UnitedHealth Group Exposed: Predatory Practices and Deadly Consequences

Last Week Tonight's John Oliver delivered a scathing critique of UnitedHealth Group, calling out the company's predatory practices and vertical integration that enables lucrative self-dealing.

The episode came on the heels of Luigi Mangione's sentencing for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. While Oliver made it clear he was not excusing Mangione's actions, he noted that a poll showed nearly as many Americans blamed UnitedHealth Group's denial of necessary care for the murder as the individual who pulled the trigger.

Olivier revealed the company's practices through tearful interview clips and razor-sharp asides. He highlighted how UnitedHealth Group's vertical integration allows it to make profits by denying patients necessary care, including a case where a young man died after his asthma inhaler was raised from $60 to $500.

In a virtuoso digression, Oliver transformed a metaphor about unqualified executives and algorithms making medical decisions into a lyrical lament about an elderly nun's one, long-ago same-sex love.