Words Found at Scene of CEO Killing May Link to a Book. Here’s What That Could Mean.

As the New York City Police Department continues to search for a motive in the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel Wednesday morning, words found on bullet casings left at the scene of the crime might provide clues.

Police have been investigating these messages, which appear to include the words “delay,” “deny,” and “depose,” according to multiple media reports based on law enforcement officials speaking on condition of anonymity.

Though the meaning of the apparent messages on the bullet casings was not immediately clear, reports have pointed to a potential link to the 2010 book Delay, Deny, Defend by Jay Feinman, a professor emeritus at Rutgers Law School. The book focuses on ways in which health insurance companies avoid paying patient claims.

“Your insurer’s main objective is not to protect you; in fact, insurers often try to avoid paying justified claims,” a website for Delay, Deny, Defend states regarding the book. “Today the name of the game is delay, deny, defend: to improve their profits, insurance companies delay payment of justified claims, deny payment altogether, and defend their actions by forcing claimants to enter litigation.”

“It’s unconscionable, and it’s widespread,” the website further states. “From stonewalling and lowballing claims to instigating arbitrary fraud investigations, insurance companies are increasingly failing to live up to their contractual commitments.”

Some major insurers have even hired a prominent consulting firm to “help them squeeze even more cash out of their claims centers,” it continues. And they do this because they have “realized they can add to their bottom line by using your monthly payments as a profit center, rather than a fund for giving you what you deserve if tragedy strikes.”

When contacted by MedPage Today about words from Delay, Deny, Defend reportedly being found on bullet casings at the scene of the crime, Feinman declined to comment.

Beyond the book title, the phrase has “become something of a rallying cry for insurance critics,” AP reported. It refers to insurers “delaying payment on healthcare claims, denying claims, and defending their actions.”

Indeed, Thompson’s murder and the apparent messages left at the scene of the crime have “sparked outrage on social media and elsewhere,” AP noted, “reflecting a deepening frustration Americans have over the cost and complexity of getting care.”

Overall, critics of health insurers contend they are increasingly interfering with patient care — even routine care — thereby causing delays that can sometimes negatively affect chances for recovery or potentially survival. Meanwhile, insurers hold that tactics like prior authorization are essential to reining in things like unnecessary care and spiraling medical costs.

Frustrations with health insurers beyond coverage of care have included that expensive breakthrough drugs, such as those to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, are frequently not covered or subject to coverage limits, AP further noted.

As of Thursday afternoon, Thompson’s killer remained unidentified and at large, and no motive for the crime had been confirmed by police.

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