ICYMI: Unitedhealthcare's Reputational Crisis Is Far From Over

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At the end of last year, we covered UnitedHealthcare's staggering reputational crisis following the December murder of CEO Brian Thompson . It was a targeted killing that unleashed a visceral wave of public hatred for health insurers, with some Americans even expressing sympathy for the shooter.

Roughly seven months after the brazen attack, and the alarming levels of hostility it exposed, The New York Times is still tracking the company's attempts to rebuild its shattered public image through a series of tactical and communications moves. These include what Times deputy investigative editor David Enrich describes as“an aggressive and wide-ranging campaign to quiet critics .”

In his July article, Enrich reports that UHC has joined the ranks of companies using legal threats and lawsuits to combat criticism - a tactic that, in UHC's case, includes arguing that public disparagement could incite further violence. The approach appears to be effective: Amazon and Vimeo removed a documentary series on the U.S. healthcare system that UHC claimed was defamatory, and The Guardian postponed publishing an investigation into the company due to a lawsuit over a previous article.

But UHC may not be doing itself any favors by trying to block the press and other platforms from publishing critical coverage (something Enrich notes the company has done since before Thompson's death). On Monday, Times healthcare reporter Reed Abelson published a comprehensive story examining whether UHC can repair its tarnished public image, regardless of whether CEO Stephen Hemsley, who returned to the role in May amid what The Times called“a collapse of confidence,” can regain investors' trust.

Abelson writes that when it comes to UnitedHealth Group, the conglomerate that owns UnitedHealthcare,“many Americans have come to see it as emblematic of everything wrong with the system: a byzantine, bureaucratic insurance industry intent on making it harder for people to get treatment as a means to maximizing profits.”

With government investigations and consumer lawsuits under way, it's unclear whether, or how, UHC will be held accountable for the practices that evoked such public outrage after Thompson's death. Most notably, this includes its high rate of care denials. (The company has settled some claims, including a $6.75 million settlement with families who were denied proton beam therapy for cancer.)

Still, you'd think the extraordinary public backlash, along with falling profits , might have prompted a reset in how UHC interacts with the public. It might have ended what has long been business as usual.

As Enrich writes,“In recent years, the company has been the subject of extensive investigative reporting into its billing practices and denials of patient care, among other things. It faces a variety of federal criminal and civil investigations, including into potential Medicare fraud and antitrust violations, The Wall Street Journal has reported.”

“For UnitedHealth, the stakes are high,” Enrich writes.

What remains to be seen is whether the company can rebuild its credibility without major reform.

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