Health Insurance Companies Care About You. Agree or Disagree? |
Health Insurance Companies Care About You. Agree or Disagree?
Produced by Alexander Stockton
Senior Video Journalist
Frustration with a broken health care system has many Americans blaming insurance companies. In the first episode of New York Times Opinion’s new show “Divided,” a doctor and a former insurance executive confront a central question: Do insurance companies prioritize profit over patient care?
Dr. Elisabeth Potter, a plastic surgeon specializing in breast reconstruction, has seen firsthand how insurance decisions can interfere with treatment. Dr. Troyen Brennan, a former chief medical officer at CVS Health, which owns Aetna insurance, believes those decisions are part of a system intended to keep care affordable.
Since the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive in broad daylight, most insurance executives have wanted to avoid the spotlight; this conversation is a rare chance to hear directly from one engaging with a critic.
Can they find common ground, or will they remain divided?
Below is a transcript of an episode of “Divided.” We recommend watching it in its original form for the full effect. You can do so using the video player above. The subjects read prompts from cards which guided their discussion. The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Dr. Elisabeth Potter: OK, here we go.
[Reading from a card] Do insurance companies prioritize profit over patient care?
Clip of Senator Bernie Sanders: Insurance companies are making tens of billions of dollars every year denying you coverage.Clip of person holding an insurance denial letter: It was like the insurance company telling me my life didn’t matter.News clip: Breaking news, the C.E.O. of UnitedHealthcare was shot and killed.News clip: Forty-one percent of people age 18 to 29 think the killing was either somewhat or completely acceptable.News clip: Sorry, my sympathy is out of network.News clip: This incident and the reaction to it ought to be a wake-up call to this industry.
Clip of Senator Bernie Sanders: Insurance companies are making tens of billions of dollars every year denying you coverage.
Clip of person holding an insurance denial letter: It was like the insurance company telling me my life didn’t matter.
News clip: Breaking news, the C.E.O. of UnitedHealthcare was shot and killed.
News clip: Forty-one percent of people age 18 to 29 think the killing was either somewhat or completely acceptable.
News clip: Sorry, my sympathy is out of network.
News clip: This incident and the reaction to it ought to be a wake-up call to this industry.
Dr. Troyen Brennan: Do insurance companies prioritize profit over patient care? I would say no. I think most insurance companies would believe that patient care is very important and optimal patient care is what they’re trying to help deliver.
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