26 December 2024

Why Do You Think the Killing of a Health Care C.E.O. Has Sparked Such an Intense National Conversation?

Katherine Schulten

If you live in the United States, you have almost certainly heard the news about the killing of the UnitedHealthcare chief executive, Brian Thompson, along with the hunt for his killer and the arrest of a suspect.

As The Times writes, this story “has mesmerized a deeply polarized nation that shares a collective frustration over dealings with health insurance companies.”

Have you, too, been mesmerized by this news? If so, why?

In the Dec. 10 article “Reaction to C.E.O. Killing Exposes Frustrations With Health System,” Dionne Searcey and Sarah Kliff report: On social media, some people have cheered for the gunman and expressed little remorse over the death of Mr. Thompson, 50, a father of two boys from Maple Grove, Minn., with some painting him as the villain in a national health care crisis.

And now that the identity of the suspect, Luigi Mangione, 26, has been revealed and more photos of him have emerged, he is being defended or even applauded in some circles.


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