沃伦参议员表示，对保险公司首席执行官被杀事件的“本能”反应应该是对医疗保健系统的“警告”
【中美创新时报2024 年 12 月 11日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦周二表示，虽然“暴力”永远不是答案，但联合健康保险公司首席执行官布莱恩·汤普森被枪杀后，人们对医疗保险公司的愤怒应该是对医疗保健行业的“警告”，即“人们只能被逼到这个地步”。《波士顿环球报》记者Alyssa Vega 和 Jim Puzzanghera 对此作了下述报道。
“全国各地的人们都感到被保险公司的卑鄙行为欺骗、敲诈和威胁，他们的反应发自内心，这应该对医疗保健系统中的每个人都是一个警告，”长期批评美国医疗保健系统的沃伦在接受《赫芬顿邮报》采访时表示。
“暴力永远不是答案，但人们只能被逼到这个地步，”她说。“这是一个警告，如果你逼得太紧，他们就会对政府做出改变的能力失去信心，对提供医疗保健的人做出改变的能力失去信心，并开始以最终对每个人都构成威胁的方式自行解决问题。”
上周，汤普森在曼哈顿中城一家酒店外被枪杀，当时联合健康集团正在那里举办年度投资者会议。自这位高管被杀以来，社交媒体上的评论者对该国的医疗保健系统表达了愤怒和沮丧，有些人甚至庆祝暴力事件并将其描述为正当的。
面对社交媒体上的尖锐批评，沃伦周三发表声明称，“暴力永远不是解决问题的办法。就这样。我应该更清楚地表明，谋杀永远没有正当理由。”
佛罗里达州共和党参议员、前医疗保健主管里克·斯科特告诉《波士顿环球报》，他没有看到沃伦在《赫芬顿邮报》上的评论，但她应该止步于“暴力永远没有正当理由”。
路易斯安那州共和党参议员、医生比尔·卡西迪表示，他不同意美国人可以对汤普森谋杀案或 26 岁的马里兰州男子路易吉·曼吉奥尼的动机做出更广泛的解读，后者已被逮捕并被指控犯有该罪行。
“我认为说某人……从大学炸弹客那里获得灵感的人在某种程度上代表了某种正义事业，这是公正的……不。不。就这样。停止，”卡西迪说。
但西弗吉尼亚州的独立参议员乔·曼钦表示，他认为沃伦的言论被曲解了。 “我不认为她是在纵容谋杀，”他说。“我了解伊丽莎白，我认为她根本不是这个意思。”
周三，在接受 CNN 采访时，塞勒姆民主党众议员塞思·莫尔顿也为沃伦辩护。
“我了解沃伦参议员。她不是在纵容谋杀。她和我们所有人一样反对谋杀。这不是她所说的，”他说。“她说的是，我们的医疗保健行业存在需要解决的问题。”
在《赫芬顿邮报》的文章中，宾夕法尼亚州民主党参议员约翰·费特曼批评了他所谓的庆祝凶手的“卑鄙”社交媒体帖子。周三被问及沃伦的评论时，费特曼告诉《环球报》，他不想“责骂或评判”。
“我是沃伦参议员的超级粉丝，她有权表达自己的看法，”他说。“我有不同的看法。”
题图：2023 年 12 月 6 日，参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦在华盛顿国会山参议院军事委员会人事小组委员会听证会上发言 Jose Luis Magana/美联社
附原英文报道：
Senator Warren says ‘visceral’ response to killing of insurance CEO should be ‘warning’ to health care system
By Alyssa Vega and Jim Puzzanghera Globe Staff,Updated December 11, 2024
Senator Elizabeth Warren speaks during the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Dec. 6, 2023Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press
Senator Elizabeth Warren said Tuesday that while “violence” is never the answer,” the outrage directed at health insurers after the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson should be “a warning” to the health care industry that “people can be pushed only so far.”
“The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the health care system,” Warren, a longtime critic of the US health care system, said in an interview with HuffPost.
“Violence is never the answer, but people can be pushed only so far,” she said. “This is a warning that if you push people hard enough, they lose faith in the ability of their government to make change, lose faith in the ability of the people who are providing the health care to make change, and start to take matters into their own hands in ways that will ultimately be a threat to everyone.”
Thompson was fatally shot last week outside a hotel in midtown Manhattan, where UnitedHealth Group was hosting its annual investor conference. Since the executive’s killing, commenters on social media have expressed anger and frustration with the country’s health care system, with some going so far as celebrate the violence and describe it as justified.
In the face of sharp criticism on social media, Warren issued a statement Wednesday saying, “Violence is never the answer. Period. I should have been much clearer that there is never a justification for murder.”
Senator Rick Scott, a Florida Republican and former healthcare executive, told the Globe he hadn’t seen Warren’s HuffPost comments but she should have stopped at “violence is never justified.”
Senator Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and a physician, said he disagreed that Americans could read anything broader into Thompson’s murder or the motivations of Luigi Mangione, 26, the Maryland man who has been arrested and charged with the crime.
“I think that saying that somebody…. who takes inspiration from the Unabomber is somehow representative of any sort of just cause is just. … No. No. Period. Stop,” Cassidy said.
But Senator Joe Manchin, an independent from West Virginia, said he thought Warren’s comments were misconstrued. “I don’t think she meant she was condoning it,” he said. “I know Elizabeth, and I don’t think she would mean that at all.”
Representative Seth Moulton, a Salem Democrat, also came to Warren’s defense Wednesday when asked about her comments during a CNN interview.
“I know Senator Warren. She’s not condoning murder. She’s against murder just like all the rest of us. That’s not what she’s saying,” he said. “What she is saying is that we have problems in our health care industry that need to be addressed.”
In the HuffPost article, Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, was critical of what he called “vile” social media posts that celebrated the killer. Asked about Warren’s comments Wednesday, Fetterman told the Globe he didn’t want to “scold or judge.”
“I’m a huge, huge fan of Senator Warren and she’s entitled to her views,” he said. “I had a different take.”
