Though some contract negotiations with providers came "down to the wire" last year, UnitedHealthcare executives said the payer did not see more contract splits than usual in 2023.
Becker's reported at least 15 hospitals and health systems that dropped some or all Medicare Advantage plans in 2023. In the first weeks of 2024, UnitedHealthcare's MA plans went out of network with Little Rock, Ark.-based Baptist Health and Greenville, S.C.-based Prisma Health.
Health systems have cited excessive prior authorization denial rates and slow payments from insurers as reasons for dropping MA plans.
While the health system aims to expand partnerships with payers in some areas, they'll likely experience contraction with Medicare Advantage plans that aren't performing well, and aren't good partners for the system, he said.
"We will ultimately pick a couple of partners going forward, and I think a lot of health systems are going to do this," said Mr. Bryant. "They're going to be the partners who act like partners and not who deny care in order to bolster their billions of dollars of quarterly earnings."
Apology to Neil Sedaka . . . I just couldn't resist
Becker's reported at least 15 hospitals and health systems that dropped some or all Medicare Advantage plans in 2023. In the first weeks of 2024, UnitedHealthcare's MA plans went out of network with Little Rock, Ark.-based Baptist Health and Greenville, S.C.-based Prisma Health.
Health systems have cited excessive prior authorization denial rates and slow payments from insurers as reasons for dropping MA plans.
While the health system aims to expand partnerships with payers in some areas, they'll likely experience contraction with Medicare Advantage plans that aren't performing well, and aren't good partners for the system, he said.
"We will ultimately pick a couple of partners going forward, and I think a lot of health systems are going to do this," said Mr. Bryant. "They're going to be the partners who act like partners and not who deny care in order to bolster their billions of dollars of quarterly earnings."
Hospitals aren't breaking up with Medicare Advantage, UnitedHealth says
UnitedHealthcare executives assure investors that contract negotiations with providers in 2023 did not result in more disruptions than usual.
www.beckerspayer.com
Apology to Neil Sedaka . . . I just couldn't resist