UnitedHealthcare is dropping insurance coverage for its Medicaid patients at the University of New Mexico Hospital. The decision comes after months of negotiations.
The University of New Mexico Hospital and UnitedHealthcare had until mid June to work out a contract that would continue coverage for United’s 2,000 Medicaid patients at UNMH. Now the deadline has arrived and no solution has been reached, so all of those patients will see their coverage dropped at the end of the month.
Emergency room and behavioral health care services will still be covered, but if United’s Medicaid customers want to keep seeing their doctors at UNMH for routine care, they’ll have to switch to another insurance provider.
UNM officials have not given details about the contract disagreement, but representatives from UnitedHealthcaretold the Albuquerque Journal it was because of high rates UNMH was charging the insurer for its Medicaid patients.