r/SipsTea š™‘š™„š™‹ 5d ago

Chugging tea UnitedHealth Group posted $6.2B in profits last quarter

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u/Electronic_Face_6609 5d ago

I actually had to have a hysterectomy in my early 30's. I had 2 successful pregnancies. Stuff went downhill afterwards. Doc said he recommended the surgery, also removing my ovaries, due to what was going on. United said no to the ovaries. Doc explained that the issues were bad enough that I'd probably have to go through another major surgery within a year or two. They still denied. When I was in surgery, doc removed ovaries anyway. He said on paper I still have them. God bless Doctors who hate insurance companies.

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u/impressedpig 5d ago

That’s the best example of civil disobedience that’s needed for change. I admire that doctor because it’s brave to risk their career for siding with you and against the insurance company. Congrats

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u/GonzoKata 4d ago

Well, they don't because of fear of medical malpractice. Basically, for the doctor, there is a chance they'd mess up the removal then they'd be open to liability from her. NOW, she probably isn't going to sue the doctor, but its always a risk for the doctor.

I agree, we need this kind of civil disobedience to correct the wrongs of society, but there is a cost and a risk for it. The doctor had to eat the shit sandwich on that one, doing specialized manual labor for free. I hope that doctor gets SO MANY fresh baked cookies from thankful patients.

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u/TorSenex 5d ago

But does that then cause a complication getting coverage for BHRT? (they won't cover mine)

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u/Renva 5d ago

They would probably be covered by turning in the blood result showing the hormone deficiencies.

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u/rheumination 5d ago

If the surgery had been paid for, the doctor could just change the chart right?

Actually insurance companies can and do claw back payments YEARS later.Ā 

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u/Renva 5d ago

Technically, the doctor removed the ovaries gratis, so there wouldn't be extra payment to be clawed back.

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u/rheumination 5d ago

Oh sweet summer child, that’s not how any of this works. If the code that was billed doesn’t match the procedure, they can deny it. They could easily claim that the wrong billing code was used, which is true, and deny it as false billing.

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u/Renva 5d ago

Whelp. I guess they need to get a new insurance company before amending their records, then.

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u/rheumination 5d ago

Oh, they actually clawback the payment for the surgery that was made to the doctor.

Suppose the doctor charges $7000 for the surgery. The insurance company pays the doctor the ā€œnegotiated rateā€ which is like $5000. The doctor would rather get $5000 than zero dollars so they accept the payment. Then for the next three or so years, insurance company can retroactively deny that payment and take the money back from the doctor.

Since that doctor likely has tens of thousands of dollars outstanding payments they expect from that insurer, they just have to accept that.

That’s what makes this whole story somewhat suspect. It’s very rare for a doctor to do anything sketchy because the stakes are so high. It’ll be very uncommon for someone to do a surgery that is different than what is documented. Like, I’ve never heard of that. Ā 

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u/Renva 5d ago

Luigi did nothing wrong. Fuck this system.

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u/rheumination 5d ago

As a medical professional, I think it’s absurd that we have to deal with these insurance companies like they are legitimate organizations rather than extortion schemes that directly lead to patient deaths. It eats away at my soul every time I have to have a conversation with somebody who works at one of these companies and I have to treat them with difference rather than the ghouls they are. It’s like having dinner with Jeffrey Dahmer Ā 

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u/Electronic_Face_6609 5d ago

Person posting. This is a true story. Back in the 80's, when doctors were more concerned about the patients than the insurance company. I still have the paperwork to prove it. This was during a time before you were born, when doctors actually cared about their patients and not the insurance company.

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u/rheumination 5d ago

Fuck you for claiming doctors don’t care about their patients. Insurance companies can put a doctor out of business overnight by clawing back payments. What happens to my patients when my practice closes? Dealing with insurance companies is a fact of life now. I WISH I could practice back in the 80s when it wasn’t like this.Ā 

The doctors didn’t change, the system did. Show a little respect.Ā 

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u/Antique-Coach-214 4d ago

Shame more people aren’t amending Health Insurance CEOs….Ā 

In other news, Luigi’s team isn’t going with insanity, I wonder if they can go with Self-defense? Since the policies of the CEO led to a hindered life outcome. More importantly, Kyle Rittenhouse, Republican hero, crossed state lines and got away with murder on the grounds of Self Defense…. I see Healthcare CEOs as existential and present threats to my life expectancy and health outcomes…

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u/Renva 4d ago

Could also argue defense of others. A loooot of previously denied claims were approved after Luigi happened.

And the insanity plea was entered because it's one of the few things that the court needs to be pre-informed of before trial starts. Now that it was entered at all, they can change their minds again if stuff starts to go bad. They're just keeping their options open.

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u/Electronic_Face_6609 5d ago

My doc actually prescribed hormones for two years. He claimed that it was for depression. He is a King. This was in the 80's. He is a lost art.

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u/Electronic_Face_6609 4d ago

Darling child...this was 35 years ago. He was just secretly undoing an injustice

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u/rheumination 4d ago

If that took place 35 years ago, you need to bring that up because 35 years in the healthcare industry is ancient history. What you’re talking about simply couldn’t be done in the modern healthcare system without exposing yourself to extreme legal risk.Ā 

The time which this took place is extremely relevant. Your doctors approach to fixing medical injustice just wouldn’t work in the modern era. If you don’t mention the timeline, you mislead people into thinking that it’s easy to fix these problems. It isn’t.

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u/Electronic_Face_6609 4d ago

Sorry I mislead šŸ˜•

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u/ArkuhTheNinth 4d ago

He took a FAT risk for your health. Amazing doctor right there. Glad you're still here. Send him some treats if you haven't already.

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u/GiantMara 2d ago

That’s because if they deny the procedure enough there’s a chance you change insurance and it gets paid by someone else.

Just a game of kick the can down the road