On Tuesday, UnitedHealth Group announced that CEO Andrew Witty was stepping down. The announcement came from Witty as the company suspended its full-year financial outlook - because it believes that medical costs will be higher than forecast. UnitedHealth’s revenue was over $400 billion. The year before Witty became CEO in 2021, its revenue was $257 billion - that’s a 55% increase.

At the same time, the Trump administration’s 2026 budget will slash $880 billion in cuts to the critical programs of Medicare and Medicaid, while funding the military to an even higher level than requested by the Pentagon. Some of the cuts will come in the form of privatization, pushing recipients to private plans with Medicare Advantage - described by former Cigna executive Wendell Potter as “one of the biggest scams that we’ve seen in this country” because of significant fraud by the private companies that administer the plans.

From cuts to healthcare and other social services padding the pockets of the wealthy, to threats to eliminate habeas corpus and other key democratic rights, and into new moves on the international stage, the Trump administration is showing us an entire system in crisis and moving far to the right.

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