1. UnitedHealthcare reached contract agreements with HCA Healthcare-owned hospitals in four states.
2. UnitedHealthcare released more details about its national gold-card program that is set to take effect on Oct. 1.
3. As of Sept. 1, University of Florida Health’s hospitals and physician groups in Gainesville, Jacksonville, and St. Johns are no longer in network with UnitedHealthcare.
4. Mississippi awarded Medicaid contracts to Centene, Molina Healthcare and new nonprofit TrueCare. UnitedHealthcare, which currently manages the state’s Medicaid program, did not receive a contract.
5. While some measures of maternal health are improving, deep disparities remain in health outcomes and drivers, according to the United Health Foundation’s America’s Health Rankings Maternal and Infant Health Disparities Data Brief.
6. UnitedHealth Group is reportedly among the potential buyers of ambulatory surgical center operator Surgery Partners, according to Bloomberg. UnitedHealth has not issued a statement on the report.
7. Arizona paused Medicaid long-term care contract awards to UnitedHealthcare Community Plan and Arizona Complete Health after a judge sided with three payers challenging the contracts.
8. Carson City, Nev.-based Carson Tahoe Health sent a final contract termination notice to UnitedHealthcare. The system and its medical group will no longer be in network with UnitedHealthcare’s commercial and Medicare Advantage plans after May 30, 2025, citing challenges around processing claims and prior authorization requests.
9. In February, Allina Health made the strategic decision to transfer approximately 2,000 IT and revenue cycle employees to UnitedHealth Group’s Optum. This move proved to be highly advantageous when the CrowdStrike IT outage impacted the health system.
10. UnitedHealthcare had the fourth-highest prior authorization request denial overturn rate among Medicare Advantage insurers in 2022, according to a KFF analysis.
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