Taking on Goliath: Brain surgeon's clash with UnitedHealthcare shows insurer's hardball tactics

A massive hack of a UnitedHealth unit set off a chain of events that has left some doctors’ practices on financial life support.

Dr. Catherine Mazzola, a pediatric neurosurgeon, runs a practice in New Jersey that treats low-income children on Medicaid. Since 2008, she has cared for boys and girls with cerebral palsy, spina bifida and other neurological disorders. 

But now, her practice is in serious jeopardy, she says, because of recent moves by the insurance and health care giant UnitedHealth Group.

The story begins in February 2024, when a unit of UnitedHealth experienced a massive hack. The unit, Change Healthcare, shuttered its systems and halted all reimbursements owed to hospitals and doctors like Mazzola. 

To help providers stay afloat, Optum, another UnitedHealth subsidiary that includes a bank, began offering "temporary," no-interest loans. Mazzola’s practice was among those tapping into the program — it received $535,000, documents show.

The practice began repaying the loans, but in January Optum demanded that it repay the money in full and within five business days.