🔒UConn Health in dispute with Aetna over new contract

UConn Health is negotiating with Aetna on a new contract as its existing deal expires at the end of next month. In a post on its website, the Farmington-based health system states it is in talks with Hartford-based Aetna, which is owned by CVS Health, for a new contract. The current three-year deal expires at midnight Nov. 30. In the post, UConn Health claims that Aetna “still isn't acknowledging that our rates are much lower than those of others in the market, despite our ongoing negotiations.” A UConn Health spokesperson said the organization could not provide specific details about Aetna’s reimbursement rates because “we are in active negotiations.” The post continues, “Their refusal to address this unfair gap is holding us back from making meaningful progress, putting patients at risk of losing in-network access to UConn Health, including UConn John Dempsey Hospital and UConn Medical Group,” if no agreement is reached. UConn Health adds that, like other health systems, it is dealing with rising costs for labor, supplies and infrastructure. “Fair and sustainable agreements with insurers are critical to ensuring we can continue to serve our patients and communities without interruption,” the post adds. UConn Health declined to comment beyond what is posted on the website. Under state law there is a mandated 60-day grace period after a contract expires that allows patients covered by an insurer to continue to see their physicians and receive services from a hospital or health system under in-network rates while a new contract is negotiated. A spokesman for Aetna provided a statement via email. “In our contract discussions with The University of Connecticut Health System (UConn Health), we are doing everything we can to reach a fair agreement that keeps them in our network at an affordable rate after Dec. 1.” The dispute with Aetna comes four months after UConn Health announced in June that it had reached a new multiyear agreement with ConnectiCare. That agreement was reached two months after the previous contract had expired. UConn Health is also weighing a major expansion and is in talks to acquire Waterbury, Bristol and Day Kimball hospitals.