Skip to main navigation Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to search
Skip to content
Hours & Location, opens an overlay Help Help, opens an overlay
Hours & LocationsHours & Locations, collapsed
See all locations
HelpHelp, collapsed
  • Ask Us
  • FAQs
  • Get a Library Card
  • About HCPL
  • Catalog and Account Guide
Admin AdminAdmin, collapsed
Log In / My HCPL
  • Log In / Register
  • My Library Dashboard
  • My Borrowing
  • Checked Out
  • On Hold
  • Borrowing History
  • Fees
  • ILL Requests
  • My Collections
  • For Later Shelf
  • Completed Shelf
  • In Progress Shelf
  • Lists
  • My Events
  • My Profile
  • My Settings
Harris County Public Library
Main navigation Events
Open search form
Search the
by
for
    Saved Searches Advanced Search

    Search

    by
    for
      Saved Searches Advanced Search
      • BrowseBrowse, collapsed

        Browse

        • Catalog
        • Overdrive/Libby
        • Explore hcpl.net

        BY AUDIENCE

        • Kids
        • Teens
        • Adults

        BY FORMAT

        • Books
        • eBooks
        • Audio
        • Movies & TV
        • Magazines & Newspapers

        RECOMMENDATIONS

        • Coming Soon
        • New Titles
        • Award Winners
        • Bestsellers
        • Explore

        MORE

        • About HCPL
        • Blog
        • Careers @ HCPL
        • Friends of the Library
        • Library Policies
        • Newsroom
        • Podcast
        • Suggest a Book
        • Volunteer
      • EventsEvents, collapsed

        Events

        • All Events
        • Monthly Calendar

        BY AUDIENCE

        • Kids
        • Teens
        • Adults

        FEATURED PROGRAMS

        • Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month
        • Authorama
        • Book Buddies
        • Easter & Pesach
        • Growing Readers
        • Gulf Coast Reads
        • Summer Reading Program

        MORE

        • Books & Reading
        • Citizenship & English Learning
        • Computers & Technology
        • Maker & STEM
        • Story Time
      • ServicesServices, collapsed

        Services

        • Get a Card
        • My Account
        • My Account Help
        • Accessibility Request

        YOUR LIBRARY

        • Adaptive Resources
        • Ask Us
        • Copying & Printing
        • Elections & Government
        • ILL (Interlibrary Loan)
        • In the Community
        • LAWPods
        • Library for All
        • Meeting & Study Rooms
        • Passport Services
        • Tax Services
        • Veterans Resources

        EDUCATION

        • Adult Literacy
        • Career Online High School
        • Citizenship
        • College & Career
        • ESL (Learn English)
        • Growing Readers (children 0-5 years)
        • HCPL Connected
        • Homeschool & Educator Resources

        FOR READERS

        • Author Alerts
        • Author Talks
        • Book Bundles
        • Book Hunters
        • Gulf Coast Reads
        • Newsletters
        • Summer Reading

        MAKER & MORE

        • Maker Central
        • Digital Media Labs
        • Innovation Labs
        • Gardening Tools
      • Online ResourcesOnline Resources, collapsed

        Online Resources

        • Online Resources
        • A-Z Resources
        • By Format
        • Apps

        BY SUBJECT

        • Books, Literature & Reading
        • Business, Finance & Legal
        • Computers & Technology
        • Digital Media
        • DIY
        • Español
        • Genealogy & History
        • Government
        • Health
        • HCPL Digital Archive
        • Job & Career
        • Language Learning & ESL
        • Lifelong Learning
        • Newspapers, Magazines & Journals
        • Reference & Research
        • Religion, Philosophy & Social Sciences
        • Science & Nature
        • Texshare

      Explore HCPL.NETExplore HCPL.NET

      Our EXPLORE page is a deep dive into library content, from blogs, reading lists, and library news, to online resources, events, services, and so much more. If you think you know everything HCPL has to offer, you owe it to yourself to explore! Filter by content type, format, genre, topic, and age range.

