This is a response to UnitedHealth Group C.E.O.: The Health Care System Is Flawed. Let’s Fix It.an OpEd in the New York Times published on December 13, 2024 written by Andrew Witty. This response is written by Progressive Maryland leader Emily Leonard, resident of Baltimore.

Healthcare executives like UnitedHealth Group's CEO Sir Andrew Witty want us to believe that health insurance claims denials happen because our current system is a "patchwork." He claims his company wants it to be better. But I want to make this very clear: this "patchwork" is broken by design, and that is how UnitedHealth Group made 22.3 billion dollars in profit in 2023. A company benefiting from such dysfunction has no incentive to make conditions better for those who are suffering. Calling healthcare "complicated" is an excuse. An excuse that causes immense human suffering.

Better health outcomes won't come from some C-Suite executive making decisions about human lives. Better health outcomes will come when clinicians are free to make decisions about patient care, unencumbered by corporate interests who want to increase their bottom line. I agree, Mr. Witty, our system doesn't work as well as it should, but your company will never be part of the solution. Your company is the problem.