A Texas surgeon whose criticism of UnitedHealthcare’s coverage practices went viral is now seeking public support through GoFundMe after suffering financially from alleged retaliation by the insurance giant.
@drelisabethpotter Let’s be real. I spoke out against a big insurance company and now I’m being punished for it. But l’m not giving up. It’s not in my blood. I heard you asking, and if you would like to help, l’ve started a gofundme (link in bio) where you can read the details and consider contributing. Just showing up and following means the world to me. I’ll keep it transparent so we can all see what medicine in the US is like in 2025 and hopefully build something better for all of us.
In January, Dr. Elisabeth Potter was interrupted mid-surgery by a UnitedHealthcare representative questioning the necessity of an overnight hospital stay for her patient undergoing a breast reconstruction operation. Potter shared the video on TikTok, highlighting what she described as the growing burden of insurance bureaucracy on patient care.
In response, UnitedHealthcare reportedly sent Potter a legal letter demanding she delete the video and issue an apology—actions she says were intended to silence her. Instead, Potter posted the letter online as further evidence of her criticism.
“The reality is, my practice is struggling immensely, and that has a lot to do with the fact that I spoke out,” Potter said in her latest TikTok update.
Potter, who has spent over a decade providing advanced breast reconstruction in Austin, admitted she began to feel financial repercussions. UnitedHealthcare, she alleges, stopped working with her consultants and excluded her newly built outpatient surgery center from their coverage network. The out-of-network designation means Potter’s patients can see her through a hospital at a significantly higher cost, or pay higher out-of-network rates.
@drelisabethpotter Last night, I got a late call from a breast surgeon here in Austin, TX. Her 22-year-old patient— just days away from a mastectomy—found out the plastic surgeon she had been seeing is out-of-network and her insurance doesn’t cover any out-of-network care. So now what? The breast surgeon called me and asked for a favor, knowing I take cases like this on, even if the payments are low…too low to cover the costs for me and my practice…because I think it’s the right thing to do. My team is doing everything we can to get her seen this week and to get her case approved. But here’s the thing: this isn’t a one-off. This is yet another example of how having insurance doesn’t mean you have access to care. These narrow networks are failing patients. This young woman has cancer now. She needs surgery now. And we don’t have the luxury of time to wait for policy change. The sad reality is I can’t afford to keep doing this for patients, even though I want to. We need a better system for patients and for the doctors trying to care for them. I believe we can fix this. But we need the help of the government. We need laws to change, and we don’t have the luxury of time.
“It’s difficult for me to believe that this isn’t retaliation,” Potter wrote in her GoFundMe appeal. “By refusing to allow my center to be in network, they damage my ability to run a profitable practice and pay back the money I borrowed.”
Potter invested millions in the center to offer lower-cost, specialized care for breast cancer patients. But without insurance contracts, she says, the financial strain has pushed her to the brink of insolvency.
Now, she’s asking the public to help her keep her practice open and continue advocating for reform in a system she calls stacked against patients and independent physicians. “I’m not afraid of the work ahead,” Potter said. “But I need help.”
Originally published on Latin Times
