UnitedHealthcare (UHC) health insurance company signage is displayed on an office building in Phoenix, Arizona, July 19, 2023.
Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images
UnitedHealthcare on Thursday named company veteran Tim Noel as its new CEO following the targeted killing of its former top executive, Brian Thompson, in Manhattan in December.
Noel was head of Medicare and retirement at UnitedHealthcare, the largest private health insurer in the United States. It is the insurance branch of UnitedHealth Groupthe nation’s largest healthcare conglomerate by revenue and market capitalization of more than $480 billion.
Noel, who first joined the company in 2007, “brings unparalleled experience to this role, with a proven track record and strong commitment to making healthcare work better for consumers, physicians, employers, governments and our other partners,” UnitedHealth Group said in a statement. statement.
The company is still reeling from Thompson’s killing, which unleashed a torrent of pent-up anger and resentment toward the insurance industry, renewed calls for reform and reignited the health care debate in the United States.
Faced with concerns about physical security, companies in the sector have increased the security of their executives and removed their photos and much of their personal information from their websites. This includes UnitedHealth Group, which appears to no longer have an executive leadership page.
Luigi Mangione, charged in the deadly shooting, is currently being held without bail in Brooklyn, New York. Mangione, 26, faces murder and terrorism charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
Noel oversaw part of UnitedHealthcare’s business that includes Medicare Advantage plans, which have been the source of skyrocketing costs for insurers.
Medicare Advantage, a private health insurance plan underwritten by Medicare, has long been a key source of growth and profits for the insurance industry. But medical costs for Medicare Advantage patients have surged over the past year as more seniors return to hospitals to undergo procedures they had put off during the Covid-19 pandemic.
UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare and Retirement unit serves one-fifth of Medicare beneficiaries, or nearly 13.7 million patients, according to a company fact sheet.
UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty said on an earnings conference call last week that America’s profit-driven health care system “needs to work better” and be “less confusing, less complex and less expensive.
Witty said system members benefit from high prices, noting that lower prices and improved services can benefit customers and patients, but can “threaten the revenue streams of organizations that rely on higher bills for care”. However, Witty did not explain how UnitedHealth Group benefits from this model.
In its first quarterly results since the assassination, UnitedHealth Group reported fourth-quarter revenue below Wall Street expectations due to weakness in its insurance business.
The company’s 2024 revenue rose 8% to $400.3 billion, and it expects it to rise again this year to a range of $450 billion to $455 billion. dollars.
— CNBC’s Bertha Coombs contributed to this report
