Northwest Healthcare is no longer in UnitedHealthcare's network - a contract termination that will affect thousands of Tucson area patients.
As has been the case throughout the dispute, each side had its own version of what happened.
"As of midnight last night, Northwest Healthcare has been forced out of UnitedHealthcare’s network," Northwest Healthcare spokeswoman Kimberly Chimene wrote in an email this morning, adding that the company will continue trying to work with UnitedHealthcare.
"We worked tirelessly through the weekend to try and come to a resolution in order to maintain vital patient access to our health system."
Officials with UnitedHealthcare issued a statement today that said despite numerous attempts over the weekend to reach an agreement, Northwest Healthcare and its parent company Community Health Systems turned down an offer for a five-year agreement that would have kept the system’s hospitals, ambulatory clinics and physicians practices in-network.
The contract affects tens of thousands of patients, most of them on Tucson's Northwest Side.
The end of the contract means patients covered by UnitedHealthcare will no longer be able to use Northwest Medical Center and Oro Valley Hospital, except for emergencies. And they will also no longer be able to have visits to Northwest Allied Physicians and Northwest Healthcare urgent care centers, among others, covered by their insurance.
A contract termination affects UnitedHealthcare’s Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, individual and employer-sponsored plans (but not MediGap plans). UnitedHealth officials last week said they already had a transition-of-care plan in case the contract wasn't resolved.
Patients receiving ongoing treatment for special conditions, or women in their third trimester of pregnancy, may be eligible for continuation of care benefits.
Officials with Northwest Healthcare, which is owned by Tennessee-based Community Health Systems, had been hopeful for a resolution. UnitedHealthcare officials said they had been hopeful, too.
UnitedHealthcare's Arizona Health Plan CEO Dave Allazetta was in Tucson on Thursday and made an in-person proposal to Northwest Healthcare CEO Kevin Stockton. They met for about an hour, UnitedHealthcare officials confirmed.
But there was no agreement.
"Despite our significant compromise and request for a contract extension to continue working through the details, United has rejected every proposal we have offered," Chimene wrote.
"We understand this impacts our patients’ in-network access to care at Northwest Healthcare. We will continue to try reach an amicable agreement with United that ensures our patients have the freedom to choose their providers and hospitals, while keeping out of pocket costs down."
UnitedHealthcare officials said that members who are currently getting treatment with a Northwest Allied physician or specialist should call the number on their health insurance ID card to request a Continuity of Care benefit.
"Other Tucson hospitals and physician practices are supportive and prepared to accept our members for care," the insurance company's statement says.
"For more than 20 years, we’ve been working with the Arizona community to ensure residents have access to a broad network of care providers. UnitedHealthcare’s goal remains to find an acceptable solution that would renew in-network access to the health system's hospitals and physicians with a contract focused on quality, affordable health care."
Both sides of the dispute have written newspaper op-eds, as well as letters to patients. Northwest Healthcare said it sent out more than 60,000 letters to UnitedHealthcare patients who had used a Northwest facility in the last year. It also set up a website called Stand Up to United Az.
Southern Arizona's largest physician organization — the Pima County Medical Society, last week called on both entities to do the, "moral and ethical thing," and resolve the dispute for the sake of patients.
