A breast cancer surgeon had to “scrub out mid-surgery” to call a UnitedHealthcare representative because the insurance giant questioned whether the procedure she was in the middle of performing was really necessary.

Dr. Elisabeth Potter posted her story to Instagram this week, and the post has gotten more than 221,000 likes.

Still wearing her scrub cap, Dr. Potter began her video saying, “It’s 2025, and navigating insurance has somehow just gotten worse.”

  • @jacksilver
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    1012 hours ago

    Like what bullshit is that. Once the surgery has started I think you’ve lost the ability to deny anything.

    • @[email protected]
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      28 hours ago

      Exactly. You approved it, already. You can’t then un-approve it once things are rolling, based on your own say so.

      • @UnderpantsWeevil
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        8 hours ago

        You approved it, already.

        You can’t wait for insurance approval on certain procedures - appendicitis, for instance. You’ve got to file the claim and hope they approve it.

        And insurance companies love to slow roll claims approval, particularly in situations where saying “we need more time to consider” means a higher likelihood of the patient dying before receiving care. Liver cancer is a common case.

        • @[email protected]
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          27 hours ago

          I’m… Aware. This whole subject was about over they did pre-approve though. Then changed their mind…