UnitedHealth Group CEO quietly telling execs company will hit financial records: report

UnitedHealth Group is expected to smash financial records this year amid a fraught environment at the company following the cold-blooded murder of the insurance division’s CEO, Brian Thompson, according to a report.

The healthcare company’s CEO, Andrew Witty, has quietly been informing executives that the company will see record figures by the end of the year, the Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend – even as he works to boost morale at the company that has faced backlash following Thompson’s Dec. 4 slaying in New York City.

“The environment we find ourselves in is a complex one, not one that was ever designed by anybody,” Witty told workers on video on Dec. 23, according to the publication.

Even so, revenue at the UnitedHealth Group was more than $299 billion through September — which is a record high and up from $277 billion last year, the Journal reported.

UnitedHealth Group has been pulled into the national spotlight after 26-year-old Ivy Leaguer Luigi Mangione allegedly shot Thompson, the 50-year-old CEO of UnitedHealthcare, dead on a midtown Manhattan street.

Mangione, who has denied wrongdoing, is facing state and federal charges tied to the fatal shooting. He was allegedly found with a manifesto-type document that raged against the health insurance industry.

The murder has led to some people disgustingly cheering Thompson’s slaughter, or trying to rationalize it, because of his position at the insurance company.

UnitedHealth Group leadership has reportedly allowed workers to stay home if they don’t feel safe coming to work and armed security has been standing guard at its Minnesota headquarters, a person familiar with the company reportedly said.

The company, which has a market capitalization of about $465 billion and insures more than 50 million people, has also scoured the internet for any threatening messages, including photos of executives, another person familiar with the company told the Wall Street Journal.

Some messages have threatened workers and higher-ups, and the company has requested news outlets blur photos of “wanted” posters” that show executives while also requesting social media apps pull menacing posts, the newspaper reported.

Witty, who took over in 2021, has tried to calm nerves throughout the frenzied past month.

“Right now, people continue to have strong feelings inside the organization, maybe nervous, maybe anxious, maybe worried about security,” he said during the Dec. 23 video call.

The Post has sought comment from UnitedHealth Group.

While the company is raking in billions, there have been concerns that UnitedHealth and other insurers could face rising medical costs while UnitedHealth is also dealing with complaints of burnout, low wages and a company system that tosses medical procedures that should be signed off, per the Journal.

One former worker who was there for 12 years, Inna Sarkisyan, said she “adored” Witty, but grew wary earlier this year about how much he actually wanted to help customers.

“He had mentioned the quality standards, how quality affects everything,” the auditor who lost her job earlier this year told the newspaper. “His investors, if they see a lot of mistakes, they won’t trust him, and he has to make them happy.

“That’s what got me, even though he was the one that used to talk about how it takes a village”