Effective March 1, 2026, St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson and St. Joseph’s Wayne Medical Center in Wayne will no longer be part of the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield Hospital Network, according to Horizon’s November 20th press release.
While negotiations appear to be in a stalemate, both parties are implying they are willing to keep negotiating. Horizon BCBS and St. Joseph’s have also created patient web sites with further information.
Source: NJ.com
Hendrick Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas have been in contract negotiations for some time. The original contract was set to expire on December 31, 2025, but it has been extended several times with the current expiration date set as January 31, 2026.
If Hendrick Health and BCBSTX do not reach agreement before January 31, Hendrick Health doctors, hospitals and other facilities will no longer participate in the the BCBS of Texas network.
Sources: BCBS of Texas, HealthSelect, Hendrick Health
Oklahoma City-based Integris Health and UnitedHealthcare are currently in negotiations for a new contract. If the negotiations are not successful, the existing contract will end on February 7, 2026. Affected hospitals include:
Both UnitedHealthcare and Integris Health have set up microsites for their stakeholders.
Sources: Integris Health, UnitedHealthcare
Montage Health and Anthem Blue Cross have reached a continuation of their agreement, ensuring Anthem patients in Monterey County can continue receiving in-network care at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula and all Montage Health services, without interruption.
Source: Montage Health
After months of negotiations, LVHN said UnitedHealthcare has not engaged fairly and failed to honor previously agreed-upon rates. UnitedHealthcare said LVHN issued notice to end the contract and is demanding a price hike of more than 20% in a single year. Both organizations shared updates on January 21.
At this point, this only affects Medicare Advantage members. However, commercial members should monitor closely as that contract expires on April 25 — and the failure of this contract does not bode well for that one.
I will continue to monitor.
Source: Becker’s Payer Issues
Cigna and Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Memorial Hospital — under Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health, formerly CHI Memorial — have not reached an agreement ahead of their February 1 contracting deadline. If an agreement is not reached, Memorial Hospital will be out-of-network for Cigna members beginning on that date.
Source: Becker’s Payer Issues
St. Peter’s Health Partners and Capital District Physician Health Plan are both reporting that they have reached a contract, retroactive to January 1, keeping the provider in-network with the payor. CDPHP is reporting that the contract has been signed, and St. Peter’s is reporting that they have reached an agreement in principle.
Both parties are confirming that patients should expect no network disruptions.
Sources: Capital District Physician Health Plan, St. Peter’s Health Partners
SSM Health and UnitedHealthcare (UHC) have signed a multi-year agreement to continue caring for more than 140,000 UnitedHealthcare-covered patients across the state of Missouri. This agreement means patients with commercial (employer-sponsored) and Medicaid UnitedHealthcare plans can continue receiving care from the SSM Health doctors and hospitals they know and trust without disruption at in-network rates.
This multiple year agreement follows the Letter of Agreement signed on December 31, 2025, that protected patients’ access while both parties came to a full agreement.
If patients have canceled or postponed any appointments, they should reschedule online via MyChart or call their SSM Health provider’s office to resume care as they normally would.
Source: SSM Health
Capital Women’s Care and UnitedHealthcare are both announcing that they have executed a new, multi-year contract effective January 1, 2026.
While the contract has been signed and executed — the provider is in-network with UnitedHealthcare now — negotiations about care received during the contract lapse period (August 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025) are continuing. I will be monitoring.
Source: WMAR
Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) and UnitedHealthcare are running out of time to work out their differences.
LVHN announced last fall that it would terminate its contract with the insurance giant this month unless the two could reach an agreement on the terms moving forward. January 26 was the day given that Medicare Advantage patients covered by UnitedHealthcare would no longer be able to receive in-network care with LVHN providers; commercial contracts would end beginning April 26.
It doesn’t seem like much has changed since the impasse was first made public.
LVHN, which is part of Jefferson Health, maintains that, since 2021, UnitedHealthcare has reduced its reimbursements by nearly 40 percent without agreement. The insurance company flat out denies that, and claims LVHN is the problem because it’s demanding a more than 20 percent price hike in the first year of the contract.
Source: WFMZ 69 News