Insurer UnitedHealthcare and healthcare provider HCA/Health One have reached a new long-term agreement that will restore access to Health One facilities and physicians to 850,000 Colorado residents.
“Today’s announcement is welcome news for Colorado consumers who will have greater choices in their health care providers, and less uncertainty about their health care options,” said David Rivera, the state’s insurance commissioner.
UnitedHealthcare and PacifiCare enrollees who wanted to access HealthOne services had to pay more expensive out-of-network rates after the two sides failed to renew a contract that expired on Sept. 1.
Effectively immediately, enrollees will be charged the lower in-network rate under the new agreement, which lasts until 2011.
HCA, based in Nashville, Tenn., operates in Denver under the name HealthOne. Its co-owns and operates seven metro- area hospitals and 10 surgical centers, serving nearly 1 million patients in 2005 and employing 8,700 people. Its hospitals include Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center and Rose Medical Center.
About 30,000 people insured through United Healthcare had used HCA services in the past year in the state.
Under the national agreement, HCA members can access facilities in Denver, South Florida and Tampa immediately. By year-end, the agreement also allows access in Kansas City, the Florida Panhandle, Nevada, and Frankfort, Ky. by the end of the year.
