On December 4th this year, the CEO of UnitedHealthCare Brian Thomson was shot dead as he was walking to the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel in New York City.
The suspected shooter, 26 year old Luigi Mangione, has quickly become a symbolic figure of the growing discontentment the American people feel as the wealth gap continues to widen.
While some see him as a man who committed an act of cold-blooded murder, others, especially those who have had traumatic experiences with the health care system, see that there is a larger conversation to be had.
When looking at Mangione’s upbringing and background, it may come across as shocking that the young man would eventually become a killer. Mangione grew up in Maryland and was raised in a prominent Italian-American family who made it’s fortune in real-estate development. He was also the valedictorian of his high school, was voted ‘best at pick up lines’, and later went on to graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy-League school with a bachelor’s and master’s in computer and information science.
Mangione’s last known address was in Hawaii, where he took part in a surfing co-living community. Residents of the community have stated that Mangione left due to a back injury that had worsened during his stay. Individuals online have suspected that this injury, which has reportedly caused Mangione severe pain, could be a potential motivation for the killing.
Before Mangione was even detained as a suspect, the murder of Brian Thompson was already met with a wide range of responses amid the American healthcare landscape. Discussions of claim denials from multiple insurance companies came to light amid the murder, varying from 2% to 49% depending on the insurance and coverage. In an NPR interview with 1,340 U.S adults, 36% of the individuals had experienced at least one coverage denial. In a Gallup poll, 81% of Americans in 2023 reported to be dissatisfied with the cost of healthcare in the country.
Being from a wealthy family, one can assume that Mangione would not fall into one of these statistics, as they would most likely have the financial means to assist him with health issues, making the case all the more puzzling, as people grapple with what made the Ivy-League graduate decide to kill in the first place.
As the case continues to gain traction, more and more people are coming forward with their own personal experiences with health care in the United States.
Posts on X reported by CNN explain firsthand experiences with health insurance companies. One user shared how the company refused to cover the cost of their surgery two days before it was scheduled. The user's surgeon spent a day and half pleading the case to United before she was able to proceed. Another user shared how their breast cancer surgery was denied by another company who asked the client whether or not “it’s an emergency” and had to appeal for it to be covered.
Regarding the sentiments of the American public, many people have gone so far as to label Mangione as a “Katniss Everdeen” type of revolutionary and kick start the conversation of class consciousness. Ben Shapiro, a conservative podcaster, spoke on the murder, condemning Mangione’s actions. Despite Shapiro’s subscribers being mainly conservative individuals, his comments on his Youtube channel expressed disappointment towards Shapiro’s words for framing the situation as a “right vs left” issue instead of an ‘up vs down’.
Much of the online conversation surrounding the shooting concerns the emergence of class solidarity and the barricades everyday Americans face while trying to live in a country where it is increasingly difficult to do so. With that, an ample amount of individuals have spoken how they refuse to hold empathy for the murder of Brian Thompson. From their perspective, a millionaire healthcare CEO, whose company's actions do not reflect compassion for their clients, is not worthy to grieve.
As Mangione’s trial continues to go underway, time will tell how the American public will respond to the verdict and more importantly, if the conversations surrounding the health care system will result in change.
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