Noel has been the executive responsible for overseeing the company's business that includes Medicare Advantage health insurance plans, the costs of which have begun to rise for insurers in recent years.
UnitedHealthcare, the health insurance unit of UnitedHealth Group, has named Tim Noel, a company veteran, as its new chief executive, after the firm's previous CEO, Brian Thompson, was shot and killed in New York in early December.
In a statement distributed to the US press, the largest health insurer in the country has highlighted that Noel, who joined the company in 2007, "brings unparalleled experience to this position with a proven track record and a strong commitment to improving the functioning of health care for consumers, physicians, employers, governments and other partners."
Noel has been the executive responsible for overseeing the company's business that includes Medicare Advantage health insurance plans, the costs of which have begun to rise for insurers in recent years.
On December 4, the shooting of Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, near the Hilton Hotel in downtown Manhattan (New York), as he was preparing to attend the multinational's annual investor conference, shook American society.
Luigi Mangione was arrested shortly afterwards as the main suspect in connection with the murder, although he has pleaded not guilty to the eleven charges brought against him.
The 26-year-old, who was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, while carrying a pistol and a silencer, traveled to New York more than a week before the murder, taking advantage of the time to conduct a reconnaissance of the area, according to the investigation.
On December 4, he positioned himself between two vehicles and, as Thompson drove by, approached from behind and fired several shots with a pistol, killing him. He then left the scene on a bicycle, passing through Central Park and boarding a taxi to go to a Port Authority bus station in the heart of Manhattan.
The young man, who was born in Maryland to a wealthy Baltimore family, attended a segregated private high school and later graduated from the prestigious University of Pennsylvania, considered an elite university in the United States.
Mangione suffered from back pain since childhood, a health problem for which he underwent surgery. Investigators suspect that the motive for the crime was his rejection of the insurance industry, which he accuses of corruption.
