BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - A dispute between the biggest health care provider in our region and a health insurance company leaves nearly 3,000 patients in the lurch. That won't change unless the UVM Health Network and UnitedHealthcare strike a deal.
This arrangement often saves the employer money because the federal payment reduces the employer's share of the cost of coverage. But retirees' healthcare may be disrupted if the plan no longer includes their doctors and hospitals or the insurer has new requirements or charges new fees to access benefits.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas and Memorial Hermann health system terminated their contracts after they failed to agree on its terms, forcing more than 100,000 Memorial Hermann patients to find care elsewhere or pay significantly more. The state’s biggest insurer and the region’s biggest health system were unable to resolve their differences on the status of independent physicians affiliated with Memorial Hermann before the contract expired Tuesday.
Medicaid coverage swelled during the COVID-19 pandemic, with almost one in four Americans now covered by the health insurance plan for low-income people. But as many as 15 million people may be at risk of losing coverage this year as a pandemic rule winds down.
Faced with pushback from the insurance industry, the Department of Labor clarified the rules in July 2021: Medical care associated with a PrEP prescription, including doctor appointments and lab tests, should be covered at no cost to patients. More than half a year later, that federal prod hasn't done the trick.
