Citizens, other insurers pull leaders' information from web after Luigi Mangione case

Weeks after an assassin’s bullet in New York City killed the CEO of a major health insurance company, it appears a current of fear has spread into company boardrooms: Florida's state-backed insurer Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is among insurers taking their leaders' photos off their websites.

Archived web pages show that some health and property insurance companies’ executives and board members had their pictures and biographies online before Luigi Mangione was arrested on charges of the shooting, which included evidence of a bullet shell etched with the words, “deny, defend and depose." It's a phrase used to criticize insurers’ approach to claims.

Even more shocking than the alleged crime, some say, is that as news spread about UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s Dec. 4 killing on a Manhattan street, Mangione became something of a folk hero. He's become symbolic of the rage some policyholders feel when they can't collect on a paid-for assurance that their health and property are protected.

Subsequently, some insurers have taken pictures of their leaders down. Citizens have also taken off the names of its executives and board members.

No insurance company contacted would say anything about specific threats they've faced since the shooting. But one Lakeland woman made national news in December when she was charged with making written or electronic threats of bodily harm after she said the same words, “deny, defend and depose," in a phone call with a Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida representative. After saying those words, Briana Boston, 42, also said, "You people are next," according to court filings.

Boston had made a health insurance claim that had been denied, according to court papers. The charges were dropped Feb. 14, however.

More: 'Delay, Deny, Depose': Florida woman arrested, accused of threatening insurance company

Insurance companies appear to be taking steps to forestall anyone being targeted.

Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-backed nonprofit subject to most of Florida's open-government laws, went the furthest, deleting names and photos. Others have left names and biographies online but have removed photos including Slide Insurance, a fledgling property insurer; Allstate, which runs one of the state’s 10 biggest property insurance companies as well as car insurance; and Florida Blue, a Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance subsidiary.

Citizens officially acknowledged changes have been made to its leaders’ public exposure.

“For the moment, Citizens has removed information from its website regarding appointees to the Citizens Board of Governors and senior leadership as it reviews its policies and procedures to ensure their safety,” said an official statement from the company.

Aubrey Jewett, an associate professor of political science at the University of Central Florida, said he can understand. Thompson's killing was shocking enough, but then came the swell of adulation that followed the accused killer, a 26-year-old, Ivy League-educated scion of a well-to-do Baltimore family, he said.

“Historically, people would be horrified if somebody was gunned down in the street. But instead, across the internet, you had some people suggesting that this was … just retribution,” Jewett said.

Mangione, now jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, has become an instant meme, inspiring superhero nicknames like “The Adjuster,” after the person in an insurance dispute who is supposed to work out the terms of a settlement between an insurance company and a policyholder.

In addition, support for Magione, facing state and federal premeditated murder charges, is flowing in. “Free Luigi” shirts are being sold. The legal defense fund for him, which has raised more than $625,000 as of Thursday, Feb. 27, issued a public statement saying that while Mangione can’t respond to every letter, he does read them, and asked correspondents to “kindly send no more than five photos at a time” so the mail scanner at the jail doesn’t get jammed up.

Jewett, who has his own face and office location on the web, said that leaders of publicly traded companies and state-backed nonprofits like Citizens would expect some exposure. American Integrity Insurance and State Farm Insurance Company still have both photos and biographies of their leaders still up, but it’s easy to understand why some wouldn’t, Jewett said.

“From what you read, and … some of the mood online was that … insurance companies have been doing terrible things to their customers in the name of profits for a long time,” Jewett said. “And so, you know, some are thinking, what did they expect would happen eventually?”

Anne Geggis is the insurance reporter at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at ageggis@gannett.com.Help support our journalism. Subscribe today