In This Story
UnitedHealthcare (UNH+0.35%) has taken down its leadership page from its website, following the fatal shooting of its CEO Brian Thompson on Wednesday. The move was mirrored by several other major health insurers, including Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield and Elevance Health (ELV-0.97%).
Thompson was fatally shot in New York City on Wednesday morning, just hours before he was set to speak at the healthcare firm’s annual investor day. The incident has prompted public scrutiny over how the industry evaluates claims.
Multiple outlets reported on Thursday that shell casings from the shooting had the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose” written on them. Some have speculated that these words refer to terms industry critics use to describe tactics that insurers employ to deny claims.
404 Media reported on Thursday that UnitedHealthcare’s “About Us” page, which previously featured Thompson’s name and photo along with other top executives, now redirects to the company’s homepage. An archived version of the page on Wayback Machine shows that page was still accessible Wednesday morning but has since been removed from both Google search results and the site’s navigation bar.
The leadership page for Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) now redirects to the company’s about us page. Anthem on Thursday said it was is backing off of a plan that would have placed a cap on the amount of time it covers for anesthesia used during medical procedures, after facing pushback regarding the plan from a professional group as well as intense backlash on social media.
Elevance Health also removed its leadership page, which now redirects to the company’s homepage.
UnitedHealthcare, Anthem BCBS, and Elevance Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Quartz.