Last month, I stood alongside about 150 people brought together from all around the country by the national community organizing group People’s Action for a peaceful protest at the UnitedHealth Group headquarters in Minneapolis. 

Because I have been fighting for the right to health care for decades, and because of my own story, I had been asked to speak, and that made me think about how I got here. 

“I’m sorry, it is in fact cancer.” 

Those were the words I heard 20 years ago that have forever changed the course of my life. I was in my mid-20s about to graduate from college and embark on my new career and all of life’s adventures. 

Life, however, had a different plan. Instead of finishing my classes and doing my dream internship at Disney World, I was now fighting for my life. Every dream I had felt shattered in that moment. No dream internship, only chemo treatments. No new life adventures as I was now pinned to a radiation table. 

I didn’t feel sure about much, but I did feel sure that my health insurance situation would take care of what I needed. Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out to be the case, because my insurance through MaineCare ran out in the middle of my treatment and I no longer qualified. Because of my cancer I wasn’t able to get private insurance (pre-existing condition!), and I was left with a bill for $250,000 for my treatment. I’m still paying it off today. 

Ultimately, I couldn’t wait any longer for treatment, and I had to move to Massachusetts to get care. I’ve never felt as isolated, alone and depressed as I did during that time. I should have been healing with my family, but instead I was alone.

I’ve now been cancer free for 20 years, and have been fighting for the right to health care—and against the for-profit health care system—ever since. No one facing a life or death illness should be denied care. While I can never change my story, I can potentially change the future of health care for others.

Right now, UnitedHealth Group—which owns the insurance company UnitedHealthcare—is a big part of the problem. UnitedHealth Group posted a $7.9 billion profit in the first quarter of this year, and is the 5th-largest publicly-traded company (by revenue) in the U.S. and the largest in the state of Minnesota. 

It was amazing to stand with other activists from all over the country in the lobby of one of America’s biggest health insurers and demand that it do better. Many of us shared stories of our healthcare horrors, including a woman who has been fighting UHG for coverage for a $600 infusion to treat an excruciating medical condition, and another who is going blind from diabetes because UHG keeps denying her medication. We also heard from a physician who spoke about a metastatic lung cancer patient who refused hospital admission because he didn’t want bill collectors coming after his house once he died. We were there to encourage and offer support to each other as we chanted and demanded an executive speak with us.

We were there an hour and a half before the corporate communications director agreed to set up a meeting with us at a later date. Our original goal, though, had been to speak with CEO Sir Andrew Witty and demand that he change his business model. However, he ended up sneaking out a private exit shortly after we arrived (really!).

Health care is a basic human right and should never be a big business. Unfortunately, Witty and others like him have turned it into one. UHG’s business model is to deny care to almost one-third of claims that come in to make a profit. The company is the subject of a class action lawsuit after an investigation found it pushed staff to deny claims and deny rehab care for older people and people with disabilities, using allegedly-defective artificial intelligence. Our protest also ran concurrently with the ongoing data hack payments scandal that has left UHG collecting premiums and not paying health care providers.

In 2022, Witty took home over $20.8 million in total compensation. His salary is paid with our premiums. This is our money and when we need our health care, we get denied. 

 For 2023 alone, UHG reported a revenue of roughly $372 billion and a profit of $22.4 billion and yes, that is “billion” with a “B.” With that kind of revenue and profit, why are we still being denied care? Is it because instead of giving us our care they decided to give $14.8 billion to their shareholders last year?

This is our money and it should be going to our care—to medication, surgeries, research, treatments. This practice of denying care and coverage needs to stop. UnitedHealth Group needs to be held accountable for its actions. Our health and life shouldn’t be for profit.