UnitedHealth reduced hospitalizations for nursing home seniors. Now it faces wrongful death claims

[Jilly_in_VA]

hree nursing home residents died because employees of the American healthcare giant UnitedHealth Group helped delay or deny them critical hospital care, two pending lawsuits and a complaint to state authorities have alleged.

The three cases involve a UnitedHealth partnership initiative that places medical staff from the company’s direct care unit, Optum, inside nursing homes to care for residents insured by the company’s insurance arm.

UnitedHealth says one of the initiative’s goals is to protect patients by reducing unnecessary hospital admissions. Those are admissions the insurance giant would otherwise have to pay for.

In Georgia, the family of a woman named Cindy Deal filed a lawsuit alleging that the 58-year-old died because Optum and her nursing home failed to hospitalize her for hours after she started foaming at the mouth and appeared to be having a seizure.

In Ohio, the family of a retiree named Mary Grant filed a lawsuit claiming that the 70-year-old died after Optum and Grant’s nursing home failed to send her to the hospital, though she had suffered a traumatic head injury and began vomiting.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/dec/17/unitedhealth-nursing-homes

I think Luigi Mangione was justified on behalf of these families. YMMV

[patphil]

1. Those are admissions the insurance giant would otherwise have to pay for.

And there we have it. Delay costly hospital care while pretending to provide adequate care at the Nursing Home.
These people are evil.

[Faux pas]

2. Good

too bad so many people have to die because of GREED.

[dalton99a]

3. Kick

[Coventina]

4. If I were on Mangione's jury, I would refuse to convict. eom.

[Silent Type]

6. I would too if UHC had denied care, but they didn't. In fact, Luigi never was covered by UHC. And his beef, assuming he

had one, was with doctors that could not repair self-inflicted nerve damage.

[drmeow]

7. I'd be tempted

to rule it justifiable homicide

[Silent Type]

5. Both Obama and Biden had programs to reduce hospital readmissions. If we ever get to Universal care, there will be

emphasis on hospital readdmissions because it's often a failure in care whether outpatient, inpatient, other facility, or wherever. Heck, under original Medicare, hospitals get punished if a patient is readmitted within so many days and medical records aren't sufficient to show patient needed rehospitalization.

If there is merit, the lawsuits will go against Optum with huge awards and, even more likely, the nursing home.

Until Congress gets off it ass and enacts rational healthcare legislation, we'll continue to have this kind of crud. Congress has had 60 years -- some of those years when Dems had control -- and this is the best they can enact?

I think Luigi would be justified if he had ever been insured by UHC or had a claim denied. He did not. His beef was with doctors who couldn't treat his self-inflicted nerve damage from weightlifting and exercise.

[Jilly_in_VA]

8. Justifiable homicide

on behalf of the millions who have been denied care by United and who HAVE suffered harm or death, that would be my reasoning.