Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s recent investigation into UnitedHealth Group revolves around RedBud Surgery Center, an ASC in Austin.
According to the attorney general, UnitedHealthcare approved a patient’s procedure at the center, then withdrew that approval after the procedure, allegedly leaving the patient with a large medical bill.
The case appears in an Oct. 5 news release from Mr. Paxton’s office announcing the probe, which otherwise rests largely on broad allegations about how the insurer handles coverage. The release did not identify the patient, the procedure or the amount billed.
The case lands on a surgery center that has already spent much of the past two years in the middle of a fight with the insurer. RedBud is owned by Elisabeth Potter, MD, an Austin breast reconstruction surgeon. Becker’s reported in 2022 that a state filing listed Dr. Potter as the tenant for the planned 4,172-square-foot center, an estimated $1 million buildout of existing medical office space.
In January 2025, Dr. Potter posted a video claiming UnitedHealthcare called during a patient’s breast reconstruction surgery seeking information about the patient’s diagnosis and the justification for an inpatient stay, and that she scrubbed out mid-procedure to return the call.
About a week later, a letter from Clare Locke, a law firm representing UnitedHealthcare, disputed her account. The letter said the insurer had asked operating room staff to take a message, told them the call was not urgent and never asked her to interrupt patient care.
The dispute soon reached RedBud’s finances. In August 2025, Dr. Potter told NBC News that UnitedHealthcare had declined to bring the center into its network and that the fallout could push her toward bankruptcy. She remains in-network as an individual surgeon, which allows her to operate on UnitedHealthcare members at hospitals but not at her own center.
UnitedHealthcare has said it informed Dr. Potter in fall 2024 — before her video — that it had stopped adding new ASCs to its network, according to Healthcare Uncovered. Dr. Potter has said negotiations halted after she went public.
The attorney general’s release did not name Dr. Potter, and it did not say whether the revoked authorization was tied to RedBud’s network status.
Mr. Paxton, who is running for U.S. Senate, framed the RedBud case as one example of a larger pattern. “Alarming reports keep piling up about how United treats Texas consumers. I will not tolerate any insurance company putting illegal corporate greed over the people of Texas. No Texan should be denied medically necessary care, dragged through endless appeals, or stuck with devastating bills after trusting their insurer’s word,” Mr. Paxton said in the release.
Mr. Paxton’s office has issued civil investigative demands to Eden Prairie, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group to gather evidence of potential violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and other state laws. No lawsuit has been filed.
The probe is Mr. Paxton’s second into a major Texas insurer in roughly two weeks. In late September, his office launched a similar investigation into Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas and its parent company, Chicago-based Health Care Service Corp., over possible care denials, delays and prior authorization issues.
Becker’s has reached out to UnitedHealth and Dr. Potter and will update this article if more information becomes available.
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