The Health Insurance Lobby and the Trump-Musk-GOP Medicaid-Medicare Cuts:

Connecting the dots of a “big government” scam and lying billionaire scammers.

Former United Healthcare Chief Executive Officer Brian Thompson (left) and a masked Luigi Mangione (right). Image credit: Eyewitness News 7 New York City.

Although Public Health Policy Reviews has posted articles focused on wide-ranging topics from the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the impact of the wars in Gaza and Ukraine on women and children, we are not professionally trained in public health or versed in the specifics of politics.

As a result, we frequently find it challenging to perform thorough research and establish clear intellectual links between campaign contributions to American politicians from wealthy donors and corporate political action committees (PACs). Yet, like many ordinary US citizens and international residents, President Donald Trump’s open disregard for constitutional law, legal precedents, and the operations of federal government agencies requires us to try comprehending electoral processes and political systems.

Although we frequently struggle to present our political policy analyses clearly and concisely, we recognize that money in politics, public health policy, health care management, public education, and international humanitarian law intersect.

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Luigi Mangione (center) appears at a hearing for the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson at Manhattan Criminal Court on February 21, 2025, in New York City. Image credit: Curtis Means and Getty Images.

The shooting death of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson by Luigi Mangione, the scion of a wealthy Maryland family, on December 4^th, 2024, makes it easier for us “peasants” to connect the dots between wealthy election campaign donors, political corruption, and capitalist exploitation.

Mr. Mangione shot Mr. Thompson on a Manhattan Street during the early morning hours of December 4^th. He fled New York City on a bus before being captured at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9^th. Mangione was extradited to Manhattan on December 19^th and charged with fifteen criminal felony counts, including first-degree murder and second-degree murder as a crime of terrorism.

Luigi Mangione is also facing the death penalty in federal court after US Attorney General Pamela Bondi decided to pursue capital punishment charges against him on April 1^st. Before Brian Thompson was murdered by Mangione, the mainstream business media promoted UnitedHealth and its parent company, UnitedHealth Group, as models for the future of corporate dominance in America.

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Protesters with People’s Action targeted health insurance giant UnitedHealth Group on April 16, 2024, in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, due to exorbitant health insurance costs and claims denials. Image Credit: Adam Bettcher and Getty Images.

However, social media platforms were flooded with hundreds of thousands of posts and messages of hate against UnitedHealthcare and other health insurance industry corporations after Mr. Thompson was assassinated.

Luigi Mangione’s actions highlighted the ruthless business practices prevalent among health insurance companies. Among other acts of blatant greed, these companies utilize artificial intelligence (AI)-driven software and math algorithms to reject consumer insurance claims.

Since 2012, UnitedHealthcare's annual revenue has increased by more than $100 billion when adjusted for inflation. The health insurance company achieved remarkable growth by taking advantage of a widespread trend toward corporate monopolization that has impacted nearly all major US industries over the past thirty years.

UnitedHealthcare mastered a vertical integration strategy by acquiring small health services companies and incorporating them into its expanding health care business empire. As the company has grown, it has also increased its political lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

UnitedHealthGroup alone spent over $7,520,000 on campaign donations to national politicians in 2024.

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Image credit: www.parentprojectmd.org.

The collective health insurance lobby spent $155,033,543 on campaign donations during the 2024 election cycle.

The question is: What benefits do health insurance companies such as UnitedHealthcare, Blue Cross–Blue Shield, Aetna, Humana, Anthem, and Cigna gain from their extensive lobbying efforts with federal and state politicians nationwide?

American voters should start asking the following question to begin formulating their answers: Who supports President Donald Trump’s efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA or “Obamacare”)?

If the effort to overturn the ACA is successful, the proposed changes will create uncertainties for millions of Americans who rely on “Obamacare” for their health coverage. Eliminating the individual mandate penalty during Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 led to rising uninsured rates and compromised preventive care and management of chronic conditions.

Now, the health insurance industry is helping Mr. Trump, Elon Musk, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Jr., Director of Medicaid and Medicare Services Mehmet Oz, and Congressional Republicans attack Medicaid and Medicare.