UNM Hospital and UnitedHealthcare are in negotiations over continuing coverage for the company’s Medicaid patients. The hospital and insurer haven’t come to an agreement yet and are extending their negotiations for 60 more days.
If UnitedHealthcare and UNMH don’t come to an agreement by mid-June, it could mean 2,000 patients will lose their Medicaid coverage at the hospital.
"This would potentially change ability for those patients to have access to UNM," said Dr. Michael Richards, Executive Physician-in-Chief for the UNM Health System. Richards said he’s confident the hospital and insurer will work out their differences before the deadline. "This will give us more opportunity to look at other options," he said.
Richards couldn’t comment on the negotiations or the disagreements behind them. If they don’t work out a new contract, United’s Medicaid patients will have to find coverage through another insurance company to be able to see their doctors at UNMH.
