Lakewood, Florida – On December 10, a heated phone call over a denied insurance claim led to the arrest of a Florida mother on charges of threatening a mass shooting and committing an act of terrorism.
According to police reports, Briana Boston ended the call with a BlueCross BlueShield representative by stating “Delay, Deny, Depose. You people are next.”
Lakeland Police Chief Sam Taylor stated that Boston admitted to making the statement and apologized during police questioning. She reportedly told investigators that she said the words because “healthcare companies played games and deserved karma from the world because they are evil.”
The phrase “Delay, Deny, Depose” has broader context, referencing a book about insurance company practices and a common critique of healthcare administrative procedures.
Boston claimed she first encountered the phrase in news coverage of the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, where it was reportedly found engraved on shell casings at the crime scene.
Boston, a nuclear medicine technologist with over eight years of healthcare experience, now faces severe legal consequences despite having no prior criminal history.
She was arrested and held on a $100,000 bond, with potential charges carrying a penalty of up to 15 years in prison.
Authorities clarified that Boston was not found in possession of any firearms and stated that she “does not pose a danger to anyone.”
The case has sparked significant public backlash, with many questioning the severity of the charges against Boston. A GoFundMe campaign for her legal expenses has already raised over $82,000, with supporters arguing that the punishment is disproportionate to her actions.
Her attorney, Anthony Rickman, called the arrest “political hyperbole,” describing her statement as an emotional outburst rather than a credible threat.
On December 15, 2024, her husband, Daniel Boston, shared an update on the GoFundMe page, expressing gratitude for the global support: “Briana and I continue to be amazed and overwhelmed by the support from around the world; it is greatly appreciated, and we cannot give enough thanks.” He clarified that, despite some media reports, his wife is still facing charges and remains under house arrest after posting bond.
Court documents detail the strict conditions of Boston’s pre-trial release. She is confined to house arrest with GPS monitoring and may only leave home for court appearances, attorney meetings, medical appointments, work, church, and one weekly grocery shopping trip. Additionally, she is prohibited from contacting anyone affiliated with BlueCross BlueShield or possessing any weapons or ammunition.
The disproportionate legal response Boston faces comes in the wake of the high-profile assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on December 4, 2024, as he was heading to an investors’ conference.
The alleged suspect, Luigi Mangione, was arrested on December 9 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, nearly a week after going on the run.
In a manifesto attributed to Mangione, he expressed a deep-seated resentment toward the healthcare system, stating, “Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming. A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy. United is the [indecipherable] largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has grown and grown, but as our life expectancy? No the reality is, these [indecipherable] have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allowed them to get away with it.”
The killing of Thompson has ignited widespread outrage against insurance companies, revealing a growing fury toward the industry’s influence and practices in the United States.
This anger highlights broader frustrations with the American healthcare system, which remains one of the least efficient in the developed world.
According to Mirror, Mirror 2024: An International Comparison of Health Systems by the Commonwealth Fund, U.S. healthcare spending began to outpace other comparable nations in the early 1980s, a trend that continues today. By 2022, the U.S. spent 16.5% of its GDP on healthcare—far exceeding Germany, the next closest country, at 11.8%.
Yet this high spending has not translated into better outcomes. In 2022, the U.S. ranked last in overall healthcare system performance, placing 9th or 10th in four of five categories: “access to care,” “administrative efficiency,” “equity,” and “health outcomes.”
Its only relative strength was in “care process,” where it ranked second.
This disconnect between cost and performance has created a system where families face limited access to quality care and significant financial strain. Public opinion reflects this growing dissatisfaction.
A 2023 Gallup survey found that only 44% of Americans rate “the quality of healthcare in this country” to be “excellent” or “good,” which Gallup described as the “lowest point in their data trend dating back to 2001.”
Similarly, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey revealed that 58% of insured adults encountered issues with their health insurance in the past year, including claim denials, high costs, and limited provider networks.
Under the leadership of CEO Brian Thompson, UnitedHealthcare became notorious for denying consumers claims.
In May of 2024, ValuePenguin a personal finance site offering consumer-focused analysis and insights on insurance, loans, and other financial products called UnitedHealthcare “the worst insurance company for paying claims,” estimating it’s rate of denial to be 32%.
ValuePenguin has since placed a notice at the top of the page that says “due to recent events, ValuePenguin removed certain data elements from this piece at the request of law enforcement.”
Notably, the data that was once organized with a visually appealing bar graph has exchanged the graphic for a test-based data table that must be expanded to view fully.
Most companies measured showed a denial rate in the high teens with the lowest being Kaiser Permanente at 7%. UnitedHealthcare’s next closest competitor for worst estimate of claim approval was Medica at a mere 27%.
Before his death, Thompson was accused of insider trading in a shareholder lawsuit filed by the City of Hollywood Firefighter’s Pension Fund. At the same time, the Department of Justice was investigating UnitedHealth Group, UnitedHealthcare’s parent company for potential antitrust violations.
According to the lawsuit, Thompson and others allegedly used confidential information about the DOJ’s investigation into UnitedHealth’s acquisition of Change Healthcare to profit financially.
During the four months between the investigation’s initiation and its public announcement, Thompson reportedly sold approximately $15 million in UnitedHealth. After the sale, the investigation was announced on February 27, 2024 and UnitedHealth lost over $27 per share, wiping out $25 billion of market value in the process.
Header image: Left, Briana Boston (Polk County Jail). Right, Ms Boston in court (WFLA)
This article originally appeared on the Justice Report and is republished by The Noticer with permission.
