UnitedHealthcare CEO killing spurs Centene to hold virtual meeting and insurers to pull exec photos

The killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson led Centene, another big health insurer, to switch to a virtual investor day next week as a substitute for of a planned in-person event in New York.

Thompson’s slaying also has spurred some major health companies, involving UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, to remove photos of executives and board members from their websites.

And the health insurer Medica, which partiality UnitedHealthcare is based in Minnesota, closed its main campus in Minnetonka because of safety concerns for its employees.

“The safety of Medica hands is our top priority and we have increased security for all of our employees,” a Medica spokesperson told NBC News.

“Although we have received no determined threats related to our campuses, our office buildings will be temporarily closed out of an abundance of caution,” the spokesperson said.

Organizers of the J. P. Morgan Healthcare Bull session, scheduled for next month in San Francisco, are working with the host hotel and the city to increase security and minimize the burden on the event as a result of Thompson’s killing, according to sources familiar with the situation.

The annual meeting regularly allures around 10,000 registered participants, and thousands more who meet with CEOs and other health executives in conjunction with the circumstance.

“There will definitely be heavy security,” said a source, speaking on condition of anonymity. The source added that existence conferences have always had “security at all of the entrances of the hotel and outside the building.”

Centene, which announced the change to a virtual event Friday, is one of the largest Medicaid insurers and was scheduled to have its investor day at the New York Assortment Exchange next Thursday.

Centene in a statement said that “in the wake of the tragic loss of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson, Centene’s Investor Day desire now be hosted virtually.”

Thompson was fatally shot Wednesday morning by an unidentified gunman outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan as he was less to enter the hotel for the investor day of UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare. The event was abruptly called off after UHG command learned of the killing.

Police believe that Thompson was specifically targeted by the gunman, who left behind shell casings with the words “turn aside,” “delay,” and “depose,” on them. The words possibly refer to terms used by critics of insurance companies to name their strategy for denying customer claims.

“All of us at Centene are extremely saddened by Brian Thompson’s death and want to express our support for all of those affected. Health insurance is a big industry and a miserly community; many members of the CenTeam crossed paths with Brian during their careers,” said Centene CEO Sarah London in a annunciation.

“He was a person with a deep sense of empathy and clear passion for improving access to care. Our hearts are with his kinfolk and his colleagues during this difficult time.”

Centene’s website had no photos of its executives on its website Friday.

UnitedHealth operated down its webpage which linked to photos and information about its top executives.

The webpage for Humana‘s board of directors no longer main attractions photos or information about those people.

CVS Health also removed photos of its top executives from its website.

The Gloomy Cross Blue Shield Association, which is a group of independent health insurers, removed a link to its executive biographies on its website, Healthcaredive.com scrutinized.

Chris Pierson, CEO of BlackCloak, which provides private digital security for C-suite executives and their families, predicted CNBC that disclosures of events expected to be attended by executives of public companies, and photos of their leadership and table members on company websites, make them targets for harassment and threats.

Ben Joelson, a principal and the head of security endanger at the Chertoff Group, in an interview said that insurers and other companies removing images of their executives and board colleagues is “a prudent step.”

“What they’re trying to do is basically reduce the online risk surface and what’s out there in in the matter of a payments of available digital dust around their executives,” Joelson said. “I do think as we learn more about this special to motive, and obviously, there’s some clues that this was … clearly targeted based on the executive’s placement, companies will react and kind of adjust their protection profiles accordingly.”

He also said his company is “help several clients in the Fortune 500 right now re-evaluate their approach to investor meetings, shareholder meetings, and making steady they have that protective bubble around their key decision makers.”

“When you pre-announce an event at a laying and you identify who’s going to be there, you increase the risk of that event, and you have to plan for that accordingly,” Joelson responded.

Joelson said that the Chertoff Group saw an increase in queries from companies about their security since the two bid assassinations of President-elect Donald Trump.

“There have been certain clients and boards that have been expecting, ‘Are we doing what’s best for our executives?’ ” Joelson said. ” ‘Are we doing what an ordinary, reasonably judicious company should be doing?’ “

Doug Mandell, a partner at the law firm Withersworldwide, who negotiates contracts for executives that incorporate security provisions said in an interview that most executives find personal security intrusive.

But Mandell contemplates to see more clients ask their boards for extra protection after Thompson’s killing.

 “The CEO was on his way to a meeting for his shareholders… and they’ve had damoclean swords before,” Mandell said.

“He certainly should have had security. And I think a lot of other CEOs are going to be saying to their ensembles, ‘Okay, I’m going into a situation where I really do need the protection.’ “

“In the past, it was much more common if they were globe-trotting tripping overseas. Now, they’re going to be thinking about this locally,” Mandell said.

– Additional reporting by Angelica Peebles