MINNETONKA, Minn. — Nearly a dozen people were arrested Monday outside UnitedHealthcare headquarters in the western suburb of the Twin Cities, protesting what they allege is the company’s practice of not paying for care.
Eleven protesters were arrested by Minnetonka police for blocking the street, according to the People’s Action Institute, which helped organize the protest as part of its Care Over Cost campaign.
The campaign says it aims to bring attention to the health insurance company’s “systemic practice of refusing to approve care through prior authorization denials or pay for care through claim denials.”
“Health insurance coverage has expanded in America, but we are finding it is private health insurance corporations themselves that are often the largest barrier for people to receive the care they and their doctor agree they need,” said Aija Nemer-Aanerud, campaign director with the People’s Action Institute.
Nemer-Aanerud said UnitedHealth Group leadership has “refused to acknowledge that prior authorizations and claim denials are a widespread problem.”
A spokesperson for UnitedHealth Group said it has had dialogue with the People’s Action Institute for some time and has shared “member-related issues” that have since been resolved. The spokesperson went on to say the company wants to engage the group for Minnesota-specific cases but the group hasn’t shared any specific issues that haven’t already been resolved.
“The safety and security of our employees is a top priority. We have resolved the member-specific concerns raised by this group and remain open to a constructive dialogue about ensuring access to high-quality, affordable care,” UnitedHealthcare said in a statement.
In February, UnitedHealth Group’s Change Healthcare suffered a cyberattack, costing the company $872 million. CEO Andrew Witty confirmed during a hearing on Capitol Hill in May that UnitedHealth paid a $22 million ransom in the form of bitcoin.
Despite the hit, UnitedHealth Group trounced first-quarter expectations in 2024. The company projected in an earnings report that the cyberattack was expected to cost between $1.3 billion and $1.6 billion over the course of the year.
UnitedHealth said Tuesday its second-quarter net income fell 23% to $4.22 billion as it continued to absorb the impact of the cyberattack, but that still beat Wall Street expectations, according to The Associated Press.
UnitedHealth provides health insurance for more than 47 million people in the United States. It also provides care, pharmacy benefits management and technology services through its Optum segment.
‘Help…I am Trapped in Medicare (Dis)Advantage’
by Jenn | Jun 9, 2024
Jenn Coffey dedicated her life to saving others as an EMT—now she’s become one of the many who find themselves under direct threat from a profit-driven health care industry that makes its money denying necessary care.
My name is Jenn and I am from Manchester, New Hampshire. At one time, I was a fully functioning EMT and holding down multiple jobs at once, one of which was as a State Representative.
I was a Republican and the Vice-Chair of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. For twenty years of my life, I served my community as a medical tech in the hospital, and as an EMT in the field.
I thought we could “fix” healthcare. I believed in trying to create healthcare compacts and proper government controls to ensure that the basics were covered. There was a level of expectation I had that insurance would cover. I was blind to reality. Continue Reading on Work-Bites
“It’s ridiculous and disgusting that an insurance company has the power to tell my doctor: ‘No, you can’t give that patient that, no, you can’t have that drug that might help you live,’” she said. “It’s disgusting that we allow it, and insurance companies do nothing to increase positive outcomes in healthcare. Nothing. All they are is a middleman who gets to make a shit ton of money off of us.” Jenn Coffey
What’s Going On! Moral Monday May 27, 2024 WBAI 99.5 FM New York City
WBAI Moral Monday Labor Radio EMS in crisis Rev Dr Barber & Bob Hennelly @UEMSO_FDNY @fdnyVULCANS PLUS Wendell Potter Marianne Pizzitola @FDNYchic 9/11 WTC & Jenn Coffey, former NH EMS on why Medicare Advantage is neither.
Dirksen Senate Office Building, Senate Finance Committee Hearing, Washington D.C. May 1, 2024
“These corporations do nothing to increase positive outcomes and medical care. So don’t fall for their bullshit.” ~Jenn Coffey
“Prior authorizations don’t make care better they delay it. Prior authorizations deny care, prior authorizations kill people. Prior authorizations are not worth the paper they’re written on.” ~ Jenn Coffey
“I don’t want to die!” shouted Jenn Coffey, a member of Rights and Democracy in New Hampshire. “I’ve spent the last six months begging you for an infusion for the most painful disease known to modern medicine… Last year, when United was celebrating billions in profits, I was selling the last of my belongings that had any value. Now I’m standing in your lobby. UnitedHealthcare, do you hear me now?”
EDEN PRAIRIE, MINNESOTA – APRIL 16: Jenn Coffee and protesters with People’s Action target health insurance giant UnitedHealth Group due to exorbitant health insurance costs and insurance claims denials on April 16, 2024 in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. (Photo by Adam Bettcher/Getty Images for People’s Action Institute)
Continue Reading “Sick, Tired and Mad as Hell: We Demand an End to Care Denials at United’s HQby Aija Nemer-Aanerud | Published Apr 29, 2024 on ourfuture.org
We Won! Message From Be A Hero
| Apr 2, 2024
I am so so happy to share that yesterday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the final rate notice for Medicare Advantage insurers, and they held the line at 3.7%!
