09/17/2024
To all of my United Healthcare patients, you are being led into a situation where you will soon be denied healthcare because of the policies recently instituted by United Healthcare. They are basically piling on paperwork and clerical burden for all medical offices in order to get approval for services. In the case of physical therapy, if your doctor orders 12 visits, you have to get initial approval, then approval every 4-5 visits. We are then required to resubmit approval for another 4-5 visits, but do not hear from them for several days as to whether those visits are approved. Meanwhile, you either continue your visits, not knowing if they will be paid for, or sit at home and wait. This is detrimental for a post-operative or acute patient that needs therapy. But the bigger issue is that United already pays so poorly, many of my peers in PT are just no longer seeing United Healthcare patients because they are losing money and unable to keep up with the paperwork. For instance, we recently had an acute injury that was evaluated and submitted, with MD ordering 18 visits. On the eighth visit, we were notified by UHC that they were approved for 4 visits! We can now submit paperwork for visit 5-10, but we are now on visit number 12. Now, I am only speaking on behalf of physical therapy, but as I am understanding, and the feedback I am getting from some of my MD friends, it is the same in that arena and many are making the decision to stop seeing United Healthcare patients as well. I understand making things more efficient and accountable, but please look up the United Healthcare profits and what the CEO was paid last year. These policies are “over the line” and need to be addressed by the ones that will be looking for medical care in the near future (I’m talking to all my retired teachers and state workers). Please contact your insurance representative and your local political representative in state and federal government and tell them to make changes, across the board, because as this continues and other healthcare companies see the profits rise, they will institute these policies, as well.