Marylanders who have UnitedHealthCare as their insurance plans no longer have Johns Hopkins Medicine facilities in their network.
UHC and JHM are still in negotiations after the deadline passed at the stroke of midnight on Monday, according to Kim Hoppe, JHM’s vice president of public relations.
Care could continue if the two come to a last minute agreement.
“Johns Hopkins agreed to five previous requests from United for extensions. If we granted a sixth extension, we know that they would not use that time to agree to contractual language that would prioritize patient care,” Hoppe said. “Providing the care that our patients need and deserve is and always will be our number one priority, which is why we are standing firm that United has to revise the contract language.”
Johns Hopkins and UnitedHealthCare have been in negotiations for the last eight months.
JHM says it wants concessions for UHC that show the company will stop high volume denials and bureaucratic foot dragging that causes patients to wait for treatments.
According to a recent study, UHC is the worst company for claims denials on public plans, rejecting about a third of all claims.
“This is not about money, nor is it about small administrative issues. We are negotiating our contract with United so that we can avoid aggressive claim denials that delay necessary care, excessive red tape that forces patients to wait for treatments, and significant payment delays that strain our ability to provide care,” said Kim Hoppe, JHM’s vice president of public relations. “We will not sign a contract that allows an insurance company to put profits over patients' health and well-being.”
UHC says JHM wants to be able to turn away patients from certain employers.
“Johns Hopkins refused to move off contractual terms no other health system in our network requires, including language that would allow it to deny patient access at its discretion.” said Joseph Ochipinti, UnitedHealthcare CEO, Mid-Atlantic region. ”Despite our repeated efforts to compromise and extend our contract to avoid disruption, Johns Hopkins refused. While we remain committed to continued negotiation, our top priority now is providing people with the care they need through continuity of care or a smooth transition to another provider, as appropriate.”
There are a few loopholes for patients. People in active or ongoing treatment for serious or complex conditions may apply for a continuation of care to finish their treatment.
In 2022, Hopkins and CareFirst took their negotiations to the brink in negotiating terms for physician rates and surgery centers.
That contract dispute could have put hundreds of thousands of people out-of-network who used Johns Hopkins facilities.
The two ended up reaching a deal in the eleventh hour.
