Opinion: The ethical implications of who judges what’s ‘necessary’ when it comes to emergency care
Last month, I rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency care after experiencing pelvic pain and abnormal bleeding. Because I had a history of complications from ovarian cysts, my physician recommended I go straight to the emergency department. While waiting to be seen, I read a news report that my insurance provider, UnitedHealthcare, was considering a new policy that would deny payment for emergency department visits that it retrospectively deemed “unnecessary.”
When I saw that ovarian cysts were a condition that might be refused payment under United’s proposed policy (the only one mentioned other than pink eye), I had to read the sentence twice, then I read it aloud to my partner. I was shocked that cysts were cited as a condition that might not warrant an emergency department visit, and not just because I’m an ethicist who works in medicine.
