Deaths of prominent business figures are normally greeted with sympathy, especially when they are unexpected or violent.
But the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has been greeted with scorn, at least online.
ConsumerAffairs maintains one of the largest databases of online reviews of UnitedHealthcare, numbering more than 2,000 published reviews and 3,000 submissions—and they are all overwhelmingly negative.
There have been 17 newly-posted reviews of UnitedHealthcare since Dec. 4, the day its CEO was shot dead in Midtown Manhattan, and every review has been one star out of a possible five.
"Not covering any of my ultrasounds during pregnancy," reviewer Marijana from Chicago, Illinois wrote on Dec. 6. "They are costing me more than I would pay in cash without having any insurance. What a rip off!"
"What’s the point of paying exorbitant premiums if they can’t even get the most straightforward claims right?," another reviewer named Nina from Richmond, Texas wrote on Dec. 5.
There have always been negative reviews of UnitedHealthcare and other health insurers, but the public berating of an executive shot down on the street has been unusual.
The comments on ConsumerAffairs, which moderates and doesn't post all submissions, have been mild compared to what's being said on social media.
UnitedHealthcare reviews have been consistently bad
Thompson's murder has highlighted dissatisfaction among health insurance clients, but they didn't feel much different from any other day, ConsumerAffairs reviews show.
Overall, there are 2,349 reviews of UnitedHealthcare on ConsumerAffairs and 92% of them have been just one star out of a possible five.
Not even 2% of of UnitedHealthcare's reviews are four stars or higher.
"Worst," "horrible," "terrible," "denied" and "poor" are among the 20 most-common words in the subjects of submitted reviews, according to a ConsumerAffairs analysis of the reviews dating back to 2018.
Insurance-comparison website ValuePenguin cites ConsumerAffairs as having the most UnitedHealthcare reviews of any of the sources it quotes in its rating.
UnitedHealthcare didn't immediately respond to a ConsumerAffairs request for comment.
Thompson served as CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the insurance arm of UnitedHealth Group, from April 2021 until his murder this month.
The company has come under criticism from politicians for denying more claims than its competitors.
UnitedHealthcare denies 32% of claims, compared with Kaiser Permanente having the lowest rate of 7%, according to insurance-comparison website Value Penguin.
Speculation has swirled that a denied claim motivated the still-at-large murderer of Thompson after the shooter left bullet casings that had "delay," "deny" and "depose" written on them.
A ConsumerAffairs reviewer named Sandy from Clintonville, Wisc. said she was a mental health provider and that her "clients almost always couldn't afford to use their insurance."
"[UnitedHealthcare] also profits on denying needed care," she wrote on Dec. 6. "They are the worst of all insurance companies by far."