Louisville, Ky.-based Baptist Health will officially cut ties with UnitedHealthcare and Wellcare's Medicare Advantage plans beginning in January, according to a Nov. 30 report from Louisville Public Media.
Baptist Health cut ties with Humana's Medicare Advantage plan back in September but has been in ongoing negotiations with UHC and Wellcare since October. Now, it has confirmed that ongoing discussions have failed to result in a new agreement.
Baptist's nine hospitals, including a joint venture with Deaconess Health, and 2,000 sites of care, including ASCs and outpatient facilities, will all be out of network with Medicare Advantage plans from UnitedHealthcare and Wellcare starting Jan. 1.
"We are notifying affected patients so they can consider their out-of-network benefits, choose a different health plan or make other arrangements for care," a Baptist spokesperson told LPM.
UHC told LPM that it still hopes to reach an agreement with Baptist, while Wellcare declined to comment.
Patients will be able to apply for "continuity of care" benefits, which would allow eligible patients with a Medicare Advantage plan to temporarily keep in-network rates with Baptist.