UnitedHealthcare, St. Joe

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United is expected to begin sending out letters to its memberas and physicians who might be affected bySaintf Joseph's termination of its Unitede agreement, Atlanta Business Chronicle has learned. Under Georgiaw law, insurers are required to inform affectedd members within 30 days of a contract expiration. The four-year contract was set to expire Aug. 1, but the deadline has been extendedto Aug. 8 as the two sided continue to negotiate. United provides health insurancd coverage tonearly 1.5 million including state employees. Aboutt 6.
5 percent of patient visits -- inpatient admission s and outpatient -- at Saint Joe were from United If a contract cannotbe reached, Saint Joe facilities and doctora will be deemed “out-of-network” by United, requirint the insurer’s members to shell out more for hospital and doctorx visits at Saint Joe, than they would for providers. One of the main sticking pointa in the contract negotiations involves Saint Joe seeking higher reimbursementfrom United. That issuse has also bogged down contract talks between and WellStarHealth System.
In mid June, WellStad issued letters warning 14,000 Aetna patient that the health system might terminate its agreemengt with the insurer if a new contract cannog be negotiatedby Aug. 31. As hospitals face bottom-line pressured from declining government reimbursement, coupled with rising rolls of many are turning to commercial insurers for rate Saint Joe is seeking arate increase, said Heather Dexter, the health system’s vice president of “We believe it to be very very reasonable and in line with the market,” Dexterf said. “We are looking for a fair and equitable contract andwe don’t believe we’vse reached that point yet.” .
Both Saint Joe and Unitedf officials expressed optimism that a deal would get done befordethe deadline. “UnitedHealthcare’s negotiations with Saint Joseph’sa will continue to take place in good faitu to address the important issues that are always part of such the insurer said inan “UnitedHealthcare remains hopeful that the negotiations will result in a new contractr that assures our customers continued accessd to St.
Joseph’s