When Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare, was fatally wounded outside the Hilton Midtown hotel back in December, many got to see a reaction from citizens that wasn’t expected. There were celebratory flyers on the streets of New York after the heinous crime. But was it the right reaction? Definitely not, according to Joe Rogan. In fact, rather than using weapons to fight against insurance companies, the UFC commentator has now provided fans with an alternative instead. But what is it?

Well, the perfect way to fight the $1.76 trillion healthcare industry, according to Joe Rogan, is to fight obesity. On JRE #2266, Joe Rogan talked to stand-up comedian Brian Simpson about the American healthcare industry and how it is ripping people off. During the conversation, the UFC commentator stated that once the citizens are re-educated about major issues such as obesity, which is a major issue in the United States, the number of cases would drop and would in turn have the government pay for the citizens’ healthcare instead of people relying on private players.

Why? Well, that’s because the government pays the insurance of many, like firefighters in the US. However, with obesity being an epidemic in the country, the government won’t take the initiative. A recent study on obesity in the US warns that if current trends continue, the country will have 256.1 million people with the medical condition by 2050. To put the scale of the crisis into perspective, more than 40% of Americans are obese. This allows private players to hike up premiums while denying as many claims as possible.

The JRE host said, “It should probably be the same way we treat the fire department. But if we’re going to do that and people say, ‘What about all these people that are obese? What about all these people that are like eating bad food?’ Yeah, we got to educate our society. We have to think of ourselves as a community, as a collective community, educate ourselves, and healthcare should be something that’s paid for by the government.”

It is worth noting that UnitedHealthcare has the biggest market share of health insurance policies, generating over $215 billion in sales. According to a KFF.org survey released in February of last year, claim denial rates ranged from 2% to a shocking 49%. Also, as per ValuePenguin research, the insurance giant has the greatest number of insurance denials, with almost one-third of claims being refused. So, it was no surprise that the CEO’s death was celebrated by many. But was it a just reaction? Not according to Joe Rogan.

Joe Rogan was left disturbed by the celebration of death

The JRE host revealed on the same podcast episode that he was surprised by the number of people celebrating the heinous crime. Unlike most cases where people mourn the death of someone who suffered an untimely death, people were more in favor of the supposed street justice in this case. This seems to have disturbed Joe Rogan, as he said, “The most disturbing wasn’t just that a lot of people cheered for it. The most disturbing part was that people weren’t mad; they weren’t outraged. They didn’t treat it like a regular assassination.”

He further added that many consider it a case of homicide where the deceased deserved it. Even after the authorities arrested Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate, the internet was filled with posts that claimed that the perpetrator was nothing short of a hero. Speaking further about it, the podcaster added, “It was like an assassination where he ‘deserved’ it, right? It didn’t seem like a bad thing. Even though people were like, ‘That was horrible,’ it didn’t seem as bad as if someone shot John Lennon, you know what I mean?”

However, it is worth noting that it was the same Joe Rogan who shared an Instagram post just days after the tragedy and reposted a song that talked about United Healthcare and how the industry is exploiting people. So, it was interesting to see the JRE host have a change of heart. But what do you think of his suggestion? Will fighting obesity bring a major change? Let us know in the comments.