A little more than a year before United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered in midtown Manhattan this week, a lawsuit against the insurance giant he led revealed how draconian its claims denial process had become.

Last November, the estates of two former UHC patients in Minnesota filed suit alleging the insurer used an AI algorithm to deny and override claims to elderly patients that had been approved by their doctors.

The algorithm in question, known as nH Predict, reportedly had a 90 percent error rate — and, according to the families of the two deceased men who filed the lawsuit, UHC knew about it.

As that lawsuit ended up in court, anger grew over the major insurer’s penchant for denying claims, and speculation about the assassin’s motives suggests he may have been one of those angered by UHC’s coverage.

Although we do not know the identity of the person who shot Thompson or his reasoning, reports claim that he wrote the words “deny,” “defend,” and “deposit” on the shell casing of the bullets used to shoot the CEO — a message that makes it seem as if the killer was angered by the insurance industry’s aggressive denial of coverage for sick patients.

Beyond the motives of the shooter himself, it is clear from the shockingly celebratory online reaction to Thompson’s killing that anger over America’s insurance and health care systems has reached the point of literal bloodlust.

As The American perspective To put it aptly: “Only about 50 million customers of America’s ruling medical monopoly could have any motive to retaliate against the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.”

And the alarming cruelty of the claims surrounding the company’s AI algorithm – we asked the company if it still uses it but didn’t get an immediate response – perfectly illustrates why they’re so angry.

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