CNBC reports that UnitedHealthcare named Tim Noel as its new CEO, after the murder of former CEO Brian Thompson, in New York, in December.
Noel was UnitedHealthcare’s head of Medicare and retirement.
With a $480 billion market capitalization, UnitedHealth Group’s largest private health insurance company is still reeling after the shooting of Thompson by Luigi Mangione, and the anger that was subsequently unleashed against the insurance industry.
Mangione, a 26-year-old man, was arrested in Brooklyn, New York on murder and terrorist charges. He is currently being held in jail without bond. Mangione has not pleaded guilty.
Noel joined UnitedHealthcare for the first time in 2007. “He brings unparalleled experience and a strong commitment to improving how healthcare works for our partners, consumers, doctors, employers, and government,” UnitedHealthcare stated in a press release.
UnitedHealthcare has, along with other major U.S. corporations, increased security for its executives in the wake of the shooting that targeted Thompson on Manhattan Street. The company’s website will be updated to remove photos and other personal information about executives.
Noel’s Medicare Advantage plan, for which he was responsible, has seen its cost skyrocket in recent years. This is because seniors are returning to doctors’ offices and hospitals for procedures they delayed while on COVID.
UnitedHealthGroup CEO Andrew Witty stated on an earnings call last Thursday that the U.S. healthcare system “needs better function” and to be “less complex, less confusing, and less expensive.”
Witty said that high prices benefit healthcare companies and that lower prices and better services would be beneficial for patients. He added that lowering costs can “threaten the revenue streams of organizations who depend on charging higher care prices.”
UnitedHealth Group missed Wall Street’s expectations in its first earnings report on January 16 after the murder due to problems in its insurance business.
The company’s revenues increased by 8% in 2004 to reach $400.3 billion. UnitedHealth Group predicts that its revenue in 2025 will be between $450 and $455 billion.
