Source: NYT > Business (paywall)
The killing of UnitedHealth's CEO Brian Thompson dramatized a structural problem—Americans are drowning in premiums and out-of-pocket costs—and the article suggests the outrage isn't fading into the next news cycle. Sustained anger at insurance companies can reshape policy in ways a single scandal cannot: it creates political cover for lawmakers to pass stricter regulations on denials and pricing, and forces insurers to reckon with genuine reputational damage rather than just a news headline. When your public is angry enough to sympathize with a killer, you've lost the narrative war, and no PR campaign recovers that quickly.