The PBS News Hour avoided the nihilist-leftist take of too many media and social media liberals in its Monday evening segment on the capture of a suspect in the murder in Manhattan of UnitedHealthCare chief executive Brian Thompson.

Co-anchor Geoff Bennett strongly condemned the murder -- but the interview also took a cheap shot at the Elon Musk-owned social media platform X (formerly Twitter) for the heartless comments, without noting they were coming almost exclusively from left-wing X users (there’s also plenty of left-wing pro-assassination ghoulishness on the "alternate" platform BlueSky: see Taylor Lorenz). That’s quite unlike the News Hour’s treatment of allegedly hateful comments and “disinformation” from right-wing social media, which are dutifully labeled with “extreme right"-type warning labels.

Bennett reported that the suspect, Luigi Mangione, was found carrying a document that “criticized health care companies and suggested violence as the answer. And that part of the story, the connections to the health care industry, has touched a nerve, sometimes with ugly results in the days since his murder."

He then introduced writer Nicholas Florko of The Atlantic, who had written -- and received angry blowback from the left for writing -- such controversial lines as “There’s no excuse for cheering on murder” in his December 4 story "Murder Is an Awful Answer for Health Care Anger." Here's the X-bashing part: 

 

Bennett: Were you surprised by the reaction that we witnessed online after the shooting death of the CEO?

Nicholas Florko: Yes and no. I don't think I have ever seen anything quite like that. I think we're sort of used to at this point discourse on X, formerly Twitter, being a bit toxic at times. Folks seem to be empowered to say what they want to say on those platforms that they wouldn't say in public.

But, I mean, when I wrote this story, the amount even of vitriol that I got just for saying we shouldn't be calling for murder of CEOs was astounding. People are furious. I don't think I have ever seen anything like it. I sort of expected some toxicity around the edges, but it is widespread right now on that platform.

Geoff Bennett: It's an indictment of the times in which we live.

Notice there are no "far left" or "extreme left" labels for the toxic talkers here. Earlier, Bennett made the proper moral point.

Bennett: And first, we want to acknowledge that Brian Thompson was a husband a father, a colleague to many, and so much of the rhetoric online regarding this issue is really just morally corrupt, depraved, abhorrent. And you write of the wave of public sentiment that we have seen. You say this: "Americans' zeal for the death of an insurance executive demonstrates both the coarsening of public discourse and the degree of rage many Americans feel over the deficiencies of the U.S. health care system." So, what do you think this anger reflects about the current state of the system overall?

Then it was on to the “yes, but” phase of the interview, with Florko condemning the U.S. health-care system (as if any system this side of heaven can provide unlimited, quality care on the cheap).

Nicholas Florko: Well, first, I want to agree with you that we should all agree that murder is abhorrent and it's not something we should be cheering about. But I think this anger comes from the fact that our health care system largely results in people paying a huge amount of money out of pocket….

Bennett: Well, the other thing you write about, you say that denying claims is a feature of the health-care industry. It's not a bug. Tell me more about that.

Florko: We have a for-profit system. For better or worse, we depend on insurers to make decisions on whether care should be paid for or not paid for. And we can have a debate over whether insurers are too aggressive in those policies and are denying too many pieces of medical care. But the reality is, even our most notorious, famous public insurer, Medicare, they deny claims as well. It is part of the system. It's just a question of whether insurers are abusing that power.

The PBS host then made a trip to fantasy land.

Bennett: So what are some of the potential fixes that could mean fewer denials, better coverage and cheaper care?

Florko admitted, “I don't think we have actually gotten there yet.”

Indeed, it's impossible to achieve all three of Bennett's objectives at once. Better coverage and fewer denials would make care more expensive, while cheaper coverage necessarily means rationing care, either as they do it under socialized medicine, or through health insurance companies, as America does.

This segment was brought to you in part by Consumer Cellular.

A transcript is available, click “Expand.”

PBS News Hour

12/9/24

7:20:42 p.m. (ET)

Geoff Bennett: Police say they have detained a man they're calling a strong person of interest in the murder of the CEO of the nation's largest health insurer, who was shot in New York City last week, leading to a nearly weeklong manhunt that widened beyond the city's limits. Tonight, authorities say they apprehended 26-year-old Luigi Mangione in the brazen and targeted shooting of 50-year-old Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.

Eric Adams (D), Mayor of New York: He matches the description of the identification we have been looking for. He's also in possession of several items that we believe will connect him to this incident.

How did we do it? Good old-fashioned police work.

Geoff Bennett: Mangione was taken into custody after police got a tip that he'd been spotted at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, more than 200 miles West of New York.

Eric Adams: Someone at McDonald's, employee did something we ask every American to do. If you see something, say something, but, most importantly, do something. And they did.

Geoff Bennett: Police say they found Mangione with a firearm that was consistent with the one used in the murder, complete with a suppressor. The NYPD said it was a ghost gun, not licensed and not manufactured, but made with parts that could have been printed by a 3-D printer.

Police also found multiple fake I.D.s, a passport and a three-page document full of writings that they said spoke to his motivation and mind-set. Last week, investigators confirmed they found shell casings at the scene inscribed with the words "Delay," "deny" and "depose," Words often associated with the way insurance companies deny claims.

Police said the document they found today revealed more about Mangione, but they provided few details.

Joseph Kenny, NYPD Chief of Detectives: It does seem that he has some ill will toward corporate America.

Geoff Bennett: New York police say detectives are on the way to Pennsylvania and are working to bring Mangione back to New York to face charges.

