Spotlight: Gross "Research" Conflict Uncovered

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 13, 2021
+1 (202) 823-2333

WASHINGTON — This week, Rose Adams writes an explosive report for The Intercept detailing how stealth health insurance lobbying is masquerading as academic "research". In her piece, "UnitedHealthcare Guided Yale's Groundbreaking Surprise Billing Study", Adams highlights how executives at UnitedHealthcare manipulated a widely-cited study on surprise medical bills from Dr. Zack Cooper and his colleagues at the country's second-wealthiest university.

This research not only shamefully skewed data that became central to the issue's national debate, but also quietly enabled the nation's largest health insurance company to dupe policymakers into thinking the report's findings were credible and unbiased as they crafted the No Surprises Act.

Upon our own further investigation, Dr. Cooper's work was cited 10 times in the No Surprises Act's first interim final rule issued by federal regulators. This egregious deception is unacceptable.

We are, therefore, calling strongly for:

  • The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), the publisher of the study, to review its conflict of interest disclosures and issue a prominent correction citing these revelations of UnitedHealthcare's abuse of research protocols;

  • Congress, particularly the House and Senate's Judiciary Committees, to hold hearings on this underhanded and anti-competitive activity; and

  • Regulators at the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury to recognize the nefarious nature of this study's conclusions as they promulgate remaining regulations for the No Surprises Act.

Action for Health President Christopher Sheeron also issued the following statement:

"We have long believed that this Yale study, and several others that have shaped this debate over the past several years, was blatantly concocted out of the public eye by insurers. Rose Adams' unveiling of this nasty truth is welcomed enthusiastically by patients, hospitals, physicians, and many others who are sick of the health insurance industry's dirty tricks.

"As regulators at HHS, CMS, and other federal agencies continue their important work crafting the additional regulations for this law, especially the independent dispute resolution provisions, it is imperative that they seriously reconsider this 'research'. It is frankly nothing more than talking points from the fifth-largest, and one of the most profitable, companies in the country. If ultimately taken at face value, these flawed findings will leave patients, frontline providers battling Covid's resurgence, and hospitals in inner city and rural communities hanging out to dry." 
 
####

Action for Health is a 501(c)(4) national, non-profit patient advocacy organization. The organization educates policymakers, the media, and concerned citizens about critical healthcare issues.