IU Health, UnitedHealthcare reach agreement

Construction company owner Chris Sturbaum’s immediate reaction upon hearing IU Health and UnitedHealthcare had reached an agreement on Thursday was that of relief.

“We had a crew of carpenters saying, ‘What happened to our insurance?’” said Sturbaum, founder of Golden Hands Construction Company.

Originally, IU Health treated UnitedHealthcare patients with an “in-network” status. This special status meant patients continued to receive care from IU Health doctors and facilities, but had to deal with out-of-pocket costs and higher deductibles, Sturbaum said.

The new two-year contract agreement, which is retroactive to Jan. 1 of this year, returns official in-network coverage that expired last December to an estimated 400,000 UnitedHealthcare patients, according to an IU Health release.

During the negotiation period, IU Health delayed sending bills for services.  Though patients’ bills may be delayed by as much as a few months, they will accurately reflect those patients’ in-network status, according to the IU Health website.

Patients are still responsible for any deductibles and copay amounts specific to their health care benefit plans, but IU Health wants to emphasize any patient who received care from IU Health during the negotiation period will be processed as in-network by both UnitedHealthcare and IU Health, according to the release.

UnitedHealthcare spokeswoman Jessica Kostner said she is happy the agreement is almost finalized.

“UnitedHealthcare is pleased that, over the next several days, we will be finalizing the details of our formal network agreement with Indiana University Health so that our members continue to have uninterrupted access to care,” Kostner said in an email.

John Kohne, chief medical officer at IU Health, thanked patients for their loyalty and patience in a statement.

Despite the time it took, Sturbaum said he is still grateful the two institutions considered the needs of their patients and managed to create a successful contract.
 
“It’s retroactive to the beginning of the year, so nobody actually got hurt in the end is what I understand,” Sturbaum said. “They were just playing with a lot of people’s lives. I hope they don’t have to do this every year.”