69% Blame CEO Murder on US Healthcare System
New poll shows Luigi Mangione’s anger shared by most Americans
Believing the health insurance industry is at least partly responsible for the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO is not some fringe position. 69 percent of Americans say health insurance claim denials had “a great deal” or “moderate amount” of responsibility for the killing of CEO Brian Thompson, according to a new poll conducted by NORC at University of Chicago. Nearly as many (67 percent) blamed health insurance company profits.
The poll also captures a nuance that’s sorely lacking in major media coverage, which tends to collapse the issue into two camps: those who condemn the murder vs. those who support it. That kind of two-sizes-fits-all framing leaves no room for the view that both the shooter and the healthcare industry share responsibility for the CEO’s death. NORC’s poll suggests this more nuanced attitude is in fact quite mainstream. The number of respondents who blamed the shooter wasn’t much higher (78 percent) than those who blamed health insurance claim denials (69 percent).
Now compare that with the tsunami of corporate media op-eds and pundits expressing the sparkling insight that murder is wrong. Yeah, we know. Episodes like these really show you how much contempt these elite media organs have for the public, which they apparently see as helpless children in need of a preschool level moral lesson. This is the exact same media paternalism that prevented them from publishing Mangione “manifesto,” thinking the zombie-like masses would have no choice but to obey the writings and carry out similar acts of violence.
As the NORC poll shows, the vast majority of people know that, yes, of course murder is wrong — they just also happen to think there’s more to the story than that. And they’re right: how can you have an honest discussion about any of this without addressing the Moloch-like industry that profits from denying people healthcare? It’s like talking about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln without ever mentioning the Civil War.
Similar to the major media commentary, previous polling has focused on the idiotic question of whether the murder was “acceptable,” eliciting the predictable response that no, it was not.
But as the NORC poll demonstrates, the public’s attitudes are far more complex than they’re given credit for — a truth I’ve learned again and again in the past decade or so I’ve spent a reporter. You can learn a lot if you just shut up for long enough to listen to what ordinary people are saying. In this case, I learned that my own belief, that murder is wrong but that the health insurance industry abetted it, is a perfectly mainstream position. The major media gaslighting that you’re some kind of fringe lunatic if you think or say anything other than “I condemn this!” is the real marginal view. And that’s another lesson I’ve learned: very often you’re not alone in your beliefs. Certain views just don’t have access to the same megaphone that cable news anchors or New York Times columnists have.
I’ve included a copy of NORC’s polling data below so you can decide for yourself what to think. If you appreciate journalism that respects your intelligence, please become a paid subscriber so I can expand my efforts as we enter into a new year.
— Edited by William M. Arkin
I appreciate the fact that you also provide the raw data for the survey which most media outlets don’t. This was we can see beyond the summary! You really are a first rate reporter that respects and honors the intelligence of your readership. Thank you! 🙏🏽
I am angry with United Health; however, it makes no sense for me to switch to another oligarch, because I am 85 years old and on Medicare. Even so, I had surgery a year ago and was prescribed physical therapy after. UH covered only a small amount, which I did not learn until I finished. Even so, I was given a policy increase this year of 25%. They probably think I am a senile old woman who will not understand or react to what they have done. We desperately need to reform our health insurance system, and not just to protect the elderly. I think Trump and his Chaos Monkeys will make the situation even worse. Sigh...