UnitedHealthcare Deletes Incriminating Chat

[u/One_Combination5776]

I had a certain medical appointment. I used the chat function about a month ago to verify that it was covered and what my out of pocket total would be. I provided all information such as facility name, address, Tax ID, and NPI number. They explicitly said that it is in network, is covered, and what the total is.

Fast forward a month and it was NOT covered. I knew someone somewhere told me it was but forgot who I talked to. I then scrolled up and saw it was in this chat that I verified the confirmation. I took pictures of the chat on my phone and called them out, telling them they told me in the chat it’s covered. I will have to have the medical office re-submit to insurance under a different code or something.

I then went back to look at those messages where they claimed to cover it. They were GONE. Just 30 minutes later. They weren’t the oldest or newest messages. Right in the middle. Messages before and after were still there.

I then called them out saying those messages are gone and I have screenshots proving they said the appointment is covered. And guess what, they are back an hour later.

I checked through the chat over and over to make sure my eyes were not deceiving me and that I wasn’t crazy. I also had my wife verify too.

I truly believed they made that section of the chat not visible to me, so I wouldn’t have proof of them saying it’s covered. Once I called them out and said I have proof, they brought it back. The coincidence is too large.

Has this happened to anyone else? Is this something they can do?

[u/Marx615]

As much disdain as I have for UHC, they really wouldn't have benefited from deleting the chat in any way. IIRC there's a disclaimer before every phone and chat stating that the conversation is not a guarantee of benefits or payment, so it doesn't really matter if it was deleted or not.

[u/One_Combination5776 → u/Marx615]

I just can’t see it being a coincidence that the messages went missing immediately after I brought it to attention. They then returned shortly after I said it was missing and that I have screenshots. Again, they were not the oldest messages so the logic doesn’t follow that it was deleting as new messages come in.

[u/Marx615 → u/One_Combination5776]

You're hyper-focusing on the message being gone when it has nothing at all to do with the outcome of the claim. You've gotten a similar answer from multiple people already on here, too. Not trying to be crass, I just think you're wasting your time worrying about it.

[u/Liberteez → u/Marx615]

It’s a sign of bad faith.

[u/One_Combination5776 → u/Marx615]

Their goal is to deny and make appeals as difficult as possible. The conversation was helpful in determining what was considered/discussed at the time, and would be helpful in appeal. Without that conversation, I would need to backtrack and get on the phone to find that information again and codes all over again. Deleting the messages delays the process and in some instances, would be enough of an inconvenience for someone to drop the effort of appeal altogether. Plus, a UHC agent actually told me those screenshots of the conversation would be very helpful in an appeal and that it does help my case.

[u/Marx615 → u/One_Combination5776]

I'm fully aware how they operate - I've been in claims/billing/coding for 10 years now (unfortunately). I'm not defending them at all.. They suck and they're a shady mega- corporation.. I'm merely trying to save you as much grief as possible.

Your best bet, as you said, is to file an appeal, and use the reference number given in the original chat. You're speaking in hypotheticals by assuming the message being deleted would somehow end up affecting the appeal. "Getting the codes again" is as simple as re-requesting the Explanation of Benefits document from either the provider, or UHC..they should both have copies of this. You can also simply login to the portal yourself to view your own claims/EOBs.

There's an "appeal timely" limit that's specific to each payer, and as long as the appeal is initially filed prior to that date, it should be good to be reviewed by them. Keep in mind though that regardless of what turnaround time they give you on the appeal, I've seen them take 3-6 months or even longer to process these, based on the situation.

It's your decision whether to continue focusing on the missing message... we're trying to tell you there's a 99% chance it's not a conspiracy against you personally. File the appeal (or have your provider office file the appeal with the chat reference number), and wait till you hear back. Good luck with this.

[u/melonheadorion1 → u/One_Combination5776]

no, thats your assumption, mostly based on "insurance man bad".

what you were told in that conversation will not affect a claim in any way. it may be something that can be used in an appeal, but claiming that insurance is deleting them, is a conspiratorial take on it. i would bet to say that the info is still there, but jsut arent showing up for you.

if we think about this logically, and with sanity....for a message to be deleted, it would have to be deleted by the rep, which cannot be done. only thing that reps can do is type in it, just like yourself. reps in any insurance dont have "write" priveledges, meaning that htey cannot alter a record once its entered in. that means, if it did get deleted, it was a system issue, or someone on the back end doing it, but if we use the most outrageous claim out there and assume someone on the back end deleted it, it would mean that someone is monitoring your stuff for the sake of knowing that you will ahve an expensive service, and that youre worth monitoring. lets both be honest. we both can say that neither of those instances are the case, which then means that the chat conversation did not get deleted by someone intentionally. your 100k service is a drop in a larger bucket comparative to what an insurance will pay out in a day.

i know youre still going to believe what you want, because the "insurance is bad so they must have deleted it", but reality and logic says otherwise.

i would guarantee to say that if you contacted uhc directly, and had someone look into the chat log, they would find it.