HCA Healthcare and UnitedHealthcare reached agreements just hours before their contracts were scheduled to expire on Sunday, capping a monthslong dispute that threatened in-network access to 38 hospitals across four states.
The country’s biggest hospital chain and its biggest insurer had been duking it out for months to no avail before they finalized terms on Saturday evening. It’s common for sparring providers and insurers to strike deals just in the nick of time, although it doesn’t always play out that way. UnitedHealthcare’s dispute with Trinity Health, for example, temporarily put thousands of members out of network.
In the latest contract negotiations, HCA claimed UnitedHealthcare paid its hospitals below market rates, while UnitedHealthcare claimed HCA was demanding unsustainable price hikes. If the two powerhouses hadn’t reached agreements over the weekend, thousands of UnitedHealthcare members in Texas, Colorado, South Carolina, and New Hampshire would have been stuck with fewer hospital and physician choices.
