Oscar Health CEO Mark Bertolini in a recent interview said he believes anger at the health care system is “justified” in the wake of the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare (UHC) CEO Brian Thompson.
Thompson’s death earlier this month has led to an outpouring of backlash against the quality of health insurance and subsequent denials across the country.
“I would eliminate employer-sponsored insurance,” Bertolini told CNBC as a potential solution to the current frustrations, adding that “the ability of your employer to negotiate against a large insurance company that has a much larger relationship with the provider community is very stinted now.”
“You can’t do it now. The (employing) companies have no leverage now,” he continued. “When you look at the basic foundation of our economy, which is small business and middle market, they have none.”
The healthcare executive rejected the notion that claim rates are not less for the individual market.
“Employers buy for the average of their employee population. They buy large networks because their employees use a lot of providers” he said. “As a result, the ability to negotiate a better rate with that provider group is a lot less because you’ve got everybody in.”
“But when you get narrow networks, which is what’s happening in the individual market, an individual can find their network,” he added.
Thompson was shot and killed last week outside a midtown Manhattan hotel where UnitedHealth Group was holding its annual investor conference. Following the fatal shooting, many other health companies began removing photos of their top executives from websites and even switched to virtual investor meetings.
The suspect, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, was found in Pennsylvania last week and now faces five counts including murder in the second degree, according to an arrest warrant.
Reports of a document found in his possession point to his frustration with the health care system and UHC in particular.
UnitedHealth Group told The Hill in a statement that Mangione and his mother were not insured by the company.
The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel and Ella Lee and contributed reporting.