--- title: "Murdered Insurance CEO Had Deployed an AI to Automatically Deny Benefits for Sick People" description: "Before United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered, a lawsuit filed against the firm revealed just how bad its claims-denying was." date: "2024-12-05" modified: "2024-12-05" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/united-healthcare-claims-algorithm-murder" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "assassination" - "ceos" - "insurance" - "united healthcare" --- # Murdered Insurance CEO Had Deployed an AI to Automatically Deny Benefits for Sick People ![Before United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was murdered, a lawsuit filed against the firm revealed just how bad its claims-denying was.]() *\Image: NYPD\* Just over a year before United Healthcare CEO [Brian Thompson was murdered]() this week in Midtown Manhattan, a lawsuit filed against the insurance giant he helmed revealed just how draconian its claims-denying process had become. Last November, the estates of two former UHC patients [filed suit in Minnesota]() alleging that the insurer used an AI algorithm to deny and override claims to elderly patients that had been approved by their doctors. The algorithm in question, known as nH Predict, [allegedly had a 90 percent error rate]() — and according to the families of the two deceased men who filed the suit, UHC knew it. As that lawsuit [made its way through the courts](), anger regarding the massive insurer's predilection towards denying claims has only grown, and [speculation about the assassin's motives]() suggests that he may have been among those upset with UHC's coverage. Though we [don't yet know the identity]() of the person who shot Thompson nor his reasoning, reports claim that he wrote the words "deny," "defend," and "depose" [on the shell casing of the bullets]() used to shoot the CEO — a message that makes it sound a lot like the killer was aggrieved against the insurance industry's aggressive denials of coverage to sick patients. Beyond the shooter's own motives, it's clear from the [shockingly celebratory reaction online]() to Thompson's murder that anger about the American insurance and healthcare system has reached the point of literal bloodlust. As [*The American Prospect* so aptly put it](), "only about 50 million customers of America’s reigning medical monopoly might have a motive to exact revenge upon the UnitedHealthcare CEO." And the alarming cruelty of the claims around the company's AI algorithm — we asked the company whether it's still using it, but received no immediate reply — perfectly illustrates why they're so angry. **More on insurance evils:** [*Private Equity Firm Accused of Buying Life Insurance Policies on Old People to Profit From Their Deaths*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()