In billboard campaign, CT health system pressures insurer. What it means for patients.

Yahoo

02-05-2025

You may have seen the deluge of billboards.
Farmington-based UConn Health is ramping up the pressure in its contract negotiations with ConnectiCare, taking out billboards at nearly a dozen prominent locations along highways in the Hartford area, urging the insurer to agree to higher reimbursement rates for services.
The billboards — along I-84 and I-91 — proclaim: 'UConn Health needs ConnectiCare to step up.'
'We're using ConnectiCare as a test case for what is coming down the line next,' Jennifer Walker, a UConn Health spokeswoman, said. 'Every other [insurer] is coming up after this. And it's going to go the same way. We letting them know that we are going to put the public pressure on it to stand up for ourselves.'
UConn Health argues its reimbursement rate is the lowest, behind all hospitals in Connecticut, despite revenue growth in the last decade and rankings that place it in the top tier of hospitals nationwide. At the same time, medical costs are rising, and Gov. Ned Lamont wants the health system — an arm of the University of Connecticut — to be more financially self-sufficient.
ConnectiCare's contract with UConn Health — the parent of John Dempsey Hospital, a network of clinics and more than 600 providers — expired on April 15. The two sides are now in a 60-day 'cooling off' period — ending June 14 —in which the two sides continue to negotiate.
On Thursday, UConn Health sent letters to ConnectiCare patients scheduled for appointments after June 14, who will either have their appointments canceled or go 'out-of-network', which can mean higher out-of-pocket costs than 'in-network.' Federal caps on out-of-pocket costs also may not apply to care that is out-of-network.
The contract negotiations cover ConnectiCare's commercial coverage, which includes employer-sponsored plans, and Medicare Advantage plans, which are sold by private insurers and offer Medicare coverage plus additional benefits. UConn Health has about 9,000 ConnectiCare patients that are affected, Walker said.
Consumers who find themselves out-of-network may be forced to find new health care providers that are in-network.
UConn Health said there can be exceptions for 'continuing care' such as chemotherapy treatments that remain in-network even in the absence of a contract. UConn Health also said it has tried to reschedule some appointments so they fall before the June 14 deadline, Walker said.
ConnectiCare, headquartered in Farmington, was acquired by California-based Molina Healthcare on Feb. 4. ConnectiCare did not respond to an email seeking comment.
UConn Health also oversees the university's medical and dental schools, plus its medical research. In the current fiscal year, UConn Health received about $193 million in state funding, or 12.5% of its total budget, UConn Health officials have said.
A six-month study last year of UConn Health's operations by a high-profile health care consulting firm found that UConn needed to generate more money from patient care in order to compete in the health care world of the future.
'We have the governor saying you can't depend on us anymore, you have to make your own money,' Walker said. 'And this is a way to close the gap on this, and not putting the burden n the taxpayers of Connecticut, making sure we are being paid as fairly as everyone else.'
Reporting by Courant Staff Writer Christopher Keating is included.
Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at [e-mail].