This signifies a big victory for our movement to reclaim medicare, and while it’s a little wonky, the details are important:
First, President Biden and CMS announced that they would increase payments to MA providers by 3.7%. Admittedly, this was an election year decision and we wish they announced something closer to 1%.
Then, despite this increase, the insurance industry called it a cut to Medicare — this is wholly untrue as they would receive $16 Billion dollars MORE than they will in 2024.
So, our organization and our allies sprung in to action encouraging President Biden to hold the line at 3.7%. We submitted over 25,000 comments to CMS, got over 30,000 signatures on our petition to President Biden, and reached millions of people by sharing Jenn Coffey’s story. This resulted in numerous articles and new stories about our effort.
At the same time, the insurance industry spent MILLIONS of dollars on ads in DC and lobbying efforts to try to get Biden to further increase payments for Medicare Advantage.
While they have piles of cash, we have people power! And so, as the deadline to make a decision loomed, the Biden Administration announced they would HOLD THE LINE at 3.7%!
One thing I’ve learned is that it’s never enough to get the right people into office—even when we have elected officials on our side, we have to relentlessly push them to do the right thing and stand against corporate greed. Today, we should relish in our victory in getting Biden to do the right thing despite enormous pressure from the insurance industry.
I want to highlight an article from Bloomberg titled “How Politics Caught Up to the Business of Medicare Advantage.”
WE are the ones driving this change — WE are the ones making a difference — WE are the ones who are making progress in our fight to Reclaim Medicare.
Please give yourself a big pat on the back if you joined us in asking President Biden to hold the line, and share this article with your friends and followers to make sure they know we are making a difference!
March 20, 2024
Every time we privatize a public need to create a profit motive, people get hurt. Nowhere is this more evident than in our push to privatize Medicare. Our guest today is Jenn Coffey, a former State Representative and EMT who bought into the privatized Medicare Advantage program, and then had the audacity to get sick and need care. Since then, it’s been denial after denial, and red tape wrapped in red tape – it’s a cautionary tale, and one that is becoming more American every day.
Patients on Medicare Advantage spoke out against the privatized plans this week as part of a coordinated campaign to shed light on the program’s care denials, treatment delays, and overbilling—and to pressure U.S. President Joe Biden to rein in the insurance giants raking in huge profits from such abuses.
Continue Reading Here
Hon. Jenn Coffey testifies at NH House State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs Hearing on HR23 National Healthcare Resolution to Congress – February 2024
The Medicare Advantage Trap
BY MATTHEW CUNNINGHAM-COOK NOVEMBER 29, 2023
Coffey, the retired EMT from New Hampshire, told the Prospect that she has paid $6,000 in out-of-pocket expenses this year under a Medicare Advantage program. “If I could go to Medigap, I would have better access to care, I wouldn’t be forced to give up Boston doctors,” she said. “These insurance companies are allowed to reap as much profit as possible for as little service as they can get away with. They pocket all of our money and they don’t pay for anything, they sit there and deny and delay.”
It’s complicated, my story…
At the age of 42, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The breast cancer I beat, but the surgeries created a new set of problems. Within one year, I had three surgeries trying to undo what had been done. I had walked into the hospital as a fully functioning EMT, and was wheeled out never to walk without assistance again. In the end, I lost everything, my career, my home, everything. I then was bedbound for two years.
Cunningham-Cook opened his piece with the story of Jenn Coffey, a former Republican state representative in New Hampshire “who, like many GOP faithfuls, believed private insurers could solve the healthcare crisis if they were allowed to do things like sell policies across state lines.”
But Coffey’s views were shaken when UnitedHealth, her ultra-profitable Medicare Advantage provider, “constantly rejected or second-guessed the care options her doctors suggested for her cancer recovery and for a rare and painful secondary disease that has no standard treatment plan,” Cunningham-Cook reported.
Jun 28, 2023
Care Denied: The Dirty Secret Behind Medicare Advantage
Written by: Matthew Cunningham-Cook
As Medicare becomes increasingly privatized, patients are speaking up about these for-profit insurers’ widespread practice of denying treatments they need. Read Full Article Here
United States Capital Invited Guest Speaker, Medical Care for All.
United States Senate Meeting Room, Capital Hill
May 16,2023
I went to Capital Hill and spoke about CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) and Small Fiber Neuropathy. I spoke of the medical care we can’t access with out the right amount of money. First responders like my self go without care and become seemingly worthless after eh wrong diagnosis, such as, breast cancer. We all deserve equal access to care that is both life saving and allowing dignity and quality of life to lead the treatment plans of the forever sick. As an invited speaker I was able to raise awareness and advocate for better medical care for all of us. Now it is up to all of us to see it become the law of the land in the United States of America. No matter who you are or where you are from there are no more barriers to care. Healthcare is a Basic Human Right.
It’s time to put the insurance companies out of business. Click here for full town hall video.
Jenny talks about LDN, CRPS and Small Fibre Neuropathy On the LDN Research Trust Podcast in the UK January 2023
