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The attacker is still at large and a search is underway for him.
NYPD released the photos on Thursday morning (Friday morning AEDT), asking for the public’s help in identifying a “person of interest”.
Police said a man is wanted in connection with the shooting of the CEO.
Thompson, who was 50, had worked at giant UnitedHealth Group Inc for 20 years and had led the insurance division since 2021 after running Medicare and the pensions business.
As CEO, Thompson led a company that provides health insurance to more than 49 million Americans – more than the population of Spain.
United is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, the private versions of the US government’s Medicare program for people 65 and older.
The company also sells individual insurance and manages health insurance for thousands of employer and state and federally funded Medicaid programs.
The Thompson-led business brought in $281 billion ($436 billion) in revenue last year, making it the largest subsidiary of Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group. His annual pay package of US$10.2 million ($15.8 million), including salary, bonuses and stock option awards, made him one of the company’s highest-paid executives.
The University of Iowa graduate began his career as a certified public accountant at PwC and had little recognition outside of the healthcare industry.
Even to investors who own the stock, the face of the parent company belonged to CEO Andrew Witty, a British triathlete who testified before Congress.
When Thompson occasionally attracted attention, it was for his role in shaping how Americans get health care.
At a meeting with investors last year, he described his company’s shift to “value-based care,” paying doctors and other caregivers to keep patients healthy rather than focusing on treating them when they get sick.
“Health care should be easier for people,” Thompson said at the time.
“We are aware of the challenges. But managing the future through value-based care opens up a situation where … the family does not have to make decisions alone.”
Thompson also drew attention in 2021 when the insurer, like its competitors, was widely criticized for a plan to begin denying payment for what it considered non-critical visits to hospital emergency departments.
“Patients are not medical professionals and should not be expected to make their own diagnoses during what they believe is a medical emergency,” the executive director of the American Hospital Association wrote in an open letter to Thompson.
“Threats patients to be fined for making the wrong decision could have a discouraging effect on seeking emergency care.”
United Healthcare responded by delaying the rollout of the change.
Thompson, who lived in suburban Minneapolis and was a married father of two sons in high school, was scheduled to speak at a meeting of investors at a downtown New York hotel. He was alone and about to enter the building when he was shot in the back by a masked assailant who fled on foot before pedaling an e-bike into Central Park a few blocks away, the NYPD said.
Detective Chief Joseph Kenny said investigators are looking at Thompson’s social media accounts and interviewing employees and family members.
“He didn’t look like he was in trouble at all,” Kenny said. “He didn’t have a security detail.”
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