After the CEO shooting: what anger at health insurers and middlemen revealed
October 6, 2026 · 18 min read
Brian Simpson and Joe DeRosa each discuss with Joe Rogan why so many people cheered the killing of an insurance executive, Duncan Trussell links it to lost trust, Brigham Buhler explains how insurers and pharmacy benefit managers block alternatives, Mark Cuban describes exposing drug-pricing middlemen, and Bernie Sanders makes his case for Medicare for All. None of them defends the violence, and together they explain the depth of resentment toward a system many see as built to deny care.
The rules, numbers and steps worth keeping in front of you.
- Many did not mourn the killed insurance executive; the anger behind that was years old.
- No speaker says the killing was justified; explaining is not excusing.
- Rogan: anger at insurers crosses party lines.
- People pay premiums as an agreement, and a denial feels like betrayal.
- An insurer's incentive is profit, and denying claims serves it.
- The harm has no visible author: many employees, silos and now software.
- Buhler: pharmacy benefit managers favor drugs with the best rebates.
- Cuban: no transparency; a $594 drug is excluded while an $8,000 one is covered.
- Sanders: replace the design with Medicare for all, expanded in steps.
- Remedies differ: public program, price transparency or prevention.
- Trussell: violence produces more violence.
- Evidence is largely anecdote, and some critics sell alternatives.
- Document and challenge a denied claim; compare drug prices.
- Not medical, legal or insurance advice; ask a qualified professional.
This is the short form. The full insight has every expert's reasoning, their own words and the sources.