UnitedHealthcare CEO killing leads health insurers to pull photos

The killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson led Centene, another big health insurer, to switch to a virtual investor day next week instead of a planned in-person event in New York.

Thompson’s slaying also has spurred some major health companies, including UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, to remove photos of executives and board members from their websites.

And the health insurer Medica, which like UnitedHealthcare is based in Minnesota, closed its main campus in Minnetonka because of safety concerns for its employees.

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

“Although we have received no specific threats related to our campuses, our office buildings will be temporarily closed out of an abundance of caution,” the spokesperson said.

Organizers of the J. P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, scheduled for next month in San Francisco, are working with the host hotel and the city to increase security and minimize the impact on the event as a result of Thompson’s killing, according to sources familiar with the situation.

The annual meeting regularly attracts around 10,000 registered participants, and thousands more who meet with CEOs and other health executives in conjunction with the event.

“There will definitely be heavy security,” said a source, speaking on condition of anonymity. The source added that past conferences have always had “security at all of the entrances of the hotel and outside the building.”

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

Centene in a statement said that “in the wake of the tragic loss of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson, Centene’s Investor Day will now be hosted virtually.”

Thompson was fatally shot Wednesday morning by an unidentified gunman outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan as he was about to enter the hotel for the investor day of UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare. The event was abruptly called off after UHG leadership learned of the killing.

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

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

“He was a person with a deep sense of empathy and clear passion for improving access to care. Our hearts are with his family and his colleagues during this difficult time.”

Centene’s website had no photos of its executives on its website Friday.

UnitedHealth took down its webpage which linked to photos and information about its top executives.

The webpage for Humana‘s board of directors no longer features photos or information about those people.

CVS Health also removed photos of its top executives from its website.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, which is a group of independent health insurers, removed a link to its executive biographies on its website, Healthcaredive.com reported.

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 executives of public companies, and photos of their leadership and board members on company websites, make them targets for harassment and threats.

Ben Joelson, a principal and the head of security risk at the Chertoff Group, in an interview said that insurers and other companies removing images of their executives and board members is “a prudent step.”

“What they’re trying to do is basically reduce the online risk surface and what’s out there in terms of available digital dust around their executives,” Joelson said. “I do think as we learn more about this specific motive, and obviously, there’s some clues that this was … clearly targeted based on the executive’s position, companies will react and kind of adjust their protection profiles accordingly.”

He also said his company is “helping several clients in the Fortune 500 right now re-evaluate their approach to investor meetings, shareholder meetings, and making sure they have that protective bubble around their key decision makers.”

“When you pre-announce an event at a location and you identify who’s going to be there, you increase the risk of that event, and you have to plan for that accordingly,” Joelson said.

Joelson said that the Chertoff Group saw an increase in queries from companies about their security since the two attempted assassinations of President-elect Donald Trump.

“There have been certain clients and boards that have been asking, ‘Are we doing what’s best for our executives?’ ” Joelson said. ” ‘Are we doing what an ordinary, reasonably prudent company should be doing?’ “

Doug Mandell, a partner at the law firm Withersworldwide, who negotiates contracts for executives that include security provisions said in an interview that most executives find personal security intrusive.

But Mandell expects to see more clients ask their boards for extra protection after Thompson’s killing.

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

“He certainly should have had security. And I think a lot of other CEOs are going to be saying to their companies, ‘Okay, I’m going into a situation where I really do need the protection.’ “

“In the past, it was much more common if they were traveling overseas. Now, they’re going to be thinking about this locally,” Mandell said.

– Additional reporting by Angelica Peebles