United Healthcare is a publicly traded corporation. I added a comment about their CEO to provide a contrast, otherwise the author made no mention of United Healthcare specifically.
But United Healthcare is known to fight doctors at every turn for patient coverage. In other words thay don't pay unless you spend countless hours on the phone badgering them.
United makes money by not paying doctors for service meaning not allowing doctors to provide medical services to patients that have United as their health insurer. Or put it this way, the doctors can provide care for free unless they charge a so-called "concierge" fee.
I have no qualms with CEOs making a gazillion dollars for inventing a better mousetrap. But making money by denying patients their health benefits rubs me the wrong way.
I have had United Health Care for years and have only one or two disagreements with them about care.
They have paid tens of thousands of dollars for my chronic health problems and I have been very happy with them.
I thought someone should know that they are not always bad.
I refuse to take insurance from my patients anymore. It's pay as they go mostly. Some situations require allowing them time to pay. Others require a lower fee. I have time to talk to all, answer phone calls from them and even emails.
My husband has United Healthcare Ins. and last year he was in the hospital ICU for 2 weeks. A couple of weeks ago (this is 1 year later) he received a letter in the mail from United Healthcare saying they were paying $0.00 and that the patient (my husband) owed $200,000 to the hospital. Needless to say we are appealing this, but I think it is outrageous and unthinkable that they make people jump through hoops all the time.
"I have no qualms with CEOs making a gazillion dollars for inventing a better mousetrap."
HMOs were the invention of Ted "Champion Swimmer" Kennedy, and they are definitely not a better mousetrap.