The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in New York City remained at large on Thursday.
Mr Thompson, the leader of UnitedHealth's insurance division, was fatally shot by a masked gunman in the early hours of Wednesday when he was walking to the company's annual investor conference at a Midtown Manhattan Hilton hotel.
The New York Police Department published maskless photos of a person it believed was the assailant on Thursday. It did not release a name.
The suspect rode away from the scene on a bike and disappeared in Central Park after the shooting. The motive behind the attack remained unclear.
Mr Thompson’s widow, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News that her late husband had told her "there were some people that had been threatening him". She did not share details but implied that the threats were over issues with insurance coverage.
Police sources told AP and other outlets that the bullets included the words "deny", "defend" and "depose", in a possible reference to an investigative 2010 book critical of the insurance industry, Delay Deny Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You can Do About it by Jay Feinman.
Criticism of US health care after killing
American health insurers such as UnitedHealthcare, the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans in the US, have drawn anger and frustration by doctors and patients for complicating access to care. UnitedHealthcare also manages health coverage for employers and Medicaid programmes.
A Senate panel is investigating how frequently major insurers deny care to patients who are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. It has also investigated the use of artificial intelligence to deny those claims.
The report released this year found that, as UnitedHealthcare relied more on its automated system to review claims, denials increased for post-acute treatment, which includes nursing home or rehabilitation care. The insurer denied nearly a quarter of claims, a rate that doubled from 2020 to 2022.
On social media, the reaction to the shooting overall did not show sympathy for Mr Thompson.
Some users on X applauded the killing, pointing to personal experiences with insurance claims denials and UnitedHealth's role in America’s "broken healthcare system". There were similar sentiments expressed on sites such as Reddit and TikTok.
“I would be happy to help look for the shooter but vision isn’t covered under my healthcare plan,” one comment read on Instagram.
“Thoughts and prior authorisations,” wrote another user.
Tips for used car buyers
- Choose cars with GCC specifications
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- Don’t go cheap on the inspection
- Check for oil leaks
- Do a Google search on the standard problems for your car model
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- Check the vehicle’s condition. You don’t want to buy a car that’s a good deal but ends up costing you Dh10,000 in repairs every month
- Validate warranty and service contracts with the relevant agency and and make sure they are valid when ownership is transferred
- If you are planning to sell the car soon, buy one with a good resale value. The two most popular cars in the UAE are black or white in colour and other colours are harder to sell
Tarek Kabrit, chief executive of Seez, and Imad Hammad, chief executive and co-founder of CarSwitch.com
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How Apple's credit card works
The Apple Card looks different from a traditional credit card — there's no number on the front and the users' name is etched in metal. The card expands the company's digital Apple Pay services, marrying the physical card to a virtual one and integrating both with the iPhone. Its attributes include quick sign-up, elimination of most fees, strong security protections and cash back.
What does it cost?
Apple says there are no fees associated with the card. That means no late fee, no annual fee, no international fee and no over-the-limit fees. It also said it aims to have among the lowest interest rates in the industry. Users must have an iPhone to use the card, which comes at a cost. But they will earn cash back on their purchases — 3 per cent on Apple purchases, 2 per cent on those with the virtual card and 1 per cent with the physical card. Apple says it is the only card to provide those rewards in real time, so that cash earned can be used immediately.
What will the interest rate be?
The card doesn't come out until summer but Apple has said that as of March, the variable annual percentage rate on the card could be anywhere from 13.24 per cent to 24.24 per cent based on creditworthiness. That's in line with the rest of the market, according to analysts
What about security?
The physical card has no numbers so purchases are made with the embedded chip and the digital version lives in your Apple Wallet on your phone, where it's protected by fingerprints or facial recognition. That means that even if someone steals your phone, they won't be able to use the card to buy things.
Is it easy to use?
Apple says users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app on their iPhone and begin using it almost immediately. It also tracks spending on the phone in a more user-friendly format, eliminating some of the gibberish that fills a traditional credit card statement. Plus it includes some budgeting tools, such as tracking spending and providing estimates of how much interest could be charged on a purchase to help people make an informed decision.
* Associated Press
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
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