# United healthcare CEO assassinated, the P&E edition {This is not a gun debate/statistics thread!} **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 5, 2024, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195 "2024-12-05T13:02:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/181 "2024-12-07T23:12:05Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Maybe this guy is just trying to throw off investigators. True. Who knows? The assumption that this was related to his CEO position may be a cover for a completely different motivation. Maybe his wife hired a professional … ? We may be all jumping to a story that ends up not being the case. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/182 "2024-12-07T23:17:52Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Presumably enhanced security now comes with the position Nah, if they get shot before the end of year bonuses, they save millions of dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2024, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/183 "2024-12-07T23:57:02Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > And _why_ is it a huge international news story? Because he was a rich white man. It’s just that simple. If his wife had murdered him because he was banging his secretary, it would have made the news, but not like this. It’s because of _why_ he was presumably killed– solely for being the CEO of UHC– that is capturing everyone’s attention. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/184 "2024-12-08T00:29:28Z")
What this incident really shows is that the public desire for major healthcare reform is immense. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/185 "2024-12-08T01:05:06Z")
Republican pundits have been trying to turn this into a left-vs-right culture war issue and failing. Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh have both put out “Radical leftists are actually cheering for violence against hardworking job creators!” type videos, and are getting slaughtered in the comments by Trump supporters universally saying “No, fuck those executives”, because the elite class wrongly assumed they could get magas to support the status quo. It sure would be nice if Democrats were to seize on this moment and make a call for broad reform of the insurance industry, but that would probably violate a norm or something, and we can’t have that. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/186 "2024-12-08T01:24:41Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > the elite class wrongly assumed they could get magas to support the status quo Not-the-status-quo is _exactly why_ MAGAts rally for Individual-ONE. These “elites” appear to have massive disconnect. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/187 "2024-12-08T01:27:38Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > It sure would be nice if Democrats were to seize on this moment and make a call for broad reform of the insurance industry Maybe they could press for laws requiring health insurance claims to be mediated by a third party, similar to binding arbitration in labor disputes. If they were _really_ smart they would sell this as being for the health insurance company’s protection. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/188 "2024-12-08T01:38:11Z")
Thus adding yet another layer of middleman expense to eat up more of the insurance premiums that people have to pay, leaving even less to pay for actual care. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/189 "2024-12-08T01:46:34Z")
If the claim is that insurance premiums are simply going into the pockets of equity investors instead of caring for sick people, then maybe it would be the lesser of two evils. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/190 "2024-12-08T01:50:38Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Not-the-status-quo is _exactly why_ MAGAts rally for Individual-ONE. These “elites” appear to have massive disconnect. Bingo. It’s going to get ugly if the MAGA types ever figure out they’ve been duped. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/191 "2024-12-08T02:04:05Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > It’s going to get ugly if the MAGA types ever figure out they’ve been duped. They won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/192 "2024-12-08T02:06:34Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > They won’t Per the Youtube comments I referenced above and in the SRIOTD thread, they seem to be doing exactly that. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/193 "2024-12-08T02:13:14Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > They won’t. I wonder if Robespierre thought the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/194 "2024-12-08T02:19:55Z")
Not just healthcare reform, but insurance reform in general. I’ve definitely heard of other insurers, mainly Farmers Insurance and Allstate, which over the years have also been notorious for refusal to pay legitimate claims. I realize that lots of people see the insurance company as a source of free money, which is one reason why 10% of Medicare dollars are spent on fraudulent claims - an amount that would probably cover a huge percentage of our un(der)insured population, who trend towards younger, healthier people. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/195 "2024-12-08T02:22:24Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > It sure would be nice if Democrats were to seize on this moment and make a call for broad reform of the insurance industry, but that would probably violate a norm or something, and we can’t have that. It would look REALLY bad. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/196 "2024-12-08T02:22:44Z")
> **[Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans) (@iwriteok.bsky.social)](https://bsky.app/profile/iwriteok.bsky.social/post/3lcr2umwzqc2y)** > > from a post about ben shapiro's new video in r/conservatives. > > they're learning. [![](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:kjixfa7wudorsmbyyfios3kp/bafkreihqiltbgzfuhbky7ymhe3a3ghby4fjim4mqlhxuypx74dysmocjfm@jpeg) ](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:kjixfa7wudorsmbyyfios3kp/bafkreihqiltbgzfuhbky7ymhe3a3ghby4fjim4mqlhxuypx74dysmocjfm@jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/197 "2024-12-08T02:23:01Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Per the Youtube comments I referenced above and in the SRIOTD thread, they seem to be doing exactly that. I know a Trump cultist. No amount of reality will penetrate their magical force field. > [@Odesio](#): > > I wonder if Robespierre thought the same thing. Robespierre was an optimist. I am a pessimist. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I realize that lots of people see the insurance company as a source of free money… It _is_ virtually free money… for the insurance companies. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/198 "2024-12-08T02:30:02Z")
Many years ago, I was needing work done on my roof, which turned out to be covered by my insurance minus the deductible due to hail damage, but anyway, one company I called for an estimate kept talking about ways we could screw over the insurance company (and I didn’t even know it was covered at the time; my neighbor mentioned it!). Sorry, that’s not how I operate. In the end, I submitted all the paperwork and pictures, and my agent cut me a check right there, in the low four figures. I have a relative who is still dealing with her insurance stonewalling her regarding house damage incurred in the August 2020 derecho in the Midwest, but we all know that she’s the type who would pull funny stuff, and probably is. In the 1980s, I read somewhere that at that time, automobile insurance fraud cost every American $200 a year. Not every driver, EVERY AMERICAN. I believed it then, and I believe now that, per the Inflation Calculator going back to 1985, that it now costs every American $586 a year. Around that time, I worked in the typing pool of an insurance company before I went back to college, and would occasionally get a bundle of files labeled “Cancelled due to underwriter’s judgment.” The one I remember included a newspaper article about the formerly insured church, whose pastor and other members would go to gay bars and abortion clinics, write down license plate numbers, and then call the cars’ owners’ employers and tell them where they had been. I had, and have, no idea how they were able to get that information, but they were, and the insurance company deemed them too big of a risk. I totally realize that this is NOT the same as a company that denies random claims, just because they can. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/199 "2024-12-08T02:53:12Z")
Years ago, working as a pharmacy tech, we’d see old folks made to drag themselves in to fill no-refill scripts over and over, so their doctors could bill Medicare for office visits Later, managing a factory Workmen’s Comp, there was a steady stream of “bark your shin, file a claim, and never work another day in your life” employees. Just a few degrees from the [Nub City](https://allthatsinteresting.com/nub-city-vernon-florida) mentality. The company would always eventually settle, believing that’s just the overhead of a low-wage, low motivation workforce. But then, if you pay the Danegeld, you always have the Dane. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2024, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195/200 "2024-12-08T03:02:09Z")
My aforementioned relative who’s still dealing with derecho red tape, when she divorced her first husband, took her kids to unnecessary doctor visits, because her ex had to pay the kids’ uninsured medical bills, and she wanted to soak him. She was approaching Munchausen by proxy status, and finally stopped because the kids were old enough to refuse to go to the doctor, just to appease her. Weird thing is, both of them have nothing to do with him or his family, and think she’s Da Bomb. I’d consider it parental alienation, but TBH, I don’t think their sperm donor was ever interested enough in them to care one way or another. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-healthcare-ceo-assassinated-the-p-e-edition-this-is-not-a-gun-debate-statistics-thread/1011195.md?page=11)