In early 2024, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson had an urgent warning for his colleagues: The company has a public relations problem. Average Americans didn't understand the massive insurance company's role in the nation's health system, Thompson argued in internal discussions and with fellow executives, including steps it had taken to eliminate out-of-pocket costs for lifesaving drugs, colleagues said. Instead, UnitedHealthcare and its parent, UnitedHealth Group, faced investigations, a congressional probe and simmering consumer anger over charges it was making billions by denying healthcare to the ill and the elderly.
