For most people, the bottom line is uncertainty.
Dennis Rodriguez poses for a portrait in front of his St. Paul home on Aug. 8. Rodriguez is one of about 30,000 seniors caught up in a contract dispute between UnitedHealthcare and HealthPartners. (Shari L. Gross / Star Tribune)
Mary Boyd, a former St. Paul school administrator, said she trusts HealthPartners’ doctors but thinks of UnitedHealthcare as a corporation. But Boyd said she’s not sure what to think after hearing insurers argue that HealthPartners is simply using the dispute to demand higher-than-market reimbursements.
“Seniors feel like they’re just pawns in this,” she said.
Jim McDonough, a former Ramsey County commissioner who pays for the county’s retiree health insurance, said he was concerned when Ramsey County officials decided this year to switch benefits to UnitedHealthcare, which he said submitted a lower bid.
“Are they trying to keep costs down by denying coverage?” McDonough asked. “I don’t know, but is that what’s going on here?”
HealthPartners is one of the largest operators of hospitals and clinics in Minnesota, including Regions Hospital in St. Paul and Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park. UnitedHealthcare is the largest health insurer in the United States and introduced Medicare Advantage plans in Minnesota in 2019.
