Louisville, Ky.-based Baptist Health will be out of network with UnitedHealthcare and Centene's Wellcare Medicare Advantage plans, effective Jan. 1, 2024.
The health system's medical group previously went out of network with Humana's Medicare Advantage and commercial health plans in September. Baptist cited routinely denied or delayed prior authorization requests or payments from the insurers.
Baptist operates more than 400 non-hospital facilities across Kentucky and southern Indiana, according to its website. Baptist's nine hospitals, outpatient clinics, home care and 1,100 clinicians in its medical group are all affected by the split.
"We are notifying affected patients so they can consider their out-of-network benefits, choose a different health plan or make other arrangements for care," a Baptist spokesperson told Louisville Public Media. "It remains our top priority to secure agreements with Medicare Advantage plans that protect our patients' access to the medical care they need and allow medical care decisions to be made by the patient and their doctor, not an insurance company."
"Our top priority is to renew our relationship with Baptist Health and ensure continued access to the health system for people enrolled in our Medicare Advantage plans," a UnitedHealthcare spokesperson told Louisville Public Media. "We are committed to continued good-faith negotiation and using the remaining time on our contract to reach a new agreement."