Breast cancer surgeon faces bankruptcy in United Healthcare fight

If you watched the Fox medical show “The Resident,” you have learned a bit about the myriad problems within the U.S. health care system.

The popular medical drama explores corruption, ethical dilemmas, and financial pressures in the medical industry. While some of the challenges depicted in the show are just the fruits of writers’ imaginations, others are based on real events.

According to Statista, the biggest problems individuals faced in the health care system in the U.S. last year include:

Cost of assessing the treatment;
Not enough staff;
Access to treatment/waiting times;
Bureaucracy;
Poor quality treatment;
Aging population;
Lack of investment in preventive care.

According to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, in 2024, about 9.9% of people under 65 and 5.1% of children younger than 18 were uninsured.

Polling from an independent source for health policy research, polling, and news, KFF highlights that the high cost of health care is a burden on U.S. families and that health care costs factor into choosing insurance coverage and care.

A recent story from a Texas plastic surgeon highlights more issues with insurers, particularly with the insurance giant United Healthcare (UNH) .

Health care advocates risk arrest protesting care denials at United Healthcare on July 15, 2024.

Image source: David Berding/Getty Images for People's Action Institute

Texas surgeon gets a call from United Healthcare during an operation

Dr. Elisabeth Potter, a Texas plastic surgeon, runs a clinic in Austin that provides breast reconstruction for cancer patients.

Potter recently made headlines due to her conflict with United Healthcare. A denied overnight stay for one of her patients turned into her surgery center being denied network inclusion. The surgeon now fears bankruptcy.

Earlier this year, Potter shared a story of her being midway through performing a breast reconstruction surgery when a call from United Healthcare was forwarded into the operating room.

The call was questioning the overnight stay for the breast cancer patient who was on the operating table at the moment. Potter already got the approval for the surgery, but the United Healthcare representative was questioning the patient's overnight stay.

“I got a phone call into the operating room saying that United Healthcare wanted to talk to me and that they wanted to talk to me now,” Potter told NBC News.

“It was just so absolutely ridiculous that I was called out of the operating room to answer administrative questions for United Healthcare,” Potter said, as reported by Kxan. “I’m thinking…she might get stuck with a huge bill.”

Did she have to take the call during the operation? No, but as she explains it, “In 2025 with insurance, when they say ‘Jump,’ I say, ‘How high?’”

Her video on TikTok describing the incident reached close to six million views.

“Yeah, it’s out of control. Insurance is out of control,” she said.

More Bankruptcy:

A United Healthcare spokesperson said that the company didn’t ask a physician to interrupt patient care to return a phone call. Moreover, while Potter says the insurer denied coverage for the hospital stay, a United Healthcare spokesperson said that it was approved, but that there was a mistake with a different request.

Now, Potter's clinic is at risk.

Dr. Potter and her clinic face bankruptcy

Potter is worried that her viral videos might be related to the health insurance company's decision to deny her clinic, the RedBud Surgery Center, to join its list of providers.

While Potter herself is in network and can operate in other facilities that are part of the insurer’s network, she can’t do it at her own clinic and have surgeries covered by insurance.

While Potter is looking to join other insurers' networks, United Healthcare is the biggest health care provider in the nation based on market share data from 2023. Without it, her clinic is facing operational challenges.

Potter is already $5 million in debt, as she had to take out millions in loans to open and equip the facility and acquire all approvals.

“The fact that they hold the strings in that way, that they’re able to control the economics of the practice of medicine down to the facility that I’m operating in, it seems just arbitrary and also somewhat cruel.”

When asked what is at stake for breast cancer survivors and patient here, Potter responded, “Everything. I mean, women’s health is embattled. The stakes are human.”

At the same time, a United Healthcare spokesperson said that its network was closed to new centers in October 2024 and that there were no discussions to include her clinic, even before viral video posts.

United Healthcare has been under a lot of scrutiny lately. It all started in 2024, when the giant’s CEO was killed, which released a swirl of rage and frustration from people all across social media platforms, reported CNN Business.

Most of the anger was expressed over denied claims, and morbidly, there were 57,000 laughing emojis on the news of the CEO’s death.

Because of the insurance troubles, Potter says she is currently working without salary, and that her clinic might have just a few more months if things continue this way.

Previously, Potter and her nonprofit Community Breast Reconstruction Alliance (CBRA) fought for restoring a set of specialty insurance codes that provide access to DIEP flap breast reconstruction through insurance.

A DIEP flap is a type of breast reconstruction procedure where blood vessels, fat and skin are taken from the lower belly and relocated to the chest to rebuild breasts after mastectomy. Many women prefer this type of reconstruction instead of implants due to a more natural feeling.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services heard the message and decided to reinstate these insurance codes in a historic move.