to identify the issue as well.  The insurance company told me I was out of luck and the best I could do was file a petition to try and overturn their ruling and hope.

Well, I was not too happy and filed a formal complaint with the NJ agency that oversees insurance.  Apparently, they take those complaints seriously.  The same day, they said they were referring it to a different agency, and the insurance company reached out to me about trying to resolve the issue.

At the same time, I worked with the managers of my primary doctor (the ones that screwed up the paperwork). 

Between both efforts and with many hours of needless frustration and aggregation, I was able to get the insurance company to honor their commitment to cover my medical costs.

I was none too pleased with my insurance company through all of this (and not that fond of my primary either).

[Ed Vette]

I will tell you what: I sympathize with people who are fed up with insurance companies.  Not to the point of gunning down the executives, but those companies certainly play fast and loose with people's lives.


I have HMO health insurance. Back in the spring, I had a minor medical procedure.  I followed the procedure of going to my primary doctor and getting a referral.  I brought my referral to the specialist and got my procedure.

While I was sitting in the ER after being struck by a car, I got an email on my phone from the specialist telling me I was on the hook for thousands of dollars in medical costs.   When I was able to look into the matter, I found that my health insurance had denied the claim.

I reached out to the health insurance and explained to them that I had gone to the primary doctor (one on their list), got my referral, and went to a specialist on their list.   Turns out the form the primary doctor gave me was incorrect and their specialist had failed to identify the issue as well.  The insurance company told me I was out of luck and the best I could do was file a petition to try and overturn their ruling and hope.

Well, I was not too happy and filed a formal complaint with the NJ agency that oversees insurance.  Apparently, they take those complaints seriously.  The same day, they said they were referring it to a different agency, and the insurance company reached out to me about trying to resolve the issue.

At the same time, I worked with the managers of my primary doctor (the ones that screwed up the paperwork). 

Between both efforts and with many hours of needless frustration and aggregation, I was able to get the insurance company to honor their commitment to cover my medical costs.

I was none too pleased with my insurance company through all of this (and not that fond of my primary either).

But you didn't shoot anyone in the back over it.

[DaveBrown74]

The world is going to hell in a handbasket. His past professor of sociology at University of Pennsylvania left a a couple notes on social media (since been taken down) that she "has never been more proud of one of her students" and that she has "never been prouder to be a professor at University of Penn"...WTF

I guess it's okay to celebrate cold-blooded murder if it advances a political agenda     

"A University of Pennsylvania professor (Julia Alekseyeva) made social media posts celebrating Luigi Mangione and then appeared to take down her TikTok account after going viral for celebrating the murder by the suspected killer of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson..." NY POST

What a complete and utter disgrace.

[T200]

I will tell you what: I sympathize with people who are fed up with insurance companies.  Not to the point of gunning down the executives, but those companies certainly play fast and loose with people's lives.


I have HMO health insurance. Back in the spring, I had a minor medical procedure.  I followed the procedure of going to my primary doctor and getting a referral.  I brought my referral to the specialist and got my procedure.

While I was sitting in the ER after being struck by a car, I got an email on my phone from the specialist telling me I was on the hook for thousands of dollars in medical costs.   When I was able to look into the matter, I found that my health insurance had denied the claim.

I reached out to the health insurance and explained to them that I had gone to the primary doctor (one on their list), got my referral, and went to a specialist on their list.   Turns out the form the primary doctor gave me was incorrect and their specialist had failed to identify the issue as well.  The insurance company told me I was out of luck and the best I could do was file a petition to try and overturn their ruling and hope.

Well, I was not too happy and filed a formal complaint with the NJ agency that oversees insurance.  Apparently, they take those complaints seriously.  The same day, they said they were referring it to a different agency, and the insurance company reached out to me about trying to resolve the issue.

At the same time, I worked with the managers of my primary doctor (the ones that screwed up the paperwork). 

Between both efforts and with many hours of needless frustration and aggregation, I was able to get the insurance company to honor their commitment to cover my medical costs.

I was none too pleased with my insurance company through all of this (and not that fond of my primary either).

Glad you were able to get it resolved. I, too, sympathize with you and others who have to jump through unnecessary hoops even after you followed their procedures to a T.

[MightyGiants]

Glad you were able to get it resolved. I, too, sympathize with you and others who have to jump through unnecessary hoops even after you followed their procedures to a T.

It took me months, and I am pretty resourceful and tenacious.  I got lucky that my complaint filed by the state was taken seriously.  I have my doubts about whether the insurance company would have been so willing to work with me to resolve the issue if they had not been concerned about the complaint.  I also had help from someone who has had a lot of medical and insurance issues and who had advised me not to pay because once you do, you will never get the money back.

I can only imagine what people who don't have the time, ability, and resources to deal with such a situation go through.  I imagine many end up paying the huge expense.   I think experiences like mine are why healthcare companies are so reviled.

Don't even get me started where I needed an injection under my kneecap to help my knee problems, and the insurance said I needed to get the drug that required 3 injections rather than one.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

South Park did a parody on insurance companies a few months ago. Sadly, it's not far from the truth

[squibber]

My wife worked for Blue Cross Blue Shield decades ago in a department that approved or denied claims. Her manager was a piece of work. She would approve or deny claims depending on her mood that day.

On one day she might say "No, we're not paying for that". The next day for the same procedure she would tell my wife "Of course we pay for that".

I guess the moral of the story is don't take the insurance company's decision as the final word.