You Can Stop United Healthcare From Harming More Patients
Health insurance leaders and Wallstreet make their money off of denying care to patients. They count on patients and caregivers not fighting back. And their business strategy works - less than 1% of people appeal claim denials.
Starting June 1, 2023 United Healthcare will begin requiring prior authorizations for diagnostic and surveillance colonoscopies. In lay terms: if your physician believes that you need a colonoscopy to diagnose or rule out a disease, such as colon cancer, the insurance company will fight you and your doctor.
The prior authorization process can take weeks, if not months, to complete, and there is no guarantee that the insurer will approve the physician’s recommended course of action. Insurance companies make decisions about patients' health care without reviewing medical records, without examining the patient, and, increasingly, by using an algorithm to determine coverage approval.
Prior authorizations block or significantly delay coverage. Even if the insurer eventually decides to cover a patient's test or treatment - and that's a coin toss - the critical window may have passed and the patient may have lost any chance at life or health.
Colonoscopies WILL be denied or delayed. People WILL be harmed; some will die.
Nearly 200 gastrointestinal societies delivered a letter to United’s CEO, Andrew Witty, urging United not to implement this policy change. The physicians declared that this policy change is “flawed and misguided and will harm patients.”
More details on this dangerous policy change here, thanks to STAT’s reporting.
Insurance companies and Wallstreet should NOT be in charge of patient care.
FIGHT BACK.
1) Share this post.
2) Sign the Change.org petition and share it.
3) Share this letter with your employer, and encourage your employer to speak up.
4) Email UnitedHealthcare CEO Andrew Witty: Andrew.witty@uhg.com
5) Learn and share my tips for fighting back against insurance companies, and how to get your care covered.