My book “Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It” was thrust into the spotlight recently, after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed in what authorities say was a targeted attack outside the company’s annual investors conference. Investigators at the scene found bullet casings inscribed with the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose.”

The unsettling echo of the book’s title struck me and many others.

That killing – and the torrent of online outrage that followed – put Americans’ unhappiness with health insurers at the front of the national conversation. Many people responded not by mourning Thompson, but by blaming UnitedHealthcare and other insurers for failing to pay for essential medical treatments. Gleeful online trolls even celebrated the alleged killer as a heroic vigilante.

Speaking as an insurance scholar, I think few should be surprised by this ghoulish reaction. The killing revealed many Americans’ resentment and even rage about insurance companies. And while the focus has been on health insurance, these frustrations extend across the broader insurance landscape. Homeowners........

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