Denials of Care by UnitedHealth Group...Of The Damned

If you can imagine a conversation that would make Sisyphus blush.

I just had a conversation with “United Healthcare's Medical Director,” Dr X. She just identified herself as the medical director of behavioral health at United Healthcare, which isn't particularly helpful, given how large that organization is. This conversation followed an initial prior authorization, which was denied, and this was, at least in theory, the appeal. If anyone thinks this is an appropriate level of education or training for a theoretical “peer-to-peer review” with a medical director, feel free to let me know, but I'm editing this only to protect the patient's identity. The level of seriousness of the reviewer is frankly horrifying.

If anyone's wondering why the population has a murderous rage for United Healthcare, what you're about to read is precisely that. I had a patient, a child, who had failed previous treatment, and the family was going to have to pay out-of-pocket for the treatment she was scheduled to receive. We have effective treatments in medicine, many of wh…