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'Out of Control': Insurance Giant UnitedHealth Calls in Middle of Cancer Surgery to Question Necessity | Common Dreams (www.commondreams.org)

submitted 13 hours ago by cm0002 to c/nottheonion

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[–] partial_accumen 108 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

UnitedHealthcare suggested in a comment to Newsweek that it did not call Potter during surgery, saying, "There are no insurance related circumstances that would require a physician to step out of surgery and it would create potential safety risks if they were to do so. We did not ask nor would ever expect a physician to interrupt patient care to answer a call and we will be following up with the provider and hospital to understand why these unorthodox actions were taken."

Maybe UHC just needs to read the article they are quoted in to get the answer:

In a follow-up video, Potter said on Wednesday that insurance companies have created "a fear-based system where, if an insurance company calls me and says I've got to call them right back, I'm afraid they're not going to pay for my patient's surgery, that patient is going to get stuck with a bill."

So the answer is: Doctors and patients are so afraid of doing anything that might be an excuse to let UHC deny covering the healthcare procedures. This fear isn't manufactured by doctors or patients. Its a direct result of UHCs prior actions.

[–] Lost_My_Mind 55 points 13 hours ago (4 children)

See, what I'M hearing is that united for years denied people health care that they NEEDED. Then their CEO gets capped, and now all the sudden united is like "Whaaaaat??? We would NEVER do something that put patients lives at risk......wasn't us! We're being good boys now."

Which tells me that Luigi had a direct impact. Before these CEOs were like "I do what I want!!!" And with no consequences, they did what they want.

NOW these CEOs are like "HOLY FUCK!!! THESE GUYS ARE BRINGING CONSEQUENCES!!!! COOL THE HEAT!!! COOL THE HEAT!!!

And now they're rethinking their ways. Not stopping mind you, but trying to appear less like something the devil running a company would do.

So thank you Luigi. Somewhere out there in the world right now is someone getting their care approved, whereas without you, it would have been denied.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

No, that’s fucking delusional. The correct answer is that they know what the doctor did risked a patient’s life and/or complicated their surgery, and they don’t want to be in any way able to be received as liable.

“Of course we wouldn’t force a doctor to leave surgery, that’s ridiculous.” Is covering their asses from lawsuit, plain and simple. If they said “oh we are sorry for the confusion” or “we are glad that the doctor took the time to resolve the issues asap, that’s great patient care” they would be immediately eviscerated in the courts.

Their only course of action is to respond as through they’re unaware of the culture of fear they’ve created (and, tbh, they might actually fucking be unaware). This response is legal & PR 101 and regardless of their actual evil deeds is pretty much the only sane way for them to respond.

[–] whostosay 5 points 7 hours ago

To even doubt that they're aware would be a huge misstep.

Being aware of it and creating this problem is their bottom line. That's how they steal money from their customers and leave them with crippling debt or without medical care for profit.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Huh? This is like the 3rd shit they've tried to pull since the CEO was killed. They clearly don't care about changing their ways. They only backtrack when there's publicity.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

3rd? It's all but certain that there are tens of thousands of other examples of this BS that haven't been reported.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 hours ago

You're right. It's the third shit that's gotten media attention.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 12 hours ago

So thank you Luigi. Somewhere out there in the world right now is someone getting their care approved, whereas without you, it would have been denied.

Literally saving lives by killing a mass murderer.

[–] shalafi 11 points 12 hours ago

You're close! It's more like, this story would have never come to light pre-Luigi.