UnitedHealth Is Sick of Everyone Complaining About Its Claim Denials
Two months after UnitedHealthcare’s CEO was murdered, the insurer is moving to protect its image
By Miles Klee
February 9, 2025
Two months after the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson sent shockwaves through the much-reviled U.S. health insurance industry, the company’s parent, UnitedHealth Group, is making aggressive moves to protect its image. Responding to a slew of attacks online, often coupled with the glorification of Luigi Mangione (who was charged with Thompson’s murder outside a midtown Manhattan hotel in December, and allegedly wrote a short manifesto calling health insurers “parasites”), the company has hired a law firm that specializes in defamation cases. Clare Locke, the Virginia-based practice, previously represented Dominion Voting Systems in a bombshell defamation suit that saw Fox News pay a settlement of $787.5 million for airing false allegations about the company’s supposed role in voter fraud during the 2020 election.
UnitedHealth appears eager to make a similar example of Elisabeth Potter, an Austin, Texas, plastic surgeon, and is accusing the doctor of “using her social media following to perpetuate inaccuracies, which is irresponsible, unethical, and dangerous.” On Jan. 7, Potter posted a video on Instagram sharing her frustration with the U.S. insurance system, explaining in a text caption that during a procedure, “I was interrupted by a call from United Healthcare — while the patient was already asleep on the operating table. They demanded information about her diagnosis and inpatient stay justification. I had to scrub out mid-surgery to call United, only to find that the person on the line didn’t even have access to the patient’s full medical information, despite the procedure already being pre-approved.
“It’s beyond frustrating and, frankly, unacceptable,” Potter continued. “We should be focused on care, not bureaucracy.” The comments were rife with fury at UnitedHealthCare and for-profit health insurance more broadly. “Luigi for President,” wrote one person, while another put in, “One day these health insurance companies will be dead.”
Days later, according to reporting from Bloomberg, Potter’s attorney received a letter from Clare Locke instructing her to amend the post, apologize, and disavow threats of violence that UnitedHealth claimed had stemmed from the video. But Potter’s legal counsel, Jessica Underwood, has said that there is nothing inaccurate in the video that needs correcting. “Dr. Potter will not be silenced by UnitedHealthcare’s attempts to threaten and harass her,” Underwood has said. The company, meanwhile, has argued that “Dr. Potter’s claims that she was called out of surgery are false.” Potter’s Instagram video remains up on the platform, where it has received more than 350,000 likes.
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/unitedhealth-defends-image-claim-denials-mangione-thompson-1235259054/
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