UAB Health System Enters Agreement with UnitedHealthcare

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System announced on Friday that it has finalized a multi-year agreement with the nation’s largest insurance provider.

According to a statement from UAB, “UAB Health System and UnitedHealthcare have finalized their new three-year health insurance policy to ensure continued access to quality care for patients in Alabama. UnitedHealthcare members will continue to receive uninterrupted care from all UAB and UAB-related healthcare providers.”

This announcement follows a contract dispute revealed in June, where UAB noted that United patients would lose access to services if an agreement wasn’t reached by July 31st.

The healthcare system, which services around 1.4 million residents in Alabama, pointed out that the dispute was due to issues like “submarket reimbursement rates, excessive refusal to claim, and delayed payments.”

In return, UnitedHealthcare mentioned that UAB’s request could “significantly increase consumer premiums and out-of-pocket costs.”

As the July 31 deadline approached, both parties managed to strike a temporary deal, agreeing on a one-week period to finalize terms.

A representative from UnitedHealthcare stated, “We have reached a contract as a principle that provides continuous, uninterrupted network access to UAB. Our organization has extended its current contract to finalize the terms of the long-term contract.”

The new agreement will extend until August 2028.

Other hospitals across the nation have faced similar contract disputes with insurance providers, echoing concerns raised by UAB, including Baptist Health Montgomery and the Huntsville Hospital Health System.

It’s worth noting that while negotiations previously broke down between UAB and United in 2019, an agreement was reached just before the deadline.