Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said denied claims from a health insurance company could be interpreted by people struggling to afford health-related costs as “an act of violence” against them.
“All of that pain that people have experienced is being concentrated on this event. It’s really important that we take a step back, this is not to comment and this is not to say that an act of violence is justified, but I think for anyone who is confused or shocked or appalled, they need to understand that people interpret and feel and experience denied claims as an act of violence against them,” Ocasio-Cortez told CBS associate producer Jaala Brown.
“People go homeless over the financial devastation of a diagnosis that doesn’t get addressed or the amount they’re going to have to cover with a surprise bill,” the congresswoman added.
Her comments come after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed last week outside a midtown Manhattan hotel where UnitedHealth Group was holding its annual investor conference.
The shooting shines a light on the tensions between Americans and the health insurance industry. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also said in a recent interview that the shooting could be a warning “to everyone in the health care system,” adding that “people can be pushed only so far.”
Shell casings at the scene had words written on them with marker, according to The Associated Press, which were said to have included “depose,” “deny” and “defend” — terms that are often used to describe health insurance companies’ tactics to avoid paying out claims for medical treatment.
Those three words are also similar to the title of a 2010 book critical of the industry, “Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.”
“When we kind of talk about how systems are violent in this country in this passive way, our privatized health care system is like that for a huge amount of Americans,” Ocasio-Cortez said as she shared her own struggle with getting health insurance.
Luigi Mangione, the man suspected of killing Thompson, faces five counts including murder in the second degree, according to an arrest warrant. He also faces two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree and criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree.
Police said a ghost gun, silencer and writings expressing “some ill will toward corporate America” were found on Mangione, which linked him to the crime.
