Insurer and New York City hospital system reach accord

A contract dispute between one of the country's largest insurers and a major New York City hospital system has been settled, officials said, ending the prospect that tens of thousands of New Yorkers would be cut off from their doctors and the hospitals they use. The negotiations between the insurer, UnitedHealthcare, which includes Oxford health plans, and the hospital system, Continuum Health Partners, which includes Beth Israel Medical Center and St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, had been extremely contentious. But hospital officials said that they were able to negotiate compromises on insurance rates for hospitals and on a proposed rule that would require hospitals to notify the insurance company within 24 hours of a patient's admission or face a stiff financial penalty, the New York Times reports.