Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) customers will remain in-network at Ascension Texas hospitals and clinics under a renewed agreement announced today.
The agreement took effect after months of negotiations and protects members’ access to Ascension facilities, including Ascension Seton in the Austin area and Ascension Providence in Waco, at in-network rates.
Source: KVUE
Augusta Health in Fishersville, Virginia, is announcing that contract negotiations with Cigna have been resolved. Augusta Health will remain in-network with Cigna.
Source: Augusta Health
A contract dispute between two prominent Capital Region health organizations could disrupt care for more than 100,000 patients.
St. Peter’s Health Partners and the Capital District Physician Health Plan have been in negotiations for months and remain deadlocked on a new deal to replace the current one, which expires on December 31.
No immediate changes to health coverage are expected until the end of February, when a 60-day state-mandated “cooling-off period” expires*. The period is intended to allow patients to receive undisrupted care. However, patients should monitor carefully and make contingency plans.
Both CDPHP and SPHP have created microsites for members.
Source: Spotlight News
* The New York mandated cooling-off period only applies to hospitals. However, St. Peter’s is announcing that services will be treated as in-network through February 28 without mentioning hospitals only. If you are unclear about your coverage, call ahead before receiving any care on or after January 1.
As the countdown to New Year’s Eve shortens, Tenet Healthcare and Cigna remain at odds. The current contract expires on December 31, 2025.
This contract affects hospitals and facilities in eight states: Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. On their microsite for members, Tenet estimates that millions of patients in these states could be impacted.
While Cigna has not established a microsite for members, they did issue the following statement:
It’s disappointing that Tenet Healthcare is choosing to terminate our contract and spending untold amounts of dollars on expensive advertising to stoke fear among patients as a negotiating tactic. Unfortunately, Tenet is seeking contract terms that would inflate the cost of care unreasonably, making their hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers much more expensive for patients than other facilities.
If the contract expires, continuity of care provisions will apply.
Sources: Becker’s Payer Issues, Tenet Healthcare
On Tuesday, December 23, Bronson Healthcare and UnitedHealthcare announced that a multi-year agreement had been reached. The contract agreement avoids a potential stop in coverage that would have gone into effect for patients on January 1, 2026.
As a result of the agreement, all Bronson hospitals, outpatient locations and physician offices remain in-network for members enrolled in UHC Commercial and Individual health plans. It affects the following hospitals:
Members enrolled in UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans, including Group Retiree and Dual Special Needs Plans, as well as UnitedHealthcare Community Plans in Michigan (Medicaid) will also continue to remain in-network with Bronson and will have uninterrupted access to the health system’s providers and hospitals.
Source: M Live
It appears that the negotiations between Lexington Health and Cigna have broken down, at least for the moment. The breakdown at this late date suggests that Lexington Health very likely will exit the Cigna network as of January 1, 2026.
Lexington Health is telling all patients to contact Cigna directly for more information. Continuity of care and emergency room access policies will apply.
Both Cigna and Lexington Health said they’re still open to negotiating an agreement, but their respective statements strongly suggest they’re not doing so right now.
Source: WIS
UnitedHealthcare and TriHealth have yet to finalize a deal, as their contract for payment and healthcare services is set to expire at the end of the year. The discussions affect as many as 80,000 patients.
Both parties are pointing to previously-released statements on the matter. Patients should monitor this situation closely.
Source: Local 12
BJC Health has reached an agreement with Aetna on all key terms for a new, multi-year agreement for commercial, or group, plans and a one-year agreement for its Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. This agreement ensures BJC HealthCare and Saint Luke’s entities, including hospitals and physician and provider practices, remain in-network.
As a result of these negotiations, there will be no lapse in BJC’s network participation or in-network benefits for Aetna members.
Source: BJC Health
Fairview Health Services and Eden Prairie-based UnitedHealthcare have reached a multi-year agreement that keeps the Minneapolis health system in the insurer’s network through 2028, avoiding a significant disruption in access to care for about 125,000 people who get insurance through their employers
Here are the impacts on patients who use Fairview providers.
Neither side released details on how they settled their differences.
On Tuesday, Fairview posted an online message for patients announcing the contract. UnitedHealthcare thanked patients for their patience in a website posting.
On Friday, December 12, UNC Health announced they have reached and inked an agreement with Cigna Healthcare. This will allow its customers across North Carolina to continue receiving in-network care from UNC Health providers, clinics and hospitals.
The new deal covers all Cigna Healthcare commercial plans and will be retroactive to December 1. This means that claims will be reprocessed, and patients who paid UNC Health upfront while out of network will be refunded as appropriate by UNC Health as Cigna Healthcare completes claim processing.
Source: WTVD