Assassinating CEOs Won’t Fix a Broken Health Insurance System

The shocking assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has reignited public outrage over America’s healthcare—or more accurately, health insurance—system, but most criticism completely misses the mark. The truth is, our system wasn’t broken by greedy CEOs or heartless insurance companies. It comes down to a series of historical accidents and bad policy decisions, from WWII-era wage controls to the Affordable Care Act, which have all but destroyed any semblance of a free market for healthcare in our country. There’s no doubt that millions of Americans struggle with serious health issues and crushing medical bills. However, if we’re serious about making America healthy again—and paying less while we’re at it—we need to move past the usual talking points and face the uncomfortable facts driving our system’s failures.