UnitedHealthcare CEO kept a low public profile

Brian Thompson led one of the biggest health insurers in the US but was unknown to millions of people his decisions affected.

Brian Thompson. Picture: UnitedHealth Group

Brian Thompson led one of the biggest health insurers in the US but was unknown to millions of people his decisions affected.

Then Wednesday’s targeted fatal shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO on a mid-town Manhattan sidewalk thrust the executive and his business into the national spotlight.

Thompson, who was 50, had worked at the giant UnitedHealth Group Inc for 20 years and run the insurance arm since 2021 after running its Medicare and retirement business.

As CEO, Thompson led a firm that provides health coverage to more than 49 million Americans – more than the population of Spain. United is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, the privately run versions of the US government’s Medicare program for people age 65 and older. The company also sells individual insurance and administers health-insurance coverage for thousands of employers and state and federally funded Medicaid programs.

The business run by Thompson brought in $US281bn in revenue last year, making it the largest subsidiary of the Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group. His $US10.2m annual pay package, including salary, bonus and stock options awards, made him one of the company’s highest-paid executives.

The University of Iowa graduate began his career as a certified public accountant at PwC and had little name recognition beyond the healthcare industry. Even to investors who own its stock, the parent company’s face belonged to Andrew Witty, a knighted British triathlete who has testified before congress.

When Thompson did occasionally draw attention, it was because of his role in shaping the way Americans get health care.

At an investor meeting last year, he outlined his company’s shift to “value-based care”, paying doctors and other caregivers to keep patients healthy rather than focusing on treating them once sick.

“Healthcare should be easier for people,” he said at the time. “We are cognisant of the challenges. But navigating a future through value-based care unlocks a situation where the … family doesn’t have to make the decisions on their own.”

Mr Thompson, who lived in a Minneapolis suburb and was the married father of two sons in high school, was set to speak at an investor meeting in a mid-town New York hotel.

AP