The killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO leads health insurers to pull the plug

Execution of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson took the lead Centeneanother major health insurer, to switch to a virtual investor day instead of a planned in-person event in New York.

Thompson’s killing also prompted major health care companies, including parent company UnitedHealthcare, to remove images of executives and board members from their websites.

And health insurer Medica, like Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare, has closed its main campus in Minnetonka because of concerns about the safety of its employees.

“The safety of Medica employees is our top priority and we have increased the safety of all our employees,” a Medica spokesperson told NBC News.

“While we have not received any specific threats affecting our campuses, our office buildings will be temporarily closed as a precaution,” said the spokesperson.

Centene, which announced the change at an event Friday, is one of the largest Medicaid insurers and was scheduled to hold its investor day at the New York Stock Exchange next Thursday.

Centene said in a statement that “following the loss of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Centene’s investor day is almost over.”

Thompson was shot and killed Wednesday morning by an unknown gunman outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan as he was about to enter the hotel for an investor day for UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare. The event was abruptly stopped after the leadership of UHG learned of his murder.

Police believe Thompson was targeted by the gunman, who left behind shell casings with the words “deny,” “delay,” and “delete” on them. The words may refer to words used by critics of insurance companies to identify their strategy of denying customer claims.

“All of us at Centene are deeply saddened by the death of Brian Thompson and want to express our support to all those affected. Health insurance is a large industry and a small community; many members of the Centene team crossed paths with Brian during his career,” Centene CEO Sarah London said in a statement.

“He was a person of deep compassion and a clear passion for improving access to care. Our hearts go out to his family and colleagues at this difficult time.”

Centene’s website did not have pictures of its officials on its website on Friday.

UnitedHealth has taken down its linked webpage with photos and information about its top executives.

This is the web page HumanaThe board of directors no longer includes photos or information about those people.

Life of CVS it also released photos of its top executives on its website.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, a group of private health insurance companies, has removed a link to its senior living documents from its website, Healthcaredive.com reports.

Chris Pierson, CEO of BlackCloak, which provides private digital security for C-suite executives and their families, told CNBC that disclosures of events expected to be attended by public company executives, and images of their leadership and board members on corporate websites, are intended to harass and threaten.

Ben Joelson, principal and head of security risk at Chertoff Group, said in an interview that insurance companies and other companies removing photos of their executives and board members is “a smart move.”

“What they’re trying to do is reduce cyber risk and what’s out there in terms of digital dust that’s around their managers,” Joelson said. “I think that as we learn more about this cause, and clearly, there are indications that this is … clearly directed at the manager’s position, companies will respond and adjust their security profiles accordingly.”

He also said that his company is “helping a lot of Fortune 500 clients right now to reevaluate how they go to investor meetings, shareholder meetings, and make sure they have this protective bubble around their key decision makers.”

“When you announce an event in a certain area and identify who is going to be there, you increase the risk of that event, and you have to plan for that,” Joelson said.

Joelson said the Chertoff Group has seen an increase in questions from companies about their security since the two assassination attempts on President-elect Donald Trump.

“There have been some clients and boards that have been asking, ‘Are we doing the best for our management?’ ” said Joelson. ” ‘Are we doing what a normal, rational company should do?’ “

Doug Mandell, a partner at the law firm Withers Berman, who negotiates executive contracts that include security provisions, said in an interview that many executives find personal security a concern.

But Mandell expects to see more customers asking their boards for more protection after Thompson’s murder.

“The CEO was on his way to his shareholder meeting… and they’ve had threats before,” Mandell said.

“You definitely have to have security. And I think a lot of other CEOs will be saying to their companies, ‘Okay, I’m going to get into a situation where I need to be protected.’ “

“In the past, it was more common when they traveled overseas. Now, they’re going to think about this locally,” Mandell said.