00:00The reality is that my practice is struggling immensely and that has a lot to do with the fact that I spoke out and several insurance companies have not contracted with me since I've done the video and so that has put a lot of strain on me personally and on the practice and it's so much strain that I'm not sure that I can keep the practice open in its current form.
00:22A surgeon who went viral on social media for calling out UnitedHealthcare is claiming the insurance company has put her on the brink of financial ruin.
00:31Dr. Elizabeth Potter, a Texas plastic surgeon who specializes in reconstruction surgery for breast cancer patients, first sent shockwaves through social media in January when she posted a video claiming that the healthcare company denied an inpatient stay after they demanded she call them about the patient, whom she was currently operating on.
00:49I got a phone call into the operating room saying that UnitedHealthcare wanted me to call them about one of the patients who was having surgery today, who was actually asleep having surgery, you know, said I had to call right now.
01:02So I scrubbed out of my case and I called UnitedHealthcare and the gentleman said he needed some information about her, want to know her diagnosis and whether her inpatient stay should be justified.
01:12And I was like to understand that she's asleep right now and she has breast cancer, she does need to stay overnight tonight and you have all the information with you because I got approval for the surgery and I need to go back and be with my patient now.
01:28After the post went viral, UnitedHealthcare lawyered up, enlisting prominent defamation law firm Claire Locke to fight accusations made by Potter.
01:37The pushback from the embattled insurance giant came just weeks after the high profile assassination of its CEO, Brian Thompson.
01:45According to a statement made by UnitedHealthcare to Bloomberg Law, Potter's allegations perpetuate inaccuracies, which is irresponsible and dangerous.
01:53UnitedHealthcare went on to blast Potter's allegations as false and claimed in the statement that they had previously approved the patient's care coverage, which included an overnight stay at the hospital.
02:05The company has also disputed that they ever forced Potter to step out of the surgery and denied any accusations that they put the patient's well-being at risk.
02:13Potter's attorney, Jessica Underwood, struck back, arguing that her client's statements about UnitedHealthcare were truthful and she would not be silenced with attempts to threaten and harass her.
02:25On January 13th, Potter was back on social media, revealing a letter she received from Claire Locke demanding she remove the original video, post a public apology to UnitedHealthcare, and condemn any threats of violence toward the insurance company, which the law firm said had stemmed from her social media post.
02:42The law firm also instructed her to contact media outlets that reported on her post to not only retract her claims, but also to request that all stories be taken down.
02:54But Potter wasn't deterred.
02:55The gaslighting and harassment in the letter which United sent me has not worked to do anything other than strengthen my resolve, she wrote along with the post.
03:03Five months later, she is alleging that she is being punished by UnitedHealthcare for speaking out.
03:08She says that UnitedHealthcare has put her business in jeopardy, claiming that it refuses to provide in-network coverage for patients at her new Redbud Surgery Center, which she established in 2023.
03:19According to Potter, being denied an in-network designation by the largest healthcare insurance company in the country has been financially devastating because patients with UnitedHealthcare who visit Potter's center are either forced to pay more or go elsewhere for their procedures.
03:34The surgeon has since created a GoFundMe in order to keep Redbud afloat after she says she invested all her savings and has taken on nearly $5 million in personal debt to get the practice started.
03:45UnitedHealthcare denies her allegations, telling SWNs,
03:50We informed Dr. Potter on October 1st that our ASC network was closed, well before any of the videos in question.
03:58While UnitedHealthcare asserts that Dr. Potter remains in-network for our members, she asserts that while that may be the case, surgeries at her Redbud Surgery Center are not in-network.
04:08That certainly feels like retaliation to me, she said.
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