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. Follow SuChin on Twitter and Instagram at @suchinpak. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia.  You can also get premium content and behind the scenes material by subscribing to Lemonada Premium on Apple Podcasts.  Want to become a Lemonada superfan? Join us at https://joinsubtext.com/lemonadasuperfan.   Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and all other Lemonada series: lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. To follow along with a transcript, go to www.lemonadamedia.com/show/ shortly after the air date.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.