The murder earlier this month of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has shined a lot on a great deal of anger at the health insurance industry, even among those who would never dream of justifying the actual homicide of a corporate executive.
Now, there’s been some reporting on a specific bad act that the company has been accused of: “Aggressively targeting the treatment of thousands of children with autism across the country in an effort to cut costs”- a practice that some activists say may be illegal.
That’s according to a new report by the nonprofit newsroom ProPublica.
Leaked documents from inside UnitedHealth obtained by ProPublica show “the company has engaged in a secret internal cost-cutting strategy that is essentially trying to limit the care of children with autism all across the country,” says reporter @AnnieWaldman. pic.twitter.com/Ct8fetdi6g
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) December 16, 2024
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UnitedHealth Group, per the report, has launched “a secret internal cost-cutting campaign that targets a growing financial burden for the company: the treatment of thousands of children with autism across the country.” That’s according to what ProPublica calls its “strategic playbook,” which ProPublica has obtained.
The investigation, reporter Annie Waldman said on Democracy Now, predated the death of Brian Thompson.
The discovery includes applied behavior analysis, which is a treatment for children with autism. But as that diagnosis has increased over time, according to the reporting, the company has been “pursuing market-specific action plans” to “limit children’s access to the treatment.”
After reviewing leaked documents, we have found UnitedHealth is strategically limiting access to a treatment for thousands of children with autism across the country in order to cut costs.
Advocates say the company’s strategy may be illegal.https://t.co/4qxrFjzq7R
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— Annie Waldman (@AnnieWaldman) December 13, 2024
Karen Fessel, of the Mental Health and Autism Insurance Project, described the insurance company’s actions as “unconscionable and immoral,” adding that “they’re denying access to treatment and shrinking a network at a time when they clearly know that there is an urgent need.”
Deborah Steinberg, a senior health policy attorney with the nonprofit advocacy group Legal Action Center, told ProPublica that the company may be violating Medicaid regulations with those practices.
“Yes, this therapy can be expensive,” Dan Unumb, an attorney and president of the Autism Legal Resource Center, told ProPublica. “But solving the problem by denying kids access to medically necessary care is a terrible solution.”
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
