Good news for Orlando Health patients as the hospital was able to come to an agreement with United Healthcare just before the Tuesday morning midnight deadline, keeping patients under in-network coverage.
Orlando Health senior vice president, Michele Napier, released a statement Tuesday morning stating the hospital was pleased to announce it had struck a deal.
"Throughout this process, we remained focused on trying to ensure that patients who choose Orlando Health for their medical needs continued to have access to comprehensive, convenient, high-quality healthcare services whether they were inpatient or outpatient," Napier said. "We were also committed to reaching an agreement that was fair to all patients, whether they are on a commercial or individual plan, Medicare or Medicaid."
Previously, the two organizations were negotiating a deal to prevent over 70,000 patients of people from losing coverage.
According to United, negotiations stalled due to a disagreement over Medicare Advantage and Medicaid contracts.
In a statement, United Healthcare placed the blame on Orlando Health.
"Orlando Health refused and is putting some of its most vulnerable patients in the middle of our negotiation presumably in an attempt to use them as leverage so we give into the double-digit price hike demands they’re seeking for our commercial plan," United said.
Had the two organizations not come to an agreement Tuesday, in-network coverage for thousands of patients would have been lost at the start of August.
