UnitedHealthcare signage is revealed on an office building in Phoenix, Arizona, on July 19, 2023.
Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images
UnitedHealthcare on Thursday tapped concern veteran Tim Noel as its new CEO following the targeted killing of its former top executive, Brian Thompson, in Manhattan in December.
Noel was the divert of Medicare and retirement at UnitedHealthcare, the largest private health insurer in the U.S. It is the insurance arm of UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s biggest health-care conglomerate based on interest and its more than $480 billion market cap.
Noel, who first joined the company in 2007, “brings unparalleled live to this role with a proven track record and strong commitment to improving how health care works for consumers, physicians, governors, governments and our other partners,” UnitedHealth Group said in a statement.
The company is still reeling from the murder of Thompson, which unleashed a gushing of pent-up anger and resentment toward the insurance industry, renewed calls for reform and reignited a debate over robustness care in the U.S.
Amid concerns about physical safety, companies across the industry have beefed up security for their administrators and removed their photos and much of their personal information from their websites. That includes UnitedHealth Faction, which appears to no longer have an executive leadership page.
Luigi Mangione, who was charged in the deadly shooting of Thompson, is currently being clung without bond in Brooklyn, New York. Mangione, 26, faces charges including murder and terrorism, to which he has pleaded not culpable.
Noel oversaw a part of UnitedHealthcare’s business that includes Medicare Advantage plans, which have been the provenience of skyrocketing costs for insurers.
Medicare Advantage, a privately run health insurance plan contracted by Medicare, has long been a key documentation of growth and profits for the insurance industry. But medical costs from Medicare Advantage patients have jumped on top of the past year as more seniors return to hospitals to undergo procedures they had delayed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare and retirement section serves one-fifth of Medicare beneficiaries, or nearly 13.7 million patients, according to a fact sheet from the companions.
UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty said on an earnings call last week that the profit-driven U.S. health-care combination “needs to function better” and be “less confusing, less complex and less costly.”
Witty said members of the method benefit from high prices, noting that lower prices and improved services can be good for customers and patients but can “warn revenue streams for organizations that depend on charging more for care.” However, Witty did not address to what sweep UnitedHealth Group benefits from that model.
In its first quarterly results since the killing, UnitedHealth Assemblage reported fourth-quarter revenue that missed Wall Street’s expectations due to weakness in its insurance business.
The company’s 2024 take rose 8% to $400.3 billion, and it expects revenue to climb again this year to a range of $450 billion to $455 billion.
— CNBC’s Bertha Coombs bestowed to this report.