HEARTBROKEN and HELPFUL –
May 6, 2026 – On a sunny afternoon last month, hers was the privilege no parent wants: The chance to convince a roomful of lawmakers to fix the broken system she believes contributed to the death of her child.For the second time in two weeks, she would testify before the state Legislature as a key witness for not one, but two separate bills targeting the health insurance industry. They were among several such measures percolating through the Capitol, hastened along by public outrage that boiled over after the fatal shooting of the chief executive officer of UnitedHealthcare this past December. In an attempt to push through policy reforms targeting commercial health plans, lawmakers had invited Dougherty to share her family’s story. Matt Haney, a Democratic state assemblymember from San Francisco, has said her story inspired him to author one of the bills for which she would testify, a measure intended to prevent health plans from prematurely pushing patients out of substance use treatment facilities.
