| Which major health insurer called a surgeon away from the operating table to answer questions about the very patient on the table? CVS Health (formerly Aetna) Humana Elevance Health (formerly Anthem) UnitedHealthcare Scroll down to see if you got it right. |
| QUIZ: Answer |
| The answer is D. UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest health insurer, called during surgery. Dr. Elisabeth Potter was in the middle of operating on a patient with breast cancer when a nurse delivered an urgent message: UnitedHealthcare was on the line. She stepped outside the OR and took the call. It was the insurer asking why the patient, who was on the operating table, needed to stay overnight. “It felt like they had invaded a very sacred space where the priorities should be really clear, patient first always, and they were bringing these administrative questions into the moment.” On The Dose podcast, Dr. Potter, a surgeon in Austin, Texas, talks about what years of fighting insurance companies, building her own surgery center, and walking the halls of Congress have taught her about how our health system actually works, and how we can change it. |
