Bonus: Care Denied

Insurance plays a big role in deciding the kind of health care we receive in this country – and how much it’ll cost us. Today, we’re speaking with ProPublica reporter Maya Miller about wrongful insurance denials and knowing your rights as a patient.

 

Resources:

Read Maya and other ProPublica reporters’ coverage of insurance denials here:

• UnitedHealthcare tried to deny coverage to a chronically ill patient. He fought back, exposing the insurer’s inner workings: https://www.propublica.org/article/unitedhealth-healthcare-insurance-denial-ulcerative-colitis 
• How Cigna saves millions by having its doctors reject claims without reading them: https://www.propublica.org/article/cigna-pxdx-medical-health-insurance-rejection-claims
• Health insurance claim denied? See what insurers said behind the scenes: https://www.propublica.org/article/find-out-why-health-insurance-claim-denied 
• You have a right to know why a health insurer denied your claim. Some insurers still won’t tell you: https://www.propublica.org/article/your-right-to-know-why-health-insurer-denied-claim
• How often do health insurers say no to patients? No one knows: https://www.propublica.org/article/how-often-do-health-insurers-deny-patients-claims 
• Insurance executives refused to pay for the cancer treatment that could have saved him. This is how they did it: https://www.propublica.org/article/priority-health-michigan-cart-insurance-vanpatten-denials 
• We asked prosecutors if health insurance companies care about fraud. They laughed at us: https://www.propublica.org/article/we-asked-prosecutors-if-health-insurance-companies-care-about-fraud-they-laughed-at-us 
• ProPublica’s Claim File Helper: https://projects.propublica.org/claimfile/ 

 

Uncared For is presented by the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit foundation making grants to promote an equitable, high-performing health care system. Learn more at CommonwealthFund.org.

SuChin Pak is our host. This bonus episode was produced by Giulia Hjort and mixed by Bobby Woody. Jackie Danziger is our VP of Narrative Content. Executive producers are Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs.

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