Madeline Halpert
Reporting from New York

Since yesterday’s assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, many have taken to social media to express their frustration with the US healthcare industry.

It is important to note that investigators have not provided a motive for the murder or linked it in any way to Thompson’s work. The search is also continuing for the suspected shooter.

But news of the shooting and discussion surrounding it appear to have brought the public’s long-simmering feelings about health insurance closer to boiling point.

The American public is frustrated with health care because it represents “a huge cost” for most people, said Christine Eibner, senior economist at the nonprofit think tank RAND Corporation.

In addition, Eibner said, insurers have increasingly declined treatment reimbursements in recent years and have made use of prior authorizations, a process that requires doctors to obtain approvals from health insurers before providing a service or filling a prescription to ensure that they doing so are medically necessary.

Such practices could fuel the online anger we’ve seen since Thompson’s murder, says Eibner.

And what the shooter reportedly wrote on the bullets – including the word “deny” – could be a reference to insurance denials, Eibner added, but cautioned that police have not confirmed the suspect’s motive.

Eibner says United Healthcare has faced numerous lawsuits because of this practice. But they’re certainly not the only company accused of denying further claims, she says.

“It happens everywhere,” she says. “All insurance companies do this.”