
Unitedhealthcare appoints Tim Noel to the new CEO after the murder of Brian Thompson

On July 19, 2023, the signage of Unitedhealthcare will be attached to an office building in Phoenix, Arizona.
Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images
Unitedhealthcare appointed the company veteran Tim Noel as the new CEO on Thursday, after the former top manager Brian Thompson was specifically killed in Manhattan in Manhattan.
Noel was the head of Medicare and retirement at Unitedhealthcare, the largest private health insurer in the USA Unitedhealth GroupThe country's largest health group, measured by sales and market capitalization of more than $ 480 billion.
Noel, who entered the company for the first time in 2007, “brings unprecedented experience to this role, has a proven track record and a strong commitment to improve health care for consumers, doctors, employers, governments and our other partners,” said The Unitedhealth Group in a statement.
The company is still suffering from the murder of Thompson, which triggered a gush of anger and displeasure compared to the insurance industry, triggered new demands for reforms and revealed a debate about the healthcare system in the USA
In view of the concerns regarding physical security, companies in the entire industry have increased the security of their managers and removed their photos and many of their personal data from their websites. This also includes the Unitedhealth Group, which apparently no longer has a guide.
Luigi Mangione, who was charged with the fatal shooting of Thompson, is currently being held in Brooklyn, New York, without a deposit. Among other things, murder and terrorism are accused of the 26-year-old mangion, for which he has not guilty.
Noel headed part of the Unitedhealthcare business, which also included Medicare Advantage plans that have led to exploding costs for the insurers.
Medicare Advantage, a privately managed health insurance within the framework of Medicare contracts, has long been an important source of growth and profit for the insurance industry. However, the medical costs for Medicare Advantage patients rose suddenly last year, as more and more seniors return to hospitals to undergo interventions that they had shifted during the Covid 19 pandemic.
According to a data sheet of the company, the medical and pension department of Unitedhealthcare looks after a fifth of the Medicare performance recipient or almost 13.7 million patients.
Andrew Witty, CEO of the Unitedhealth Group, said last week in a conference call on the results that the profit-oriented US health system “function better” and “less confusing, less complex and less expensive”.
Witty said that members of the system benefited from high prices and pointed out that lower prices and improved services can be good for customers and patients, but “the sources of income of organizations that are dependent on it are more to maintain care demand”. However, Witty did not respond to the extent to which the Unitedhealth Group benefits from this model.
In its first quarter results since the murder, the Unitedhealth Group reported sales for the fourth quarter, which was left behind the expectations of Wall Street due to the weakness in the insurance business.
The company's turnover rose by 8 % in 2024 to $ 400.3 billion and it is expected that sales will increase again this year to $ 450 to $ 455 billion.
– Bertha Coombs from CNBC contributed to this report.