ATLANTA -- A contractual dispute between one of the largest health insurance carriers in Georgia and one of the nation's largest children's hospital networks threatens to leave its patients out in the cold.
The current contract between United Healthcare's network of providers and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta physicians expires June 30 for employer-sponsored and individual healthcare plans.
The two entities have been negotiating for a number of months and both say they are committed to reaching a solution prior to June 30 so that patients are not affected by any sort of discontinuity of care that could potentially take place.
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When contacted on Tuesday by 11Alive News, a spokesperson for Children's Healthcare returned a statement:
“Children’s has been in active negotiations with United Healthcare for many months regarding the renewal of our physician contract, which is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2018. We are committed to the health and service of our patients and will continue to work with United Healthcare in hopes of reaching an agreement by the end of June.”
United Healthcare has set up a website to inform its clients that they remain committed to reaching a solution to the issue. However, if they are unable to reach a solution, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta physicians will no longer be considered an in-network resource for patients with United Healthcare commercial plans.
Exceptions to this will include those with acute or serious medical conditions who would qualify under a continuity of care guidelines. These would include but are not necessarily limited to people with complex or chronic medical conditions, people with terminal illnesses and people with cancer or who are in active chemotherapy.
United Healthcare is advising their clients who have more specific questions to contact them directly using the toll-free telephone number on their health plan ID card or to use their online physician and hospital look-up tool to search for other in-network health care providers.
