Captured--A Sign of the Times

the widely distributed photo

The assassin that knocked off the CEO of United Health Care was captured in Altoona, Pennsylvania after a tip from a McDonald's worker in response to a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. Police found a "ghost gun" similar to that used in the homicide, fake ID used to register at a Manhattan hostel, and a manifesto lambasting the health-care industry in his backpack.  Luigi Mangione, 26,is not your average killer. He comes from a wealthy country-club family, and has an ivy-league education where he studied computer science and engineering.  He was his private high-school (Gilmore in Baltimore) valedictorian. He could have become a CEO himself, managing one of his family's many businesses. Instead, he resorted to violence against the system.

There are circumstances that could explain his decision to kill the head executive of the nation's largest health-care company. Luigi suffered from debilitating back problems that interfered with the normal activities of an otherwise healthy, well-conditioned, young man. His father owns a nursing home. So Luigi he got a close-up view of the broken system of health-care-for-profit in this country. No doubt frustrated and angry by the treatment he and other patients experienced, he chose to seek revenge. The glaringly obvious fact Luigi undoubtably came to realize is that the system is designed to deliver maximum profits to health insurers and pharmaceutical companies. Just on Medicare Part D (drugs) alone, the government is expected to spend $137 billion in 2025. The cost for Medicare Part A and B is increasing with the minimum monthly premium set at $185. Even though Medicare Advantage was intended to save costs, the government spends more on it than original Medicare. By 2030 the federal government will be spending 20% of the national budget on health care. According to a Senate subcommittee study, UnitedHealthcare’s prior authorization denial rate for post-acute care surged from 10.9 percent in 2020, to 16.3 percent in 2021, to 22.7 percent in 2022. The company now plans to use AI to review claims and predict appeals, so the denial rate will continue to go up thereby contributing the profit margin.  Compared to other advanced countries, Americans pay more and get less because of the insurance industry profit motive.

This deplorable situation has led to a lot of anger and frustration across the country. Luigi became an instant folk-hero on-line, which indicates the depth of emotion surrounding health care. In the words of one industry expert, “people hate the health care insurance industry.” Perhaps some of the same popular resentment is responsible for the election of this nation's first criminal President. Luigi told federal investigators, out of respect for their work, that he acted alone. He has also commented on the misalignment of humanity's biology with modern, urban civilization. Now he will have to endure the extreme misalignment of prison life. He is currently fighting extradition to New York, which no longer has the death penalty. Pennsylvania has a death penalty moratorium in place since 2015.