UnitedHealthcare, St. Joe

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United is expected to begin sending out letterx to its members and physicians who mighyt be affected bySaint Joseph'x termination of its United agreement, Atlanta Business Chronicl e has learned. Under Georgia law, insurers are required to informm affected members within 30 days of acontractg expiration. The four-year contract was set to expirwe Aug. 1, but the deadlins has been extendedto Aug. 8 as the two sidees continue to negotiate. United provides health insurance coveragr tonearly 1.5 million Georgians, including state employees. About 6.5 percent of patient visitsw -- inpatient admissions and outpatient -- at Saint Joe were from Unite d members.
If a contract cannot be reached, Sainr Joe facilities and doctors will bedeemed “out-of-network” by requiring the insurer’s members to shelo out more for hospital and doctors visits at Sainf Joe, than they would for “in-network” One of the main sticking pointx in the contract negotiations involvesx Saint Joe seeking higher reimbursement from That issue has also bogged down contrac t talks between and WellStar Health System. In mid June, WellStar issuexd letters warning 14,000 Aetna patients that the health systemk might terminate its agreement with the insurer if a new contracyt cannot be negotiatedby Aug. 31.
As hospitals face bottom-line pressurse from declining government reimbursement, coupled with rising rolls of many are turning to commercial insurers forrate hikes. Sainty Joe is seeking a rate saidHeather Dexter, the health system’z vice president of marketing. “We believe it to be very very reasonable and in line with the Dexter said. “We are looking for a fair and equitable contracyt andwe don’t believe we’ve reached that pointy yet.” . Both Sainf Joe and United officials expressedf optimism that a deal would get done beforwthe deadline.
“UnitedHealthcare’s negotiations with Saint Joseph’s will continus to take place in good faith to addresw the important issues that are always part of such the insurer said inan e-mail. “UnitedHealthcare remains hopeful that the negotiationse will result in a new contractt that assures our customers continued accessto St. Joseph’s services."