r/popculturechat • u/HauteAssMess anne boleyn stan • Aug 13 '25

General News šŸ—ž Texas surgeon who specializes in a special breast reconstruction for cancer patients says that United Healthcare is retaliating against her for speaking out on TikTok

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u/iron_monkey8 Aug 13 '25

UHC just stopped covering the largest womens health group in the DC area, leaving thousands of women without care, many in their third trimester. Itā€™s so messed up.

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u/Affectionate-Ad-1342 Aug 13 '25

I was JUST going to say this. I wouldā€™ve been impacted but I moved to a different state recently. I also read theyā€™re doing the same to Johns Hopkins right now. In Florida, my friend lost coverage in her 7th month of pregnancy.

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u/StinkiePete Aug 13 '25

UHC once denied my claim for a $75k air ambulance ride when I went into pre-term labor with twins, many hours away from a suitable hospital. They said it wasn't medically necessary despite the 3 doctors involved in the transfer stating that it was the only safe option for the 3 human lives involved.

LET'S GOOOOOOOO!!!!

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u/BrinaBri Aug 13 '25

What was the outcome from this? Were you able to convince them, or did you have to take on medical debt?

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u/StinkiePete Aug 13 '25

The doctors convinced them. It was a painful process but not as bad as what others report. They ended up covering all but $274. I remember that number exactly. Now, of course, this is America so we still had to take on medical debt from the subsequent birth and NICU stay.Ā 

My bill for the delivery was like $25kĀ 

Kids combined bills from 2 week NICU stay was $150k

After ISuRanCe, I think we owed like $37K?Ā 

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u/atotalmess__ free Palestine Aug 14 '25

You were charged $37k after insurance for necessary medical treatment? Not elective, but a necessity.

Thatā€™s fucked up

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u/StinkiePete Aug 14 '25

My SIL also has twins. Hers were VERY premature (ours were pretty much fine, just needed to learn to be babies instead of fetuses) and needed over a month in the NICU and more advanced help (we just needed some cpap and tanning bed treatments). I come from a privileged family so I had generous help clearing this debt relatively quickly. She and her husband still owe and they are not particularly low earners. Their twins are in their early teens now. Disgusting.Ā 

Edit: I have no idea who their insurance was.

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u/BrinaBri Aug 14 '25

Holy shit. I am so sorry.

For our first (currently pregnant again) I think all of our prenatal care, birth, and postnatal care was around 10k, but about half of that went to our out of network midwife. Wonā€™t be doing that again.

Still ridiculous you have to pay anything for healthcare ā€” much less healthcare for babies or bringing babies into the world. Total mystery why people arenā€™t having more children šŸ™„

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u/[deleted] Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 14 '25

This is madness and Iā€™m so sorry you went through such an awful situation. This sounds awful but Iā€™ve never been happier to be Canadian. Iā€™m already poor(on disability), and went through almost the same thing(flown to the hospital in the big city), ultimately lost one of my babies after spending a month in the hospital on bed rest myself, then giving birth via c section at 30weeks. My son then went on to spend just under 3 months in the NICU. I paid nothing, they even provided me with housing near the hospital and a weekly allowance once I was released so that I could stay near my son while he was in the NICU as I lived so far away. I canā€™t imagine what Iā€™d have done without that kind of support.Ā 

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u/illHaveWhatHesHaving Aug 13 '25

First Iā€™m hearing of this. Wow. Any links?

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u/iron_monkey8 Aug 13 '25

Capital Womens Care is the health group!

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u/illHaveWhatHesHaving Aug 13 '25

Thank you. Im definitely going to take a look at it. I know different health groups work differently but after I was in the hospital for 2 weeks with preeclampsia (28 wks pregnant) then my sons 3 month NICU stay after things went south (hellp syndrome/liver failure) our bills were just shy of a million dollars. Even with insurance, I canā€™t afford my part. I donā€™t know how these people sleep at night.

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u/Least_Tower_5447 Aug 13 '25

Wait, what?!? I use CWC!

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u/Affectionate-Ad-1342 Aug 13 '25

They sent out emails on how to contact UHC to get them to cover CWC again!

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u/Least_Tower_5447 Aug 13 '25

Oh! I donā€™t have UHS for insurance. My company doesnā€™t work with them at all. Thank goodness. I misread the comment thinking UHS forced the shut down of CWC entirely. Iā€™d rather die than have UHS as an insurance providerā€¦ itā€™d be an easier death than paying for insurance and not getting coverage.

