Brian Thompson was not responsible for establishing the operational model of US health insurance. Was he profiting off of a broken system? Yes, fabulously. But declaring open season on anyone deemed in the court of public opinion to profit nefariously would have far-reaching implications. Mangione’s summary execution of Thompson was not a revolutionary act of valor, but a spasm of disaffected, aimless youth. He shot Thompson twice, in the back, as Thompson walked away from him, oblivious to any threat. It won’t lower out-of-pocket costs or make healthcare more accessible. It won’t even disrupt day-to-day insurance company operations.

Why are politicians spared ire? Who remembers fourteen years ago when the government rolled out its solution, cynically titled the “Affordable Care Act” to get coverage to all those individuals “caught in the gaps” of the American healthcare matrix? President Obama told us we could keep our doctors and our plans.

That’s how it started.

How’s it going?

Apparently our healthcare landscape is so bleak that murder arouses a collective shrug. As long as we’re scrutinizing wealthy CEO’s maybe we should look into our wealthy congressional representatives and the unelected bureaucrats scurrying beneath them.

Eric Santoro

Ogden