It ends a six-day manhunt that sent police scouring New York City and following a trail of surveillance images looking for the killer, including this one showing a man in a black hooded jacket and surgical mask in the back of a cab that police say headed to the George Washington Bridge bus terminal.

Thompson's murder ignited a wave of public feelings online and elsewhere, including anger and resentment toward insurance companies and in some cases a lack of empathy for his death. Following Thompson's killing, UnitedHealthcare reinforced their headquarters in Minnesota with new fencing and a heightened police presence.

And several news reports say that handwritten document that Mangione was found carrying criticized health care companies and suggested violence as the answer.

And that part of the story, the connections to the health care industry, has touched a nerve, sometimes with ugly results in the days since his murder.

For more on that, we're joined now by Nicholas Florko, staff writer at "The Atlantic," who covers health care and wrote, the recent piece: "Murder Is an Awful Answer for Health Care Anger."

Thanks for being here.

Nicholas Florko, Staff Writer, "The Atlantic": Of course. Thanks for having me.

Geoff Bennett: And, first, we want to acknowledge that Brian Thompson was a husband, a father, a colleague to many, and so much of the rhetoric online regarding this issue is really just morally corrupt, depraved, abhorrent.

And you write of the wave of public sentiment that we have seen. You say this: "Americans' zeal for the death of an insurance executive demonstrates both the coarsening of public discourse and the degree of rage many Americans feel over the deficiencies of the U.S. health care system."

So, what do you think this anger reflects about the current state of the system overall?

Nicholas Florko: Well, first, I want to agree with you that we should all agree that murder is abhorrent and it's not something we should be cheering about. But I think this anger comes from the fact that our health care system largely results in people paying a huge amount of money out of pocket. This country has a medical debt problem. There are statistics that show a significant portion of folks have to forego medical treatment to pay for other bills because of the cost of health care.

And it's those issues that are really, I think, causing people to react really viscerally to this murder.

Geoff Bennett: Well, the other thing you write about, you say that denying claims is a feature of the health care industry. It's not a bug. Tell me more about that.

Nicholas Florko: Yes, I mean, we have a for-profit system. For better or worse, we depend on insurers to make decisions on whether care should be paid for or not paid for.

And we can have a debate over whether insurers are too aggressive in those policies and are denying too many pieces of medical care. But the reality is, even our most notorious, famous public insurer, Medicare, they deny claims as well. It is part of the system. It's just a question of whether insurers are abusing that power.

Geoff Bennett: So what are the real-world results for people who experience a denied claim?

Nicholas Florko: I mean, there's a few different ways that somebody can approach it. I mean, folks can pay the bill, which could result in you wiping out your entire savings. You could try to fight that claim and appeal it, maybe go to court. That again is also going to largely drain your savings if you actually have to go to court.

Or you go into medical debt. Those are really the only ways out of the system at this point. And that's why people, I think, feel so powerless.

Geoff Bennett: Well, even after major reforms, it's clear that lots of people feel that the health care system isn't working for them. How does — how does our system compare to other developed nations?

Nicholas Florko: Well, most other developed nations do not rely on private health insurers to provide their health care. They have a single-payer system.

And, I mean, that is the biggest difference is, we depend on companies like UnitedHealthcare to provide our health care.

Geoff Bennett: What else is driving up costs for these companies?

Nicholas Florko: I mean, every part of the system is driving up costs in some ways.

I think a really illustrative way to think about this is, like, a prescription drug. So say somebody goes to a pharmacy and they're told they have to pay $200. The insurer is going to tell you, that is the drugmaker's fault because they set that cost for that drug. And it is true. They could lower the cost of that drug, you would pay less.

But if somebody with insurance goes into a pharmacy and is told to pay $200 for a drug, that means that they have skimpy insurance. It means that either they're being told they have to pay a co-insurance, which is a percentage of the drug cost, or maybe they have a deductible where they have to pay the entire amount until their insurance kicks in.

So it's everyone who's at fault.

Geoff Bennett: So what are some of the potential fixes that could mean fewer denials, better coverage and cheaper care?

Nicholas Florko: Well, that's the million-dollar question. I don't think we have actually gotten there yet.

Geoff Bennett: Even after all of the political capital that was expended on Obamacare, still, we haven't figured it out?

Nicholas Florko: It's important to note that Obamacare did strengthen patients' abilities to appeal these denials.

That was supposed to be a big piece of this. And, honestly, that is one of the more powerful things that patients can do to fight back against these issues. There are proposed fixes, like the doctors lobby, the American Medical Association. They have been pushing for reforms to something called prior authorization, which is one of these tactics that insurers use.

Those arguably could help. But I don't think we have gotten to a place here where we have fully figured out how to make this private system work and not also create a lot of pain for the folks that have to pay.

Geoff Bennett: Were you surprised by the reaction that we witnessed online after the shooting death of the CEO?

Nicholas Florko: Yes and no. I don't think I have ever seen anything quite like that. I think we're sort of used to at this point discourse on X, formerly Twitter, being a bit toxic at times. Folks seem to be empowered to say what they want to say on those platforms that they wouldn't say in public.

But, I mean, when I wrote this story, the amount even of vitriol that I got just for saying we shouldn't be calling for murder of CEOs was astounding. People are furious. I don't think I have ever seen anything like it. I sort of expected some toxicity around the edges, but it is widespread right now on that platform.

Geoff Bennett: It's an indictment of the times in which we live.