Of Course They Did

I am not surprised that health insurance companies strong-armed the Department of Justice into filing federal charges against Luigi Mangione.

Lobbying to get their interests placed ahead of the interests of the rest of us is a core of their business model:

According to reporting by Joe Marino, Ben Kochman and Matt Troutman last week, health insurance leaders pressured the DOJ to make an example of Luigi Mangione by bringing federal charges against him in a surprise announcement that caught his lawyers off guard. If tried in federal court, Mangione could be sentenced to death, silencing any further criticism of the American healthcare system he decried in his manifesto.

According to the Post’s report, “federal charges came amid pressure from health insurance industry leaders to make an example out of Mangione.” The post also writes that the decision to unveil federal charges “came from the top of the DOJ in Washington D.C.”

How and when healthcare industry leaders tried to strong-arm the department of justice remains unclear. But the top three DOJ officials under Attorney General Merrick Garland have all represented massive healthcare companies during their respective stints in private practice before joining the DOJ.

(emphasis mine)

Note that the original source is The New York Post, but the rapidity and ferocity of the filings support their reporting.

Thanks, Merrick.