      Our EXPLORE page is a deep dive into library content! From blogs, reading lists, and news, to online resources, events, services, and so much more. If you think you know everything HCPL has to offer, you owe it to yourself to explore hcpl.net! Filter by content type, format, age range, genre, topic and more!

      EXPLORE EXPLORE
      • HCPL Blogs
      • RozetteP
      22
      Dec 2024

      Categories

      • View all cards in Adults
      • View all cards in Books
      • View all cards in Mind, Body & Spirituality
      • View all cards in Nonfiction
      • View all cards in Social Issues & Politics

      Similar Posts for You

      • Summer at the Library

        May 27, 2025

      • Interview with Space City Weather’s Eric Berger

        May 26, 2025

      • Xeriscaping Your Landscape

        May 25, 2025

      • Wax On, Wax Off: Four Decades of the Karate Kid

        May 23, 2025

      • Golems and Dybbuks and Estries, Oh My!

        May 22, 2025

      “Thoughts and prayers are out of network”

      by RozettePDecember 22, 2024

      A Shooting with a Twist

      Anger towards a victim of a fatal shooting and praise of the shooter was not on my Bingo card of things that will happen in 2024. And yet, it happened. On December 4th, Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare, the largest health insurance company in the nation, was shot and killed outside his hotel in New York City. Several days later, a suspect, Luigi Mangione, was arrested. It was the shot heard around the world.  Some things happened as expected when a CEO of a big company is killed. The media stays in a constant state of breaking news as they learn more about the incident, the police begin a manhunt, do several press releases, and everyone wants to hear from the President. Social media, the pulse point of the people, reacted in a surprising way. The normal response to an unexpected death is that people offer prayers and condolences to the loved ones. Look up the recent school shooting in Wisconsin, and we offered quite a few prayers and condolences. This was not the case on December 4th. 

      What appeared on social media was unexpected. It reminded me of the opening song from Wicked. “No One Mourns the Wicked” when the munchkins celebrated the death of Elphaba, whom they deem wicked. On social media, one could read several thousand posts stating, “my condolences and prayers are out of network” or “access to my support and prayers is denied as not medically necessary.” No one knew who shot the CEO, but many hailed the shooter as a modern-day Robin Hood or an American hero.  And post after post told of a person who had lost a loved one due to a denial or delay in medical care. Some shared the difficulty they were having getting a necessary medical procedure approved by their insurance company. The killing of an insurance CEO hit a nerve.

      (There are, on average, 123 deaths due to gun violence per day in the U.S. I couldn't have been the only person who wondered who the other 122 victims were on December 4th). 

      Hitting a nerve

      The shooter hit a nerve. The police stated that the ammo he used was inscribed with “Delay, Deny, Depose.” Those three words have become a battle cry in America regarding the state of our healthcare system. Some believe it is in reference to a book published in 2010, Delay, Deny, Defend, by Jay Feinman.  The book is about insurance in general and corporate tactics to delay making decisions on claims, deny payment on claims, and defend their actions in court. It offers an insider's view of how insurance companies use premiums they receive and examples of insured people who had trouble with their claims. The book deals more with home insurance than health insurance, but the theory and outcome are the same. Except when health insurance claims are denied, people physically suffer, and, yes, some of them die due to lack of proper and timely healthcare.

      However, when the suspect changed the last D from defend to depose, it changed the meaning. No longer was it about the three strategies insurance companies utilize to maintain high profits for their shareholders. It now meant two strategies they use and the way the shooter chose to respond: fatally shooting the CEO of the country's largest healthcare insurance company. According to all the praise for the shooter on social media, many others see it as a valid response to a for-profit healthcare system that many believe puts profits before the lives of its members: we can depose those who utilize the tactics of delay and denial. In the past few weeks, people have tattooed the "deny, defend, depose" battle cry on their bodies. A quick search on Etsy of “Delay, Deny, Depose” and you will see stickers, t-shirts, and hats with those three words on them for sale. You will see a camouflaged baseball cap with the words “CEO Season” embroidered on it.  One woman, Briana Boston, has been arrested, charged with threats to conduct a mass shooting or act of terrorism, and held on a $100,000 bond because she ended her phone call with a Blue Cross customer service representative by saying, “Delay, deny, depose. You people are next.” She called them because Blue Cross denied two of her claims. According to many news sources, donations are pouring in to help pay her legal fees.