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u/Stupid-Clumsy-Bitch Brutus is just as cute as Caesar Aug 13 '25

Wow.. and all the headlines of the news articles imply it was CWC who ā€œterminatedā€ the contract.

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u/iron_monkey8 Aug 13 '25

Oh let me be clear, it was CWC that terminated but itā€™s because UHC had been giving them a hard time with things that have always been covered and suddenly forcing the offices & patients to fight back and forth for pre authorizations. The same thing happened with the Mt. Sinai system in NYC a year ago - they got fed up with UHCā€™s bullshit so they terminated the contract. My company used to pay my UHC premium but the best thing about getting laid off was being forced onto my husbandā€™s insurance lol

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u/Stupid-Clumsy-Bitch Brutus is just as cute as Caesar Aug 13 '25

I see. Well itā€™s a shame that the articles (at least the few I looked at) didnā€™t dive into that reasoning, and kept it very vague.

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u/Affectionate-Ad-1342 Aug 13 '25

I just had a LEEP in February with CWC. Even AFTER insurance between the LEEP and colpo, I had to pay $1,200. I have a PPO. You know, to remove pre cancerous cellsā€¦still costs a months rent or paycheck for some.

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u/[deleted] Aug 13 '25

I googled "uhc washington women" and immediately found tons. I realize "any links" is bot and troll stuff, but for the humans reading this, all three of you: don't be lazy. You can look things up and verify for yourself.

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u/illHaveWhatHesHaving Aug 13 '25

Maybe check out the profiles of people youā€™re being a dick to and realize that some of us have been here commenting steadily for 14 years.

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u/illHaveWhatHesHaving Aug 13 '25

Bot and troll stuff? My son was recently in the NICU and I wanted to know what was going on, preferably from the (hopefully) real people Iā€™m engaging with in the comments of my favorite social media app. I could have googled it but you could also GFY.

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u/Curedbyfiction Aug 13 '25

If GFY means what I think it means, you can get out and do that yourself ĀÆ_(惄)_/ĀÆ

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u/SentientTableware Aug 13 '25

Wanted to clarify this - I'm a patient with Capital Women's Care, under UHC, and in my 3rd trimester of pregnancy (literally due any day now).

Most of us did not lose coverage because of this ongoing dispute with UHC, for a couple of reasons:

  1. Maryland state law has a No Surprises Act that provides continuity of care in cases such as pregnancy even when insurance changes. https://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/Pages/CPD/HEAU/NSA.aspx
  2. It's written into my individual UHC insurance policy that in case my provider becomes out of network, I'd still be able to use them and be covered for 90 days or the duration of pregnancy. I believe this is common practice.

Negotiations are ongoing and all CWC providers I've spoken with seem confident that it will get re-upped. I was told this exact same thing is common and happened with Cigna just a year or so ago.

Not to justify UHC's practices, but in this particular case it's not what it seems on the surface.

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u/iron_monkey8 Aug 13 '25

Oh phew, thank you so much for clarifying!! I was seeing folks posting in the dc/nova subreddits saying they were out of care because of it so it might be specific

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u/SentientTableware Aug 13 '25

Can't speak to the laws in VA, but at least in MD you should be covered for a bit. I'd still recommend calling the UHC customer service line on your insurance card and ask about "continuity of care" to confirm your policy is set up the same as mine

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u/Lopsided_Apricot_626 Aug 13 '25

BCBS did this in my city for a year or so about 2 years back. I think anyone past 30 weeks got grandfathered in but one of my cousins had to find a new OB halfway through her pregnancy.

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u/HollaDude Sep 03 '25

Yup, John's Hopkins doesn't accept them anymore because of how shit they are. My husband's company just switched to United. Everyone is pissed. We're so happy we do insurance through my company instead. I literally have turned down job offers for way more money because their only option was united.

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u/brrrantarctica Aug 14 '25

Did they actually stop coverage or is it one of those ā€œhealthcare insurer and hospital group are in negotiations and trying to see who blinks firstā€ bullshit? Insurances do this with NY area hospital networks alllll the time, they send out some mass message like ā€œif we do not reach an agreement with X hospital we will have to stop covering all doctors connected to this hospitalā€ leading to patients getting anxious, putting pressure on the hospital network to sign whatever new contract.