Sarah Feldman, 35, received the first ominous letters from Mount Sinai Medical last November. The New York hospital system warned it was having trouble negotiating a pricing agreement with UnitedHealthcare, which includes Oxford Health Plans, Feldman’s insurer.
“We are working in good faith with Oxford to reach a new fair agreement,” the letter said, continuing reassuringly: “Your physicians will remain in-network and you should keep appointments with your providers.”
Over the next few months, a flurry of communications about the dispute from both the hospital and the insurance company arrived. “It was, ‘You have to worry, you don’t have to worry,’” Feldman told me.
In late February, the other shoe finally dropped. As of March 1, Mount Sinai would no longer be in-network with Feldman’s insurer.
“I suddenly have to change all my doctors — here’s some stress for you,” Feldman said. That included not only a beloved primary care physician but also a gynecologist, an orthopedist, and a physical therapist.
One of the most unfair aspects of medical insurance, in a system that often seems designed for frustration, is this: Patients can change insurance only during end-of-year enrollment periods or at the time of “qualifying life events,” such as a divorce or job change. But insurers’ contracts with doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies (or their ar …
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Sarah Feldman, 35, received the first ominous letters from Mount Sinai Medical last November. The New York hospital system warned it was having trouble negotiating a pricing agreement with UnitedHealthcare, which includes Oxford Health Plans, Feldman’s insurer.
“We are working in good faith with Oxford to reach a new fair agreement,” the letter said, continuing reassuringly: “Your physicians will remain in-network and you should keep appointments with your providers.”
Over the next few months, a flurry of communications about the dispute from both the hospital and the insurance company arrived. “It was, ‘You have to worry, you don’t have to worry,’” Feldman told me.
In late February, the other shoe finally dropped. As of March 1, Mount Sinai would no longer be in-network with Feldman’s insurer.
“I suddenly have to change all my doctors — here’s some stress for you,” Feldman said. That included not only a beloved primary care physician but also a gynecologist, an orthopedist, and a physical therapist.
One of the most unfair aspects of medical insurance, in a system that often seems designed for frustration, is this: Patients can change insurance only during end-of-year enrollment periods or at the time of “qualifying life events,” such as a divorce or job change. But insurers’ contracts with doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies (or their ar …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]