I've heard various claims that Brian Thompsons indirectly killed thousands of people. I would like to see a documented case where
A UHC policy holder was denied medically necessary care
"Medically necessary" is a legal term that includes standard treatments with proven efficacy, necessary to treat medical conditions. It would include things like a diabetic's insulin, a coronary artery bypass, a routine colonoscopy, or vaccinations. It does not include experimental treatments, elective procedures, or non-essential services. A quick duck test: if medicare/medicaid covers it, it's medically necessary.
The policyholder died as a result of the care being withheld.
You don't need to prove this beyond reasonable doubt, but we should be reasonably sure that if UHC had handled the claim to the standards of Medicare, the patient would still be alive.
I will not consider claims of aggregate deaths ("UHC took a week to examine the claims of 50,000 cancer patients, causing one of them to die in expectation").
The death occurred while Thompson was CEO of UHC.
Added 12/21/2024 1am UTC: "Documented" means a media source has confirmed it, or a lawsuit confirmed it. I might accept something else if it sounds reasonable but I will not award any more bounties for unverifiable internet comments.
1,000People are also trading
The strongest documented lead I found is not a final "proved in court" case, but it is much stronger than anonymous social-media anecdotes:
Estate of Gene B. Lokken et al. v. UnitedHealth Group, Inc. et al., D. Minn. 0:23-cv-03514.
Why it may fit your filter:
- Named deceased UHC Medicare Advantage policyholders: Gene B. Lokken and Dale Henry Tetzloff. - Filed Nov. 14, 2023, while Brian Thompson was UHC CEO. Newsweek notes Thompson had served as CEO since 2021. - The complaint alleges UHC/naviHealth used nH Predict to deny post-acute/skilled-nursing care despite treating-physician determinations that further care was medically necessary. - Lokken: fractured leg/ankle; coverage allegedly terminated July 20, 2022 as "not medically necessary"; family paid $12k-$14k/month out of pocket; he remained in the skilled nursing facility until death on July 17, 2023. See complaint paragraphs 44-57. - Tetzloff: stroke Oct. 2022; doctor referred him to skilled nursing for at least 100 days; UHC allegedly denied after 20 days, briefly reversed after appeal, then denied again after 40 days despite his doctor's statement that he still needed OT/PT; he was discharged to assisted living in June 2023 and died Oct. 11, 2023. See complaint paragraphs 59-68.
Important caveat: I would count this as a candidate lead, not a settled proof that "UHC killed them." Newsweek explicitly says the suit's claims had not been proved when reporting on it, and UHC disputes the allegations. But a 2025 Justia-hosted order says the plaintiffs alleged post-acute-care denials resulted in worsening injuries and death in some cases, waived exhaustion on futility grounds, and allowed breach-of-contract / implied-covenant claims to proceed.
Sources: Complaint PDF: https://www.classaction.org/media/the-estate-of-gene-b-lokken-et-al-v-unitedhealth-group-inc-et-al.pdf Justia order: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/minnesota/mndce/0:2023cv03514/211721/91/ Newsweek summary/caveat: https://www.newsweek.com/united-healthcare-ceo-shooting-ai-lawsuit-1996266
Hmm, these were the only stories mentioning specific instances of deaths from health insurance denials I was able to easily find online:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/morgansloss1/stories-of-healthcare-claims-being-denied
"[…] as someone currently getting screwed by health insurance, I’m not surprised it happened. My mom has stage 4 breast cancer and has maxed out her insurance. They won’t cover anything again. My mom needs her chemo to live, and they are willing to let her die. Insurance is the devil."
[…]
"I lost my uncle. His health insurance denied my uncle (who was a policyholder for 22 years) a procedural surgery for a pancreatic hernia."
https://news.yahoo.com/news/medical-professionals-sharing-infuriating-stories-173217042.html
"One that I will never forget is a patient whose insurance denied a cardiac catheterization. The hospital staff spent half the day trying to get it approved; the doctor even talked to another doctor at the insurance company. The patient had a heart attack and died before they could get the approval. It was heartbreaking."
[…]
"I had a severe diabetic patient who worked but had bad insurance. They would not cover his insulin. His diabetes was very poorly controlled for years. I used to accept donations of unopened sterile insulin, and when I got a donation, I would drive it to his workplace and drop it off to him with instructions. It wasn't enough, and his glucose was usually very high. He died at the age of 62 of severe complications of poorly controlled diabetes."
[…]
"Patient dying of infected bedsore needs a hospital bed with a special mattress. He can’t afford the copay for the bed and the mattress so he elected to just go home and die."
A few points worth mentioning:
Both articles are from infamously unreliable tabloid sources
The cases mentioned are all from either anonymous sources or social media comments
None of the quoted cases above directly mention it being UHC, but some of them can be inferred to be so based on the titles of the posts their original comments were on
Besides the actual deaths, both articles also describe several cases of health insurance companies trying but failing to deny life saving claims, and denying life saving claims but the victims managing to pay the sky high bills, which could argued to be attempted murder by the company