UnitedHealthcare's Leaked Talking Points

UHC tells employee to dispute social media criticism, praise slain CEO

In response to widespread public criticism following the murder of its CEO Brian Thompson, UnitedHealthcare has circulated talking points to its employees that I’ve obtained. The talking points give a sense of the backlash from UnitedHealthcare’s own customers. One section about customers seeking to cancel their plans over the killing instructs employees to counter that “there is no need to change your plan due to this incident.”

Characteristically out-of-touch, the communications guidance directs employees to say that their mission includes “ensuring that everyone we have the privilege to service has access to the health care they need.” Not being able to access care is, of course, the entire reason so many people are furious at the health insurance industry in the first place. The same glib tone is evident throughout the talking points, one of which instructs employees to refer to the late CEO Thompson as “our esteemed colleague” and a “highly respected professional” — descriptions that are quite different than those I’ve heard from the rank-and-file employees I interviewed.

Leaked UHC talking points for employees

The guidance makes specific mention of “(social)media reports on claim denial rates,” directing employees to basically say they’re fake news. “The information circulating online about our claims is false,” one talking point reads. “A chart being widely spread on social media is false.” These assertions, however, make no reference to any specific “information,” so it’s impossible to know which social media claims they’re saying are false. I asked UnitedHealthcare’s communications department which specific social media claims they’re referring to (and to comment on the talking points in general), but they did not respond.

Despite all the sunny talk, there’s one type of query employees are told not to engage with under any circumstances. “If you receive a call from anyone in the media, do not engage,” the guidance states. This has been a particular focus of the company, including Andrew Witty, CEO of parent company United Health Group. This past weekend, Witty gave a company address complaining about the “aggressive” coverage, telling employees, “just don’t engage with the media,” as I previously reported.

To give you a sense of how many angry calls the company is getting, in a section on “abusive” calls, the talking points recommend employees turn off their headsets “to prevent incoming calls while you are on break.” I do feel bad for the rank-and-file employees, many of whom express the exact same criticisms of the company’s practices as the general public, based on my interviews with them. As usual, ordinary people are made to take the heat for decisions made in boardrooms. Executives get to go on living in blissful ignorance of the rage the public feels, instead living in a state of pleasant unreality where their late CEO was “esteemed” and “highly respected” by all.