LinkedIn Seems To Be The Only Social Platform Where People Are Posting ‘Thoughts & Prayers’ For UHC CEO Brian Thompson
The rest of social media has a very different take on the UHC CEO.
Thaspol Sangsee | Shutterstock Americans have experienced mixed reactions following the deadly shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as he left his Manhattan hotel in the early hours of December 4, 2024.
Some have expressed their relief and joy, hoping that this may be the turning point of the severely broken American healthcare system. Others have publicly mourned, sharing their sympathies for Thompson’s family and condemning the violence that resulted in his death.
One online platform in particular appears to be a designated space where users can mourn the loss of Thompson without applauding his killer’s motives — and it isn’t exactly all that surprising.
LinkedIn is one of the only social platforms where users have expressed their ‘thoughts and prayers’ in the wake of Thompson’s death.
Since most people on LinkedIn are utilizing the platform to develop their careers, network, and seek out new job opportunities and candidates, it makes sense that they would have more empathy than malice for a powerful leader like Thompson.
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Others in a position of power have expressed their condolences to Thompson’s family and are saddened by his sudden death.
Tim Wentworth, the CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance, was just one of those people.
“Our deepest and heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and loved ones of Brian Thompson, as well as to the entire team at UnitedHealth Group,” he shared in a post on his LinkedIn profile. “Like so many across the healthcare industry and business world, we were shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the tragic, unthinkable news today.”
“I have long respected Brian as a dedicated leader, and our thoughts and prayers are with the countless people who knew him on this incredibly difficult day.”
The CEO and President of Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Kim Keck, also expressed her sympathies for the late businessman.
“The news of Brian Thompson’s death has shocked and deeply saddened all of us. I knew him to be a visionary leader who developed innovative ideas to take on some of the nation's greatest challenges,” she wrote. “His death is a great loss for our country and for the health care industry. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family, friends, and colleagues.”
While there is nothing necessarily wrong with people expressing their grief and sympathies for a colleague who was murdered, people on other platforms appear to be experiencing vastly different reactions.
Unlike LinkedIn, many people on other platforms are celebrating Thompson's death.
An announcement on the Facebook page of UnitedHealthcare announcing Thompson’s death garnered over 123,000 laugh emojis.
People on TikTok, Instagram, and X have shared their personal horror stories regarding denied claims by UnitedHealthcare, with some believing that Thompson's death was karmic retribution.
Instead of remembering Thompson, many people chose to remember how his company had horribly failed them.
“Remembering the day United Healthcare denied a one-night hospital stay for my 12-year-old child as ‘medically unnecessary’ following ASD heart repair surgery,” one X user shared.
“I had multiple seizures in the hospital and was paralyzed for a couple of days but my hospital stay was deemed medically unnecessary,” another revealed.
Even Thompson’s suspected killer did not appear to have remorse for his actions.
26-year-old Luigi Mangione had a message for reporters as he was dragged by police into the Blair County Court House for his hearing on December 10.
“It’s completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people and their lived experience!” he shouted, appearing to be a reference for the charges against him.
The “lived experience” Mangione was referring to may just be those of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have been screwed by the healthcare system.
Hundreds of thousands of people who are supposed to receive necessary coverage from their health insurance companies are too often denied the care they need just to survive — and all for the financial benefit of the people who run the company.
In the months leading up to Thompson’s death, UnitedHealth was one of the three major health insurance companies that intentionally denied claims for nursing care to patients for profit.
Mourning someone who was murdered but who also actively contributed to UnitedHealth's coverage denials can be profoundly challenging.
“Today, we mourn the death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, gunned down.... wait, I'm sorry — today we mourn the deaths of the 68,000 Americans who needlessly die each year so that insurance company execs like Brian Thompson can become multimillionaires,” a Columbia University Professor shared on X.
“Currently, over 1,000 people go bankrupt daily, solely due to personal medical bills. Anyone who can make millions of dollars overseeing a system like this, and sleep well at night doesn’t deserve my sympathy,” Beau Forte, a former Green Party candidate for Congress in New Jersey who ran on a platform calling for universal healthcare, told The Independent.
Even though Thompson may have been the CEO of a major healthcare organization, he is not solely responsible for failing patients who depended on it and were denied coverage.
It is time that we start holding insurance companies as a whole responsible for their inhumane treatment of those who rely on them to survive. The harsh reality is that Thompson’s death could have been prevented had his company done its job and prevented the deaths of many innocent people who just needed to see a doctor.
There are more people to point fingers at besides Thompson in the broken system.
While his death may be tragic for his grieving loved ones, it does not change the fact that Thompson had questionable ethics, and the healthcare system needs to undergo some serious changes.
Even though someone’s murder should not be treated like a celebration, in this case, many people are celebrating the justice that was served, especially if they have endured horrors involving the healthcare system.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.