UnitedHealth Purges Rheumatology Clinic, Patients Left Scrambling

[Passages]

Dropping Triangle Arthritis from its Medicare Advantage network is part of a wider strategy to cut high-cost doctors and dump vulnerable patients.

Wendell Potter
Sep 09, 2025

Dr. A. Silvia Ross co-founded Triangle Arthritis & Rheumatology Associates in Raleigh, N.C., in 1994, and she says she has a handful of patients who’ve been with her since the very beginning. That’s not surprising given both the chronic nature of the illnesses that she manages and the nation’s severe shortage of rheumatology clinics – with patients reporting that an appointment at nearby facilities like Duke University or the University of North Carolina often requires a 17-month wait.

In October, Ross said, her rheumatology patients are “going to have to scramble because they're going to realize, ‘Oh man, I can't see my doctor anymore.’ And it's going to harm a lot of patients. These are patients who – a lot of them – get intravenous infusions with highly expensive medications, whose diseases are brittle and will flare.”

There’s mounting evidence that what’s happening to Ross and her North Carolina clinic isn’t going to be an isolated incident. Instead, her practice may be on the cutting edge of a trend, as Big Insurance looks to preserve profit margins by dropping doctors who treat its often older, sickest patients.

Massive parent company UnitedHealth Group – which has seen its stock price plunge in 2025 under heightened scrutiny from angry patients, investors and government – appears to be leading the charge. How do we know this? The company’s executives told their investors that this was their strategy in blunt terms during an earnings conference call this summer.
https://healthcareuncovered.substack.com/p/unitedhealth-purges-rheumatology?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=255152&post_id=173052721&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=5slj1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Why? Because we let them get away with it.

[ret5hd]

1. i hate that those that got SCAMMED into...

medicare advantage got. SCAMMED…but they did.

[littlemissmartypants]

3. I still get marketing calls. I have asked to be removed from so many lists. ...

The other day I got three calls back to back. On the last one I told the woman that I wasn't interested. She asked again and I just got mad. Which I try not to do. I asked her what part of not interested did she not understand and I hung up.

They are really marketing hard. I don't understand what they think they are going to gain once the half billion dollar Medicare cuts go into effect. Thanks to the Big Bastard's Bill.

[vapor2]

2. People don't do their research period

I talked a friend into taking traditional Medicare. She has no regrets.....Advantage is a SCAM

[meow2u3]

11. I have traditional Medicare

Plus, since I'm a disabled (overage) dependent of a career Army sergeant, I have Tricare for Life. The only things I don't have are dental and vision.

[ChazInAz]

4. Typical United.

I hold them responsible for my wife's death due to their insistence on cost-cutting.

[Passages]

5. I am so very sorry for your loss.

[area51]

7. I'm sorry for your loss.

[dalton99a]

6. Kick

[Lonestarblue]

8. Medicare Advantage has always been a scam, a backdoor to privatizing Medicare.

We will be lucky if original Medicare remains available.The Trumpies have already announced that for those with original Medicare, some treatments must have prior approval. Given the incompetents making these decisions, those treatments are unlikely to be approved for anyone.

[TommyT139]

10. Worse than incompetents making decisions

...will be AI.

[mnhtnbb]

9. Follow the $$

United Health stock price is up almost 9% today, leading the Dow.