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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare Group Inc. has faced a firestorm of controversy this year. And as investigators search for a motive in the slaying of Brian Thompson, CEO of its insurance arm, they aren't counting anything out.
Between a software attack, protests, lawsuits and layoffs by one of its subsidiaries, Thompson's killing adds a tragic end to a troubled year for the company.
In February, the technology company Change Healthcare — a UnitedHealth Group Inc. subsidiary — was breached by hackers, causing prescriptions to go unfilled and big backups at pharmacies. It ended up costing the company $872 million.
In July, a protest at the company's Minnetonka headquarters led to 11 arrests. Demonstrators accused the company's insurance arm of a "systemic practice of refusing to approve care through prior authorization denials or pay for care through claim denials," according to protest organizers the People's Action Institute. Police have not made any connection at this time between Thompson's death and the July protest.
That same month, HealthPartners announced it was leaving UnitedHealthcare's Medicare Advantage network due to what they cited as the insurer's high claim denial rate.
Optum, a subsidiary that provides several healthcare services, laid off workers in several other states in September.
And last month, the U.S. Department of Justice sued UnitedHealth Group Inc. over allegations of antitrust violations in the company's $3.3 billion bid to acquire Amedisys Inc., one of the largest home health and hospice care providers in the U.S.
UnitedHealthcare Group Inc. is the nation's fourth biggest public company and covers more than 49 million people.
Thompson was fatally shot on a Midtown Manhattan sidewalk on Wednesday morning by a masked assailant who fled on an e-bike into nearby Central Park. He is still at large.
CBS News confirmed on Thursday that shell casings collected at the scene had the words "deny," "defend" and "depose" written on them.
The killer is described as a White man who was wearing a tan-colored jacket, a black face mask, black-and-white sneakers and a gray backpack.
