By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-03-30 05:21:36 | Updated at 2025-04-01 08:46:21
2 days ago
As Luigi Mangione faces life in prison for allegedly murdering a health insurance CEO, a radical new California ballot proposal bearing his name could upend the entire US healthcare system.
Just months after Mangione allegedly gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Richard Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk, Golden State activists and lawmakers are quietly pushing a ballot initiative.
It proposes sweeping restrictions on health insurance companies, dangerously legitimizing violence as a form of political protest.
The proposed law, officially submitted to the California Attorney General's Office, is named the Luigi Mangione Access To Health Care Act.
It would make it a felony for insurance companies to 'delay, deny or modify any medical procedure or medication' recommended by a physician if the outcome could result in death, disfigurement, disability, or even 'loss or reduction of any bodily function.'
The draft measure, now under official review, would reshape how health insurers operate in California. Under the proposed law:
- Only licensed physicians would be permitted to determine the validity of a treatment denial or delay.
- It would be a felony for insurers to employ non-physicians to review physician recommendations.
- If insurers deny care, they must prove - by clear and convincing evidence - that the denial would not cause harm or death.
- Consumers would gain the right to sue insurers, recouping treble damages - three times actual damages - as well as attorney’s fees.
Just months after Luigi Mangione allegedly gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Richard Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk, California lawmakers are quietly pushing a ballot initiative
Mangione was allegedly found with a 9-millimeter pistol and silencer, clothing that matched the apparel worn by the shooter in surveillance footage
Mangione is accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a New York City hotel
In short, the radical measure would effectively eliminate the ability of insurers to control costs or question medical recommendations unless they can do so under extraordinarily high legal thresholds.
It was December 9 when Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania after a nationwide manhunt.
Two weeks later, he was charged in Manhattan with murder as an act of terrorism, after allegedly stalking and fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Richard Thompson outside an investor conference on December 7.
Mangione, who has pleaded not guilty to 11 federal and state charges - including terrorism, murder, and weapons violations - has become an unsettling folk hero to a small but vocal segment of Americans furious over denied claims, medical bankruptcies, and skyrocketing healthcare costs.
In the weeks following the shooting, social media pages cropped up lionizing Mangione as a 'saint' with fan art, hashtags, and crowdfunding campaigns urging people to support his legal defense.
Some corners of the internet began referring to him as 'the saint of healthcare justice.'
Mangione's alleged attack triggered deep unease through boardrooms across America.
Executives reported a sharp rise in personal threats, and some companies began heightening security at shareholder events and medical offices.
The Act proposes sweeping restrictions on health insurance companies making it a felony for insurance companies to 'delay, deny or modify any medical procedure or medication' recommended by a physician
A proposed California ballot initiative, named after alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione, has been submitted to the California Attorney General’s Office
If the initiative is enacted, any decision by an insurer to delay, deny or modify can only be made by a physician on behalf of any insurer
Mangionehas become an unsettling folk hero to a small but vocal segment of Americans furious over denied claims, medical bankruptcies, and skyrocketing healthcare costs
Luigi Mangione supporters hold signs outside the Supreme Court on last month in New York
In the wake of Mangione's arrest, public opinion polls revealed that a majority of Americans believe health insurers share some blame for the frustrations and tragedies that patients experience when care is denied.
For now, the Mangione Act is in its early stages. The California Attorney General's Office is reviewing the language and will craft a final title and summary before any signature gathering can begin.
A public comment period is open through April 25, giving Californians a chance to weigh in.
If the measure clears the title and summary hurdle, its backers will need to gather hundreds of thousands of valid signatures to qualify for the November 2025 ballot.
