UnitedHealthcare has named Tim Noel, an 18-year company veteran, as its new chief executive officer, following the murder of its former CEO Brian Thompson in New York in December, CNBC reports.
Noel was UnitedHealthcare’s head of Medicare and retirement.
The company, the largest private health insurer in the United States and the insurance arm of UnitedHealth Group, with a market cap of $480 billion, is still reeling from Thompson’s shooting by suspect Luigi Mangione and the subsequent pent-up anger towards the insurance industry that it unleashed.
Twenty-six-year-old Mangione was charged in the deadly shooting and is being held without bond in Brooklyn, New York, on charges of murder and terrorism. Mangione has pleaded not guilty.
Noel, who first joined UnitedHealthcare in 2007, “brings unparalleled experience to this role with a proven track record and strong commitment to improving how healthcare works for consumers, physicians, employers, government, and our other partners,” UnitedHealthcare said in a statement.
UnitedHealthcare, like other major U.S. companies, has beefed up security for its executives following the targeted shooting of Thompson in broad daylight on a Manhattan street. This includes removing photos and personal information on executives from company websites.
The cost of Medicare Advantage plans, which Noel was in charge of, have skyrocketed for insurers in recent years, particularly as seniors have returned to hospitals and doctors’ offices for procedures that they had delayed during COVID.
UnitedHealthGroup CEO Andrew Witty said on an earnings call last week that the U.S. healthcare system “needs to function better” and be “less confusing, less complex, and less costly.”
Witty added that healthcare companies benefit from high prices, and said that lower prices and improved services would be good for patients. However, he added, bringing costs down can “threaten revenue streams for organizations that depend on charging more for care.”
In its first earnings report, on January 16, since the killing, UnitedHealth Group’s fourth-quarter revenue missed Wall Street expectations due to difficulties in its insurance business.
For 2004, the company’s revenue increased 8% to $400.3 billion. UnitedHealth Group forecasts its 2025 revenue to be between $450 billion and $455 billion.
Lee Barney ✉
Lee Barney, Newsmax’s financial editor, has been a financial journalist for 30 years, covering the economy, retirement planning, investing and financial technology.
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