A woman has shared her story of the time her insurer tragically denied her surgery moments before she was about to have it.
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Deborah Copaken spoke to DailyMail.com about her nightmare experience with UnitedHealthcare. Her story has been shared previously, on her Substack and through her book, Ladyparts. She thought it necessary to highlight her story again, however, following the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
In the summer of 2022, Copaken had contracted a COVID infection that resulted in her becoming deaf. "'I went deaf from the inflammation that shut down my Eustachian tubes and essentially glued them shut with scar tissue."
Copaken and her doctor tried everything to relieve the symptoms. The processes were either ineffective or far too excruciating, so they were left with one option. A balloon Eustachian tube dilation surgery with general anesthesia was required to save her hearing and relieve her of constant pain.
Despite giving United Healthcare seven weeks to approve the surgery that they deemed textbook necessary, they never got back to them. Copaken said that her doctor called the insurer every day, but they never gave an answer.
"So we just acted as if this absolutely necessary and critical surgery would be covered. Because why would it ever not be?" she explained.
Last-Minute Denial Left A UnitedHealthcare Patient Deaf And In Pain After Weeks Of Silence
After weeks of radio silence, UnitedHealthcare finally got back to Copaken, right as they were about to administer the anesthesia. They had denied her claim moments before going under.
"The nature of the denial, given that I was already in a hospital gown and ready for surgery, felt blatantly evil, deliberate in its timing, and wrong," she said. Despite sending an appeal, UnitedHealthcare denied the surgery once again.
They claimed it wasn't medically necessary, despite being the final option for Copaken.
"I felt totally hopeless. It really clobbered me, hard - it was a final straw moment. United was sentencing me to a life of discomfort, pain, and silence which I ended up enduring for more than a year."
Copaken switched insurers to Fidelis, who approved the surgery in October 2023 as they deemed it medically necessary right away. She said she felt immediate relief from the surgery.
"God knows how much better my hearing would be now had I been able to get that operation back then," she said. Had UnitedHealthcare helped her right away, she'd likely be right as rain. Their needless negligence cost her a year of pain and suffering, and cost her a lifetime of normal hearing.
