A year after Luigi Mangione's arrest, health care is even worse [View all]

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A year after Luigi Mangione’s arrest, health care is even worse
Brian Thompson's killing hasn't helped our public health crisis. Here's what actually might

By Troy Farah
National Affairs Editor
Published December 11, 2025 6:30AM (EST)


(Salon) An inordinate amount of proverbial ink has been spilled trying to psychoanalyze Luigi Mangione, who is in court this month, accused of killing Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO who was fatally shot this time last year. Articles and documentaries with titles like “Inside the mind of Luigi Mangione” and “The mind of a killer” abound, which is perhaps typical when an alleged assassin gets such a high profile.

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Even before many of these details were released, the internet became flooded by people projecting their own perceived motives onto the killing. Because the target in this assassination was the head of UnitedHealthcare, a company accused of cruelty and corruption toward sick and dying people, it was easy to see this as fighting back.

UnitedHealthcare is a company accused of numerous offenses, from ignoring doctors’ advice and denying claims for services they deemed not “medically necessary” to extracting overpayments from the federal government. Last year, a ProPublica investigation found that UnitedHealthcare denied critical treatment for kids with autism — which even the company acknowledged as “gold standard treatment” — all in an effort to maximize profit.

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If it’s true that Thompson’s killing was an act of vengeance, it doesn’t seem like it accomplished much, as I argued it wouldn’t last year in Salon. It’s not hard to predict that violence won’t undo violence. Maybe it’s too early to tell, but it definitely seems like public health and access to health care in America is much worse than it was a year ago.

Right now, Congress is still squabbling over Affordable Care Act subsidies, which are set to expire by the start of the new year. The vote, which has yet to be set, is expected to fail, making this concession to reopen the government another Democratic surrender. (Meanwhile, a $901 billion defense bill is considered “must-pass” legislation.) The result is expected to spike premiums for tens of millions of Americans, which is already happening across the nation while covering even less. ................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/12/11/a-year-after-luigi-mangiones-arrest-health-care-is-even-worse/