Vermont Congressional Delegation Praises Agreement Between UVM Health Network And United Healthcare

WASHINGTON, March 25 -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, issued the following news release on March 24, 2023, and letter:

Senators Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch and Representative Becca Balint praised today's announcement by the University of Vermont Health Network (UVMHN) and United Healthcare (UHC) that UVMHN will remain in UHC's provider network through the end of the 2023 plan year. The announcement follows a March 10th letter from Sanders, Welch, and Balint, who called on United and UVMHN to reach an agreement to maintain consistent coverage for Vermonters.

"We are relieved that Vermonters with health insurance through United will be able to keep seeing their UVMHN providers for the rest of the plan year," the lawmakers said in a joint statement. "But Vermonters deserve more. No one should have to travel far from home for care during a medical emergency or wonder if their necessary care will be covered in their home state. We will continue to work together to ensure that every Vermonter has access to stable, affordable, and high-quality health care."

UVMNH runs the state's only tertiary care and level-I trauma center, its only neonatal and pediatric intensive care units, and employs hundreds of the state's leading specialists and health care providers. As one of the nation's largest health insurers, United Healthcare currently insures- and will continue to insure- thousands of Vermonters.

For more information on UVMHN coverage under United Healthcare, please click here (https://www.uvmhealth.org/news/uvmhn/unitedhealthcare-agrees-extend-network-coverage-uvm-health-network-patients-remainder-2023).

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March 10, 2023

To: Dr. Sunil Eappen, Chief Executive Officer, University of Vermont Health Network, 462 Shelburne Road, Burlington, VT 05401

Sir Andrew Witty, Chief Executive Officer, UnitedHealth Group, 9900 Bren Road East, Minneapolis, MN 55343

Dear Dr. Eappen and Sir Witty,

We urge United Healthcare (UHC) and the University of Vermont Health Network (UVMHN) to quickly come to an agreement to renew your contract before it expires on April 1, 2023. If an agreement cannot be reached, we insist, at a minimum, that UVMHN providers be covered in-network for the remainder of the plan year.

Without your action, thousands of Vermonters could lose access to their preferred providers, including pediatricians, neurologists, and other specialists that are otherwise unavailable in the large parts of the state served by UVMHN. Further, the UVMHN runs the state's only tertiary care and level-I trauma center, the only neonatal intensive care unit, and the only pediatric intensive care unit.

Vermonters are depending on both of your organizations to stay at the negotiating table. We are confident that both of your organizations can come to a satisfactory agreement.

Most Vermonters who elected UHC for a plan year beginning in January 2023 work for large employers where UHC is the only insurance offered that has in-network coverage of UVMHN providers. They elected their UHC plan with the understanding that UVMHN would be a part of United's provider network. A mid-plan year change to exclude UVMHN providers drastically devalues this insurance coverage. Yet these Vermonters will have no option to elect an alternative plan with better coverage should UHC and the UVMHN fail to reach an agreement, and they may be forced to travel out of state for affordable care.

Vermonters should not have to bear the burden of a failure to come to an agreement. We urge both parties to put your shared patients and enrollees first and come to an agreement as soon as possible. We hope and expect this matter will be resolved prior to the termination of the contract on April 1, 2023.

Sincerely,

BERNARD SANDERS, United States Senator

PETER WELCH, United States Senator

BECCA BALINT, Member of Congress

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Original text here: https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-vermont-congressional-delegation-praises-agreement-between-uvm-health-network-and-united-healthcare/