Book is a bestseller after "delay," "deny" bullet casings found on CEO killing site
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The cover of book "Delay, Deny, Defend" on the Amazon bestseller list.
A week after the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a book criticizing the U.S. health care industry skyrocketed to the top of an Amazon bestseller list.
The big picture: Author Jay Feinman's "Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It" is second on the site's nonfiction bestseller list Wednesday. The words "delay," "deny" and "depose" were found etched on bullet casings at the site of the CEO's killing.
- The words represent methods the insurance industry has employed to avoid paying claims and have become a rallying cry criticizing health insurance companies.
- Luigi Mangione, who was charged with murder in connection with Thompson's death, was carrying a handwritten document that criticized corporations and health insurance companies at the time of his arrest, law enforcement officials said.
Zoom in: Feinman's book was originally published in 2010 to expose "insurance injustice" and give consumers and lawmakers a plan "to fight back."
- The cover art includes a burning house that a person in a suit is using to set fire to an apparent insurance policy.
- Days after the shooting, Feinman posted on X saying "because folks have been asking," the paperback was out of stock on Amazon and would be restocked soon.
Zoom out: Thompson's death has spurred online vitriol toward the insurance industry and a wave of memes celebrating the suspect.
- The public's reaction to his killing has highlighted the avarice and inequality that many Americans believe is at the root of the country's health care system, Axios' Ivana Saric writes.
- For as many jokes internet users cracked casting the suspected shooter as a "folk hero," others pointed to the systemic wealth inequality governing a society in which UnitedHealthcare reported over $16 billion in operating profits in 2023.
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