United Health's Greed Killed His Son - Then CNN Killed the Story

Jordan Chariton talked with a father who lost his son to greedy healthcare, and CNN refused to cover it

Jordan Chariton sat down with Bil Schmidtknecht, a father whose 22-year-old son, Cole, died in 2024 after suffering a severe asthma attack that devolved into cardiac arrest. Days before his death, Cole went to Walgreens to pick up his routine asthma medication—medication that normally cost him $35—but he ended up not getting it when he learned the price had increased to over $500.

Days later, Cole suffered an asthma attack—which would have been under control had he had his Advair. Cole had Optum insurance, a subsidiary of United Health Group, as his health insurance.

In December 2024, CNN reached out to Cole's father, Bil, expressing interest in having him on to discuss the loss of his son. Producers with the network also expressed interest in discussing the legislative push to reform pharmacy benefit managers like Optum. However, after being booked to go on CNN's "The Lead" with Jake Tapper, a CNN producer told Bil they needed to reschedule—claiming its legal department wanted to get a response from Optum before doing the segment.

[WATCH Jordan’s interview with Cole’s father Bil]

The rational was odd; legally CNN had already done its due diligence by reaching out to Optum for comment and could have done the segment without a response from Optum. Nonetheless, Bil respectfully responded he was fine waiting. Days turned into two weeks; CNN had not yet reached back out to Bil to reschedule the interview. With no communication, Bil reached back out to the producer asking if the segment would ever happen…

He was told no.

CNN did not respond to Status Coup’s request for comment on why they didn’t follow through with the story and segment.