Hartford HealthCare, UnitedHealthcare reach agreement on new contract

Contributed Hartford HealthCare's headquarters at 100 Pearl St., Hartford.

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Hartford HealthCare (HHC) and UnitedHealthcare (UHC) announced Tuesday they have agreed to a new contract, just after their existing three-year agreement expired at midnight Monday.

In a text to Hartford Business Journal sent Tuesday morning, an HHC spokesperson said the two organizations "have reached an agreement that will ensure that United Healthcare members continue to have uninterrupted access to Hartford HealthCare's physicians, hospitals and services."

The statement added that this "is good news for our patients and communities, and allows us to continue our mission to improve the health and healing of all."

A spokesperson for UHC confirmed that a new contract has been reached, stating in an email that it is a multi-year agreement and that there would be "no disruption to in-network access."

The UHC spokesperson had said Monday that the insurer had sent a new proposal to HHC that afternoon. That proposal “included rate increases consistent with the state’s health care cost benchmark program,” UHC said in its statement. “HHC responded by repeating its same demands that include price hikes for our commercial plans that are nearly double the state’s health care cost benchmark while seeking to be reimbursed significantly more than any health system in our Medicare Advantage network in Connecticut.”

According to UHC, HHC’s proposal would have increased healthcare costs by $185 million for consumers and employers.

“We delivered a new proposal to HHC (Monday) that includes additional compromises,” the UHC statement added. “We urge HHC to finalize our latest proposal and ensure Connecticut families have access to affordable care.”

HHC is Connecticut’s second-largest health system, which includes Hartford Hospital.

The new agreement covers HHC’s hospitals, surgery centers and physicians. It means the following UHC benefit plans remain in network:

UnitedHealthcare employer-sponsored and individual commercial plans.
Oxford commercial plans, and
Medicare Advantage plans, including group retiree and dual special needs plans (DSNP).