Baptist Health Medical Group, part of Louisville, Ky.-based Baptist Health, terminated its contract with Humana Medicare Advantage last month. Now, the system's Medicare Advantage contracts with UnitedHealthcare and Wellcare are on the line, according to an Oct. 19 report from Louisville Public Media.
Baptist Health Medical Group and Humana failed to reach an agreement by their Sept. 22 contract termination date. Now, Baptist Health, a system with 1,100 clinicians across Kentucky and Indiana, is facing a Dec. 31 deadline with UHC and Wellcare.
Baptist says it has been working for months to secure new Medicare Advantage contracts with the two major payers.
While only Baptist Medical Group went out of network with Humana's insurance plans, if a deal is not reached with UHC and Wellcare's Medicare Advantage plans, all of Baptist's clinician groups, hospitals, home care and outpatient clinics will lose in-network status.
Baptist is also in negotiations for Anthem's Medicare Advantage network in Indiana and Kentucky and Passport by Molina Healthcare's Medicare Advantage plans in certain markets, according to its website.
"It is our experience — and the experience of other healthcare providers across the country — that many Medicare Advantage plans routinely deny or delay approval or payment for medical care recommended by a patient's physician or provider," Baptist said in a statement.