Vermont’s largest health care provider says it will not accept commercial insurance from United Healthcare starting in March.
The move is expected to impact about 2,600 people in Vermont and New York who get their care from the University of Vermont Health Network.
It does not affect New York State employees or people with United insurance through Medicare, Medicaid, or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Rick Vincent with UVM Health said the hospital system has been unable to negotiate a new contract for over a year. He said they’ve been asking for rate increases of more than 10% to cover the cost of inflation.
"We were successful at getting all the other insurance companies that we work with to approve that extraordinary inflation increase from last year," Vincent said, "but United was not willing to even come close to meeting that need."
Previously, Vermont health care regulators have said the state cannot intervene in this type of negotiation, since employee-sponsored health plans fall under federal jurisdiction.
United will still cover emergency room visits.
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