      Jay Feinmen may have been right about the last "D" in the title of his book, Defend. The day after the shooting, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield announced they were not going to limit the amount of anesthesia per procedure, a policy they announced a few days prior to the shooting.  Subscribers from many insurance companies report that their authorization for a procedure that had been pending for quite some time was suddenly approved. This murder (perhaps assassination is a more apt description) has started a conversation that many have wanted for years.

      Will the murder of a CEO lead to lasting change?

      Some have argued that the murder of a healthcare CEO is not how we make changes in our healthcare system because murder for any reason is a terrible thing. Others have argued that denying people needed healthcare is legalized murder and is also a terrible thing. We can expect Mangione to go to trial and to prison if found guilty. It remains to be seen whether health insurance companies will change how they treat their members or if they will do what they did to Briana Boston and have them arrested for threats made out of frustration than real intent. One thing is certain, and recent events have born it out, a lot of Americans have firsthand experience of the healthcare crisis. Medical debt is the number one cause of bankruptcy in the U.S., and a full 41% of all adults carry some healthcare-related debt. Time will tell if their anger and the strange community of outrage at the nation's healthcare system that sprang up following Thompson's murder will translate into real political action. But, unfortunately, with time come other things to draw our attention, such as drones over New Jersey, before any real change can be made.  

      Learn more

      The Hidden History of American Healthcare

      Delay, Deny, Defend

      One Nation, Uninsured

      An American Sickness

      Which Country Has the World's Best Health Care?

      Universal Health Care

      Sicko

      As Good as It Gets

      Add a comment

      More by RozetteP

      The Cost of Healthcare: Who pays?

      • Adults
      • Business & Money
      • How Do I...?

      10 ways the library can help with No Buy January

      • Adults
      • Library Services
      • No Buy January

      How to survive widowhood

      • Adults
      • Family & Relationships
      • How Do I...?
      • Mind, Body & Spirituality

      Discover New Posts

      Summer at the Library

      • Adults
      • Kids
      • Teens
      • Tweens
      • Summer

      Space City Weather - THE INTERVIEW

      • Adults

      Xeriscaping Your Landscape

      • Adults
      • Nonfiction
      • Home & Garden
      • How Do I...?

      Add a comment to: “Thoughts and prayers are out of network”

      We welcome your respectful and on-topic comments and questions in this limited public forum. To find out more, please see Appropriate Use When Posting Content. Community-contributed content represents the views of the user, not those of Harris County Public Library

      Footer Menu

      More Services

      • Author Alerts
      • Catalog & Account Help
      • Suggest a Book
      • Digital Access
      • HCPL Connected
      • Maker
      • Military Library Card
      • Podcast
      • Request a Book Bundle

      FAQs

      • My Account
      • Borrowing
      • Collections
      • Copying & Printing
      • Special Equipment

      Resources

      • Digital Media
      • Reference & Research
      • Business, Finance & Legal
      • Science & Nature
      • Lifelong Learning

      About Us

      • About HCPL
      • Locations & Hours
      • Holiday Closures
      • Blogs
      • Careers
      • Get Involved
      • LibraryForAll

      Contact the Library

      Harris County Public Library
      5749 S Loop E Hwy
      Houston, TX 77033
      (713) 274-6600
      Contact Us

      Contact the Library

      Harris County Public Library
      5749 S Loop E Hwy
      Houston, TX 77033
      (713) 274-6600
      Contact Us
      Support Library , opens a new window
      Terms of Use, opens a new window Privacy Statement, opens a new window Accessibility Statement, opens a new window © 2025 Harris County Public Library

      Powered by BiblioCommons.

      BiblioWeb: webapp03 Version 4.27.0 Last updated 2025/05/27 09:29

      Back to Top