Doctor Who spoke out against UNITEDHEALTHCARE turns to GoFundme after the insurance companies “retaliated”
A Texas surgeon whose criticism of the cover of United Healthcare’s coverage practices have become viral now seeks public support via GoFundme after having undergone financial reprisals by the insurance giant.
@Drelisabethpotter Let’s be real. I spoke against a large insurance company and now I am punished for this. But I don’t give up. It’s not in my blood. I heard you ask, and if you want to help, you started a gofundme (bio link) where you can read the details and consider contributing. The simple fact of presenting yourself and following means the world for me. I will keep it transparent so that we can all see what medicine in the United States looks like in 2025 and I hope to build something better for all of us.
♬ Sound Original – Dr Elisabeth Potter
In January, Dr. Elisabeth Potter was interrupted half-surgery by a representative of Unitedhealthcare questioning the need for a night stay for her patient for breast reconstruction. Potter shared the video on Tiktok, stressing what it described as the growing burden on the patient insurance bureaucracy.
In response, Unitedhealthcare would have sent a legal letter to Potter demanding that it deletes the video and apologizes – of shareholders who, according to her, were intended to silence it. Instead, Potter published the online letter as an additional proof of his criticism.
“The reality is that my practice is enormously in difficulty, and that has a lot to do with the fact that I spoke,” said Potter in his last update of Tiktok.
Potter, who spent more than a decade providing advanced breast reconstruction in Austin, admitted that she had started to feel financial repercussions. Unitedhealthcare, she said, ceased to work with its consultants and excluded its newly constructed ambulatory surgery center from their coverage network. The out -of -network designation means that Potter patients can see it through a hospital at a significantly higher cost or pay higher rates out of network.
@Drelisabethpotter Last night, I received a late call from a breast surgeon here in Austin, TX. Her 22 -year -old patient – a few days before a mastectomy – won the plastic surgeon she had seen is out of network and her insurance does not cover any care out of network. So now what? The breast surgeon called me and asked me for a favor, knowing that I take cases like this, even if the payments are low … too low to cover costs for me and my practice … because I think it’s the right thing to do. My team does everything we can to see her this week and to have her case approved. But here is the thing: this is not a single off. This is yet another example of how to have insurance does not mean that you have access to care. These narrow networks fail patients. This young woman now has cancer. She needs surgery now. And we do not have the luxury of time to wait for the change of policy. The sad reality is that I cannot afford to continue doing this for patients, even if I want. We need a better system for patients and doctors trying to take care of them. I think we can solve this problem. But we need government help. We need laws to change and we do not have the luxury of time.
♬ Sound Original – Dr Elisabeth Potter
“It is difficult for me to believe that these are not reprisals,” Potter wrote in his GoFundme call. “By refusing to allow my center to be on a network, they damage my ability to manage a profitable practice and to reimburse the money I borrowed.”
Potter has invested millions in the center to offer specialized care at a lower cost for patients with breast cancer. But without insurance contract, she says, the financial tension pushed it on the verge of insolvency.
Now, she asks the public to help her keep her practice open and continue to defend the reform in a system she calls stacked against patients and independent doctors. “I’m not afraid of future work,” said Potter. “But I need help.”
Originally published on Latin Times
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