Insurance stocks down since killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

Major insurance stocks have fallen more than 6% since their closing prices last Tuesday, the day before the fatal shooting of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealth GroupThe insurance branch of, in downtown Manhattan.

This includes UnitedHealth, CVS Health And Cignawhich operate three of the nation’s largest private health insurers. Thompson, 50, led UnitedHealthcare, the largest private payer of health insurance benefits in the United States.

Luigi Mangione, 26, is accused of fatally shooting Thompson outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan last Wednesday as the CEO was on his way to UnitedHealth Group’s investor day. Investigators said Mangione was a critic of the health care industry, a view some Americans sympathized with online in the days after Thompson’s death.

The companies’ stock performance appears to be a response to “renewed rhetoric” condemning insurers’ business models, according to which they “prove incredibly profitable at the expense of some patients at different times of the year,” said Jared Holz, executive of Mizuho’s health. care equity strategist, said in an interview.

He emphasized that this is not a new theme in the industry, which many Americans blame for skyrocketing health care costs.

“I think the response from investors was, ‘Do we want to own this class of stock if there is going to be this renewed negative focus on the industry?’” Holz said.

UnitedHealthcare, like other major insurers, has faced lawsuits and criticism from regulators, lawmakers and patients for allegedly denying claims to maximize profits. Americans have criticized insurance companies for denying coverage for services or treatments, unexpected bills, high out-of-pocket costs and the dizzying complexity of navigating coverage, among other problems.

Even though backlash against the industry has intensified since the shooting, Holz said the negative reaction in stocks would likely end up being “fairly short-lived.” He added that he does not expect insurance companies to make substantial changes to their policies in response to the killing.

“Do I think companies are proactively doing anything different as a result of this? No,” Holz said.

New York prosecutors charged Mangione with second-degree murder, criminal possession of a loaded weapon and other crimes Monday evening, hours after his arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The charges in New York followed Mangione’s first court appearance in Pennsylvania on separate firearms and forgery charges.

Mangione, a private school valedictorian and Ivy League graduate who comes from an influential Maryland family, was held without bail following his arraignment Monday evening.

At a court hearing Tuesday afternoon, Mangione refused to waive his right to contest his extradition to New York City. A judge denied Mangione bail, sending him back to a Pennsylvania prison for the time being.

At the time of his arrest, Mangione was carrying handwritten pages criticizing the U.S. health care industry and pointing the finger at UnitedHealthcare, law enforcement officials told NBC News.

“I apologize for any conflict or trauma, but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it planned,” Mangione wrote, NBC reported.

Authorities are still investigating the motive for the shooting, which “will be revealed as the investigation continues over the coming weeks and months,” New York City Police Commissioner Jessica said Tuesday. Tisch, on NBC’s “TODAY” show. But she noted that Mangione’s memo contained “anti-corporatist sentiment and many problems with the health care industry.”