The other day, my dad received nine individual letters from you, informing him that the hospital where he has been treated for more than fifty years was no longer an approved provider as of April 2017.
At first, my father thought it was a mistake, a computer glitch. But as he read the names of each of the nine physicians no longer approved to treat him, his stress level increased. He began to worry about what was going to happen to him.
What if there was an emergency? Even if he went to the hospital by ambulance, there’s no assurance his physicians could treat him, consult with emergency physicians treating him, or even do the follow-up care he has come to count on. And the hospital care he depends on would not be covered by his insurance policy. He’d have to go to another hospital for treatment.
This morning, he informed me that he was concerned that he had had too many health issues this year and last. Maybe UnitedHealthcare was trying to contain its costs by not allowing him to be treated at the hospital. What was he going to do if, God forbid, something happened to him?
And how was he going to replace all of these physicians with new ones? What if the rest of his physicians were also added to the list of “non-approved” providers?
Me? I know better. I did my research. It’s negotiation time for UnitedHealthcare and the provider. In fact, UnitedHealthcare has a long history of using this tactic when things don’t go well. What is wrong with that?
I’ll tell you. Every time a patient is dragged into the negotiations by this kind of intimidating behavior, bad things happen. Not to UnitedHealthcare. Not to the provider. To the patients and their caregivers.
As a caregiver advocate, I have a lot of friends who count on good healthcare to stay alive. Friends who survived cancer and are in various stages of cancer management. How does this kind of negotiating tactic affect them? The last thing someone who is struggling with chemotherapy needs to hear is that he or she is going to be cut off from care without any explanation, all because UnitedHealthcare can’t agree with the provider.
And what about all of the other people with UnitedHealthcare insurance…the elderly, like my dad…those recovering from surgery, in rehabilitation, in failing health…those with catastrophic illnesses like COPD, Parkinson’s, or cystic fibrosis…or, worst of all, those patients now headed towards hospice care? What are they to do when they are already overburdened with serious illness?
I’ll tell you what happens in those cases. Patients panic. Caregivers panic. They frantically contact their providers to find out what to do. Or, worst case scenario, they resolve not to seek treatment when needed, because they can’t have their normal provider. They go without because the burden of transferring, as my father was informed he would have to do, to an “approved provider” is too much damn work.
So, UnitedHealthcare, let me give you a heads up. If any patient who is covered by your insurance policy is harmed as a result of your ridiculous negotiating tactic, it’s on you. Be prepared for the onslaught of policyholders holding you accountable for the negative impacts on their health. Be prepared for the patients who suffer needless health problems because you scared the bejesus out of them, stressing them out at a critical juncture in their illnesses. Be prepared for the caregivers who line up to hold your feet to the fire for making their lives more difficult when they are already exhausted from caring for their loved ones. But most of all, be prepared for the families who lose loved ones because patients think they somehow brought this situation upon themselves. It’s unconscionable that you used policyholders as fodder for your negotiations, tossing them under the bus because you cannot get the provider to bend to your will.
The moment you began to send those letters to your policyholders, informing them that their providers were about to be cut off, you abused your policyholders. You did actual harm, all because you wanted to manipulate your policyholders into pressuring their providers to comply. You could have explained in the letter that you were in negotiations. You could have told your policyholders you were working to come to an agreement. That would have been the honest thing to do. That would have been the honorable thing to do. You chose not to do that. Instead, you counted on that shock and awe to move things forward at the negotiating table. That was an unacceptable maneuver. Shame on you.